[OldRidgeback]

One driver penalised for causing a cyclist to fall off her bike complains he has been penalised too heavily….

‘I was banned from driving for three years for knocking a cyclist off her bike but still believe I shouldn’t have been punished’ (msn.com)

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/i-was-banned-from-driving-for-three-years-for-knocking-a-cyclist-off-her-bike-but-still-believe-i-shouldn-t-have-been-punished/ar-AAWGsZw?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=9e34bae56cc542e6bc51c419987a4e81

 

 

Topic

[David9694]

why, now with this? incident

why, now with this? incident was 2018, so joy upon joy, he’s presumably driving again?

We’re really getting into the mindset of arguing about and justifying the obviously wrong – tone from top, I guess.  I’m starting to notice the sort of response discussed upthread on local Facebook – pavement parking? “guy’s got to earn a living”, fly tipping “well, it’s £15 to use the tip, so y’know…”  

Wondering what I’d get back if I Facebooked this picture “people have got to park somewhere; sit sideways”?

[IanMSpencer]

I was quite shocked at the
I was quite shocked at the BBC coverage of Becker getting sent down for 2 years for diddling his bankruptcy by a couple of million.

They made actual mention of the case, then had a sports reporter eulogising him, telling us what a great guy he was, what a character and he would bounce back.

The guy had effectively stolen a couple of million from other people and the BBC were praising him.

We do have selective vision about the blameworthiness of people. Steal £2m – still a tennis hero, you kill a cyclist, how terrible for you, must have been a shock, ride a bike on the pavement – “Lock ’em up! They are killers in waiting.”

[chrisonabike]

You are right but it’s a

You are right but it’s a question of semantics.  They don’t realise or the system encourages them to use defenses which by external standards effectively amount to confessions of incompetence.

The question is what people think is justifiable as showing “I was driving competently and carefully”.  Or at least not recklessly.  So in the article driver say “I did not think I was that close” – but they hit the cyclist.  Speeding and being too close might not be judged competent by everyone.  However this was not judged as unusually poor driving.  Why?  Because of our driving bias (it’s not seen as a choice, everyone does it, non-drivers on the roads are already part to blame for any issue) and how the law is framed (essentially “compare them to yourself – your examplar of a good driver”)

I think the appropriate way to judge driving is by reference to external standards.  In the UK that means the road laws, highway code and / or not failing a driving test.  By these standards lots of people drive at least some of the time in a substandard or incompetent manner.  This is sometimes dangerous and / or illegal.  However ask the majority of people and as you say their own judgement is that they’re fine, if not excellent.

Ergo most people are not fit to make judgements in these cases even if they are drivers and the notion that the current system’s fit for purpose is unjustified.

[srchar]

chrisonatrike wrote:

This is a commonly observed topic – it’s an instance of the incompetence paradox where saying you didn’t drive competently becomes a defence.

I’m not sure that it is – someone pleading “SMIDSY” doesn’t even realise that they are admitting their own incompetence. Try accusing someone, anyone, of being an incompetent driver. You are very likely to get a robust response; most people think they are excellent drivers and take offence if someone suggests that they are not.

[David9694]

No, please make it stop, I

No, please make it stop, I don’t want local businesses to die. We must do everything we can to allow drivers convenient access. 

[brooksby]

Maybe they thought it was a

Maybe they thought it was a buffer to help them in their parking (like at the end of the line in major railway stations)?  😉 😀

[mdavidford]

Obviously they need to have

Obviously they need to have somewhere to put their shopping bags while they open the boot. Do you want local businesses to die – do you?

[AlsoSomniloquism]

Especially as Denise’s 

Especially as Denise’s “inexperience as a cyclist” were all lies as mentioned by her Parents. 

It did come across as British Posh Church Going Senior Doctor and young foreign coffee shop waitress dating somone 15 years her senior was always going to end up one way in court, cyclist or not. 

[the little onion]

brooksby wrote:

IanMSpencer wrote:

The defending barrister blaming death on the boyfriend for getting her to ride a bike is the stunning take away quote from that article for me.

The Killer Driver Helen Measures case is up there alongside the Killer Driver Gail Purcell case for making you pull your hair out… 

 

Fixed that for you

[brooksby]

IanMSpencer wrote:

IanMSpencer wrote:

The defending barrister blaming death on the boyfriend for getting her to ride a bike is the stunning take away quote from that article for me.

The Helen Measures case is up there alongside the Gail Purcell case for making you pull your hair out… 

[brooksby]

hawkinspeter wrote:

brooksby wrote:

https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/emergency-services/86044/woman-is-cleared-over-death-of-cyclist.html

“I can’t pre-empt everything that’s going to happen. If everybody had stayed upright there wouldn’t have been any issue.”

…and that’s why 1.5m is considered the minimum space to leave when overtaking cyclists

Exactly.  If that cyclist fell over sideways RIGHT NOW, would you run over them?  If the answer is yes, then you are too close to them.

[hawkinspeter]

IanMSpencer wrote:

IanMSpencer wrote:

The defending barrister blaming death on the boyfriend for getting her to ride a bike is the stunning take away quote from that article for me.

I can understand a defense barrister trying their utmost to get justice for their client, but I’d consider that kind of blame to be trying to pervert the course of justice, myself. You might as well blame her mum for giving birth to her – “she would never have been driven over and killed if she hadn’t been born at a very early age”.

[David9694]

Why, yes, yes she is.

Why, yes, yes she is.

[hawkinspeter]

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

She did……. for the cyclists she decided to overtake on the blind bend. It was the oncoming cyclists she didn’t “care about” giving space to. 

If only the Highway Code had recommendations about that:

Before overtaking you should make sure:

• the road is sufficiently clear ahead
• give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road

Again – overtaking on a blind bend would be a fail on a driving test – surely experienced drivers should be expected to not make such an obvious mistake. Quite why it doesn’t count as careless/dangerous is beyond me.

[IanMSpencer]

The defending barrister
The defending barrister blaming death on the boyfriend for getting her to ride a bike is the stunning take away quote from that article for me.

[Author]

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