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news
Easter Bunny by Jack.jpgBunny-hop: SMIDSY driver fails to see six-foot rabbit
We’re all aware of the SMIDSY excuse – “sorry mate, I didn’t see you” – currently the subject of a high profile campaign by UK cyclists’ organisation the CTC, but a court case in the US in which a driver failed to spot a six-foot tall orange rabbit raises it to new levels.
The rabbit in question – well, the person inside the rabbit outfit – was pedicab driver Kate Altermatt, who had donned the costume to celebrate Easter, who was hit by driver Edward Cespedes-Rodriguez last April in Portland, Oregon in an accident that wrote off her vehicle.
The driver’s excuse as to why he didn’t see her? Well, he was fumbling around looking for his mobile phone, so it’s puzzling why the court in Oregon that found him guilty of a hit and run offence for failing to stop at the scene of an accident absolved him from the charge of recklessly endangering another person.
Portland’s road users, rabbits or otherwise, will doubtless be hopping – sorry, hoping – that Cespedes-Rodriguez will be more vigilant in future, and if the 34-year-old has any friends with a sense of humour, they could always get him a Donnie Darko DVD or Bugs Bunny t-shirt for Christmas to remind him.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Rendel Harris 54 sec ago
I said it appears to on the basis of the graph you shared, I was at pains to point out that I hadn't read the article. Thanks for sharing the blog,...
- john_smith 5 hours 14 min ago
Straight into the sun is perhaps an exaggeration, but at that time it would be about ESE, and there are bits of the road which head roughly SSE, so...
- john_smith 5 hours 23 min ago
7 October was just a bit of harmless fun until the "msm" ramped it up.
- hawkinspeter 5 hours 23 min ago
It's not censored if you just pirate it
- stonojnr 6 hours 28 min ago
an example of Kesgraves "best cycling infrastructure in the country" https://maps.app.goo.gl/GsCMbzDUTPdq59qS9
- wookey 6 hours 36 min ago
It turns out that that is national police policy. We found out from this process that there is national 'secured by design' policy which causes...
- mtbtomo 7 hours 15 min ago
Been available for quite a while, full GRX mechanical 12 speed. Probably around the same time as 105 mechanical 12 speed if I were to guess.
- TheBillder 7 hours 21 min ago
Less harmful citrus degreaser is easy to find at £8 or less for 5 litres. Works ok for me, even diluted up to 4:1. Both paraffin and white spirit...
- Veganpotter 7 hours 27 min ago
Nope, it's to keep your straps down and quieter. Plus most sunglasses are polycarbonate and aren't going to shatter like glass anyway
- Steve K 7 hours 58 min ago
And, more seriously, where's the coverage of the closure of the cycle lane which forces you to cycle on the Totton bypass.
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4 comments
Surely the Rabbit themed t-shirt should be Harvey as he was an invisible 6 foot rabbit too.
It must have been scary though, her fur turned white!
I think this was more a case of 'rabbit in the headlights'?
Too bizarre for words really.