Kill a cyclist, get community punishment

If you want to murder someone and get away with, get them on a bike.

If there is a thread guaranteed to make me angry it's this one

Yeah, even a year on, re reading the comments about the txting driver in Kent still massively boils my piss

I was out riding that day and passed the scene just after the incident - that road is full of tight bends and caravans..I hadn't realised it had resulted in a fatality. RIP.

Are they going to let the Hatton Gardens lot off for being old? No, didn't think so.

Just read that. What a fucking farce. He's really old and sad about doing the killing so we will let him off. He said he doesn't even remember the incident and a driver of another car thought about pulling the same overtake but deemed it too dangerous. The guy is too old and infirm for prison but it's ok for him to drive a car? Max sentence is 14 years and he gets nothing.

The judge said "A man who was once energetic and easy going is now subdued and introverted as a direct result of this". This boils my piss.

http://road.cc/content/news/177771-no-jail-motorist-who-killed-deloitte-ride-across-britain-cyclist

The guy is too old and infirm for prison but it's ok for him to drive a car?

And what make them think he'll drive better after five years?

He be made to take a new test and in likelihood would fail

That's extremely likely as the last time he took a driving test was nothing like the one we took nowadays.

74 Year old driver Jailed for 5 years in Yorkshire for Killing Motorcyclist.

Did he get Jail because he is 4 years younger or is it because the other guy was riding a bike with motor so he had also paid road tax..?

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/14209187.Crash_driver_who_killed_dad_of_3_is_jailed_for_5_years/

Yes, jury likely to view motorcycles as a road users.

They don't generally see people on bicycles as a road users.

Or people, apparently.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/familys-heartbreak-as-lorry-driver-cleared-over-cyclists-death-a3215191.html

"Oh my God, you stupid girl, didn't you hear I was turning left?" the driver's words to a dying woman, jury takes less than an hour to deliberate and acquit

she was a friend of my girlfriend's. it's a great, great loss. I do know that the rider down thread on here was sent to her family though and they were very grateful to see that people cared.

I think the bigger question is why there are loads of cycle lanes leading up the left hand side of all the streets on that junction. The driver may or may not have been at fault but the whole road design leads into this kind of incident.

He overtook with 200m to go to a red light, and they wonder why cyclists get annoyed when they are overtaken ahead of junctions, stationary traffic and traffic signals. A friend compared it to the time he was overtaken by a car who then did a u-turn right in front of him and after he hit her employed the excuse she couldn't see him in the mirrors. If you overtake a cyclist you should be aware and then stop you should be aware that the cyclist may filter through, especially if there is a cycle lane to the left. Yet all it takes is in court is to employ the 'I didn't see him/her' and the jury immediately goes 'yeah. fair enough, we've all done that' and the driver is acquitted. Apparently the driver had a panic attack and underwent physcological treatment only after he was told he was being charged, and his first reaction was the blame her for the accident.

The bottom line is when you are driving a vehicle you must be hyper-vigilant at all times, not seeing something shouldn't wash as an excuse, and the suffering the driver has gone through is nothing to depriving someone of life and the suffering of her family. Yet again the court systems fail to protect cyclists, it makes me wonder why they even bother sending these cases to court, we all know its a foregone conclusion.

@fredtc good to hear that at least the reaction here meant something, and that the family know, despite being failed by the courts there are people out here that give a shit.

part of the problem is juries made up of people that drive.

utterly shameful judgement.

Not seeing something when your in charge of a ton of metal shouldn't be a get out of jail free card, it should be an indication of guilt. Seeing stuff is the least we should expect from a careful and competent driver.

FFS

I am involved in training lorry drivers around vulnerable road users.

There is specific guidance for drivers

• Do not overtake just before turning left
  
• If turning left, wait until the cyclist has cleared the area
  
  

Why is not expert witness called in these cases?

He had failed to heed the first point, but given he had just overtaken her he should have waited for her to pass. This is not an accident, there is clear negligence.

From the layout there is clearly a fucking cycle lane so he should have given way to her.

Unfortunately I think most driver training is just advisory, like most of the Highway Code when it comes to criminal cases. Most judges will happily tell a jury to disregard the Highway Code if it helps the defence of a driver.

A driver not following their training and killing somebody should lead to an open and shut civil case, like that matters in the grand system of road carnage and truck drivers who are multiple killers.

And if your your not pissed off enough by the above, check out this smug looking prick, and his jury of motorists mates.

http://m.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/14392866.Cam_man_accused_of_deliberately_driving_into_a_cyclist_in_Stinchcombe_is_found_not_guilty/

I am the girlf of Dan, the 1999 fatality. It was at Dan's inquest when
I spent an hour or so in the same room as the driver who was
acquitted. Obvs, 1999/2000 is a long time ago and people age, BUT -
having seen a photo of Vincent Doyle taken a few days ago - I'm about
95% confident it's the same person. I may be wrong, but there's enough
similarity between the photo and my visual memory to lead me to think
it's the same driver.

This has not been a good day for me! I couldn't believe it when I read
the story in today's paper.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cyclist-killed-finding-an-old-court-judgement

Good enough for me. Two lives he's ended in exactly the same way

Can't understand this verdict at all. Indep witness statement that driver first reversed and then charged at cyclist. How can the conversation among the jurors even go when the are supposed to be considering the evidence?

Chairman: "so we all hate smug cyclists right?"

[nods all round]

Juror #1: "so how about Leicester City eh? Wish i'd stuck a tenner on them before the season"

I am Jack's searing sense of injustice

pharoahsanders
Kill a teenage cyclist while attempting to send a text, walk free. (As long as you can say you were not distracted, that seems to be ok then.)

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ken­t-31989287

earlier

kentonline.co.uk/deal/news/va­n-driver-killed-cyclist-while-33310/

Disgusting. RIP rider. (Posting here as I couldn't see a thread for this incident)

Again...I can only hope for the injustice visited on the victim and his loved one to be returned to all those that have allowed this disgraceful decision.