Woman hit by Cyclist awarded a payout

[georgehenry]

On the face of it this cyclist appears a little hard done by.

 

[LeighPing]

 

[Nealh]

This appeared on CUK forum a few days ago, the cyclist was deemed 50% liable as he failed to avoid hitting a Zombie with her face stuck in a her face. Yet he sent out enough warning signals, the law is an ass.
If it was a car that hit her nothing would have happened.

 

[vfr400]

That's terrible. Do we now need to ride near the centre of the road to avoid pedestrians jumping in front of us for compensation? I wonder if the guy will counter-sue her for his own injuries and the trauma of his court case.

 

[LeighPing]

This appeared on CUK forum a few days ago, the cyclist was deemed 50% liable as he failed to avoid hitting a Zombie with her face stuck in her PHONE. Yet he sent out enough warning signals, the law is an ass.
If it was a car that hit her nothing would have happened.

Fixed that for you.

I suppose that it could also be argued that if you have enough time and forethought to sound your electronic horn, and shout a warning of your approach, then you could have equally enough time to stop. Or, at least slow down sufficiently enough to not knock the both of you clean out.

 

[thirteen]

My guess is that it will get overturned on appeal.

Unfortunately, cyclists are subject to irrational prejudice.

It seems that this extends to the level of judges.

 

[trevor brooker]

I think the crucial point is the judges comments "he did proceed when the road was not completely clear" & "cyclists must be prepared at all times for people to behave in unexpected ways".
Does this set a precedent or are all road users expected to have the same level of care

 

[georgehenry]

I had a very similar situation when a sixth form girl student absorbed by her phone stepped out from the curb in front of me with the only difference being that my shout, brake and slight swerve, also to the left like the guy in the newspaper report meant I missed her, but only just, and as I and my ebike and panniers easily top 100kg the resulting collision would not bear thinking about.

I thought after that near miss that if I had hit her I may well have not been treated as the innocent party.

 

[Deleted member 25121]

Fixed that for you.

I suppose that it could also be argued that if you have enough time and forethought to sound your electronic horn, and shout a warning of your approach, then you could have equally enough time to stop. Or, at least slow down sufficiently enough to not knock the both of you clean out.

Yes, that was the basis of the judge's decision I believe.

 

[Deleted member 25121]

I think the crucial point is the judges comments "he did proceed when the road was not completely clear" & "cyclists must be prepared at all times for people to behave in unexpected ways".
Does this set a precedent or are all road users expected to have the same level of care

Hardy a precedent, it's been true for a long time for car drivers. If you've driving a car and somebody steps out in front of you, be it an adult, a kid, a deaf person..., you'd be expected to make an emergency stop. You might blow your horn, if there was time, in the hope that they might jump out of the way to lessen the chance of hitting them.
It seems that this cyclist concentrated on blowing his horn rather than stopping or avoiding a collision.

 

[flecc]

It seems that this cyclist concentrated on blowing his horn rather than stopping or avoiding a collision.

Cyclists hate losing momentum and often try to swerve past anyone in the way, but that is a big mistake. Braking should always be the default action since pedestrian movements are unpredictable.
.

 

[Nealh]

It doesn't matter what the cyclist did or did not do, it would have been wrong any way.

 

[trevor brooker]

I was looking at the highway code to see if the judges comments were quotes but all I could find as guidance was

"Rules for pedestrians, including general guidance, crossing the road, crossings, and situations needing extra care.
Rule 18
At all crossings. When using any type of crossing you should

• always check that the traffic has stopped before you start to cross"

 

[Michael Price]

The only way I can make the judges comments make sense is if the pedestrian stepped out and the cyclist did not immediately slow down but yelled and reached for his horn - hence the judge is saying that the default action should be to stop in an emergency. This would be the case for a car in these circumstances but that is far wider - and has to swerve a lot more to miss someone - than a bike.
Unfortunately, unless you were in the court or saw a full transcript you can't tell the exact timeline and distances.
Either way - it does sound strange - and I do wonder about the pedestrian who had the cheek to sue someone after she walked into the road with her face in her phone when the lights were on green.

 

[vfr400]

Fixed that for you.

I suppose that it could also be argued that if you have enough time and forethought to sound your electronic horn, and shout a warning of your approach, then you could have equally enough time to stop. Or, at least slow down sufficiently enough to not knock the both of you clean out.

That's not the full story. Like the guy that killed the woman, the cyclist had plenty of time to avoid her, so chose to steer behind her, but then, at the point of no return, she woke up, panicked and jumped back into his path.

This happens to me very often when I use my bell or shout. I therefore tend not to let them know I'm coming as long as I have plenty of room to get by.

One time, there was a man and a toddler walking in both lanes of a split cycle/footpath. I rang my bell as I approached in plenty of time. In a nice organised way, the man put the boy on the far edge of the footpath and them stepped over the cycle path onto the grass the other side. It was a steep downhill, so now I knew it was safe and I had the entire path to myself, I started accelerating again. At the last moment, the man dashed over to the other side, grabbed the boy and attempted to carry him back to the grass where the man had been standing before. He was in total panic. It made absolutely no sense to carry the boy back because both of them were quite safe on the footpath. Anyway, I have good brakes and I was able to do an emergency stop with a bit of a skid from both wheels. I think I have good redactions from half a million miles on a motorbike, and my brakes helped a lot, but I bet many cyclists would have hit that guy and the kid. They would have then been in the same situation as the cyclist in the OP.

 

[LeighPing]

Fortunately, I don't generally ride much on the road. But we've also had our moments and near misses.

 

[Deleted member 25121]

That's not the full story. Like the guy that killed the woman, the cyclist had plenty of time to avoid her, so chose to steer behind her, but then, at the point of no return, she woke up, panicked and jumped back into his path.

This happens to me very often when I use my bell or shout. I therefore tend not to let them know I'm coming as long as I have plenty of room to get by.

One time, there was a man and a toddler walking in both lanes of a split cycle/footpath. I rang my bell as I approached in plenty of time. In a nice organised way, the man put the boy on the far edge of the footpath and them stepped over the cycle path onto the grass the other side. It was a steep downhill, so now I knew it was safe and I had the entire path to myself, I started accelerating again. At the last moment, the man dashed over to the other side, grabbed the boy and attempted to carry him back to the grass where the man had been standing before. He was in total panic. It made absolutely no sense to carry the boy back because both of them were quite safe on the footpath. Anyway, I have good brakes and I was able to do an emergency stop with a bit of a skid from both wheels. I think I have good redactions from half a million miles on a motorbike, and my brakes helped a lot, but I bet many cyclists would have hit that guy and the kid. They would have then been in the same situation as the cyclist in the OP.

Yes, emergency stops are necessary for all sorts of reasons.

 

[RoadieRoger]

Whatever the merits of the case I think the Cyclist was hard done by and have contributed a Tenner to the Go Fund Me started by a Friend of his . We Cyclists should stick together .

 

[georgehenry]

There was a bit more in "The Times" today, and he comes across as a nice bloke that with hindsight made a few mistakes that have ending up potentially costing him a lot of money. The other side paid for quality legal representation from the off and he started by defending himself and making mistakes. If he had also quickly got himself similarly represented it would have in all probability ended greatly limiting his liability , probably to a max of £6,500 rather than the £100,000 that they are seeking from him at the moment that will in all probability bankrupt him. Tough lesson. From the facts of the case in the press it still seems very unfair and also sets a precedence for other cyclist who find themselves in a similar situation. Case law and all that. Modern litigation society sucks.

 

[vfr400]

The woman that sued him and the lawyers must be absolutely evil. I hope they get sorted out on judgement day.