2020-06-01 - Riders Down, Double fatality, A40 between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch

500 metres from my front door, I feel sick. RIP cyclists. Black logo please @Velocio

https://www.mix96.co.uk/news/local/3115023/two-cyclists-die-in-bucks-crash/

That sounds dreadful :(

Horrendous..RIP
Hope they find the killers

The drivers are assisting the police with their enquiries.

Please don't make premature assumptions about the details of the incident.

RIP riders.

Rest in peace :-(

Terrible to read this.

RIP also. Awful news.

Used to ride there pretty much every weekend for few years doing TT training. Don't do this any more.

RIP fellas :(

So sorry to hear this, RIP and condolences to family, friends, and everyone that knew them.

Hope you are ok el_presidente, that's scary stuff anyway, but now it is also so close to your house.

Thanks @JWestland. Not going to lie, it has shaken me up a bit. I have cycled that road many times, it is a 60 mph A-road with minor road junctions and poor sightlines, and there have been previous fatalities, most recently a motorcyclist 2 years ago.

Chilling. RIP riders, and I hope you bear up ok @el_presidente

RiP

RIP Riders.

RIP cyclists what tragic news :(

@el_presidente take care mister, it might take a while to get back on local roads, dont force it.
Al x

Cyclists are named here

https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news/thames-valley/news/2020/june/01-06-2020/family-tributes-following-double-fatal-road-traffic-collision--high-wycombe/

RIP Andy and Damien

A little bit more info here

https://www.haddenham.net/newsroom/cycling-tragedy.html

Both local riders who organised sportives and charity events

I've finally remembered what this crash reminded me of, a somewhat similar one in Reading in 2014:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/243890/

Not quite the same (the driver who killed Kris Jarvis and John Morland was drunk, which doesn't seem to have been the case here), but two friends dying together, too.

Still haven't been out on the bike since :( I drive past the flowers every time I leave the house.

I can't work out what happened, yes it's a fast road but it was a sunny evening, only 18.30 so sun fairly high in the sky, two experienced riders. I scan the local press and the police sites every day but nothing about any sort of prosecution - doesn't usually take this long does it?

Still absolute silence in the local or national press about any prosecution. I'm not even sure the driver was actually arrested. Is it just me or is this very unusual?

Finally an update on this; 60 year old Clifford Rennie charged with causing death by careless driving, next hearing is Oct 14th.

https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/19531792.court-hearing-man-accused-causing-deaths-cyclists-a40-takes-place/

I still have a horrific fascination for this case given it happened so close to my house and I go past the scene nearly every day. Why would it have taken over a year to charge the driver? Why are the circumstances so mysterious? Why has the driver only been charged with death by careless driving? 2 people were killed in cold blood but no-one seems to really give a shit :(

Why would it have taken over a year to charge the driver?

So many factors that could have contributed to this, but lack of police capacity, difficult detective work, lack of evidence, etc. are usually the main ones.

Why are the circumstances so mysterious?

That's simple: No witnesses (apart from the driver) or video recordings.

Why has the driver only been charged with death by careless driving?

Lack of evidence, undoubtedly. I've said before that I think these categories should be replaced by better ones, but here the prosecution was probably not confident of being able to prove that the driver was driving far below the standard expected of a competent driver. I think it's difficult to show this without video or witness evidence. It's not too difficult to show that his driving fell below the standard expected of a competent driver, but many prosecutions have failed because of the increased difficulty of convincing a jury that the standard of driving fell far below that of a competent driver.

I've also noticed that the police and mix96 links about the crash above are dead, so here's the original Bucks Free Press story:

https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/18489877.two-cyclists-killed-hit-car-wycombe/

Thanks Oliver. I still remember the day so clearly, it was perfect weather and visibility. I half want to go to the court hearing but I would have to take a day's holiday and it seems somewhat ghoulish :(

increased difficulty of convincing a jury that the standard of driving fell far below that of a competent driver.

Probably because too many people think they are competent drivers…