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Live blog: Jenny Graham smashes round-the-world record, protest organised against lack of police action over spate of bike muggings in Manchester, new 3T Exploro + more
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Thu, Oct 18, 2018 14:34
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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.
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Latest Comments
HoarseMann 21 seconds ago
@eburtthebike full details of the judgement are online in a document called: Ruling-on-submissions-of-no-case-R-v-Davies-for-publication It doesn't make for great reading. Something about inconsistencies in the expert witness evidence and police case, but also a very odd comment that no jury would likely have experience of driving at 9mph for periods of time, nor of driving a golf buggy, so would have to rely on the expert evidence. I am not convinced about this argument at all. There is also the mention of an oncoming Biffa waste vehicle that distracted the golf buggy driver. In my opinion, and this is conjecture, I think the golf buggy driver was distracted, waving at his mate in the bin wagon coming towards him, then turned left into the side road without properly looking where he was going - because this road he was turning into is one-way, so he wouldn't expect anything to be coming out of it - nor did he expect a stationary cyclist just as he turned in. It was a turn he would have done many, many, times, being close to the main site depot. I can imagine the way they drive these golf buggies (which are speed limited to 9mph) is foot to the floor all the time, driving on the limiter, to make as much progress as possible. But yeah, cycle helmets :/ There's also a clue as to why the cyclist might have stopped here - a broken glass was found at the scene. Again, conjecture, but I suspect the cyclist noticed a glass on the ground and had stopped to pick it up.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@Bungle_52 Thanks for the extra information, I was wondering why the report made it sound as though the trial judge had found him not guilty. That sounds very dodgy on the part of Centre Parcs' staff, someone was (as it transpired) fatally wounded and they thought there was no need to include the police on the emergency call and cleared away all the evidence? Shocking failure to follow proper procedure and highly suspicious to boot.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@Rome73 No, 28mph is correct, Class 3 ebike, legally allowed in most states without licence or insurance, a mate of mine who works in Washington DC commutes on one. Some states have age restrictions of 16 or 17 and some mandate helmets for Class 3 riders. Throttle must cut out at 20mph so pedalling is required for the top speed.
Rome73 3 hours ago
I actually got to chat with an officer (metropolitan police) just a few weeks ago about reporting near misses. He was chatty so told me loads as he used to work on the road safety unit in London. Unfortunately I didn’t make notes or record the conversation - but he may have stopped talking at that point. Anyway, no surprise, it’s all to do with resources. I.e. there are none - it’s been stripped to the bone. As we were chatting illegal e-motorbikes were zipping past. What about those? I asked. Unless they are committing another offence - like going through a red light or stealing a phone we are told to ignore them. Otherwise, in London, we would never get further than 10 meters from the station before having to return to file a report. Other ‘horror stories’ he told me were things like the RSU having 6 officers to cover the whole of London! These are the officers who check for illegal private vehicles (no tax, insurance etc) Although he did say that ANPR does a lot of checking and prosecution. But only if they can find the legal owner, I pointed out. A real officer could make an arrest.
Bungle_52 3 hours ago
The details of the reasons the judge gave for directing the jury that there was no case to answer are two links out from the BBC article. I tried to post the link yesterday but it's still awaiting moderation. First click on the second link in the BBC article of the 16th Feb labelled "Buggy driver cleared after judge heard from expert", then click on the link lablelled "directed jurors to find him not guilty" which is near the top of the article. A quick summary as far as I can tell: the police were not called straight away because staff didn't think they needed to be involved. When the police finally arrived the two vehicles had been cleared from the scene and it was raining heavily thus a lot of evidence was lost. PC Knight took over the case from the acting PS who started the investigation. A reconstruction was arranged but the judge felt the the camera used to record this was placed incorrectly. Parts of PC Knight's testimony were successfully challenged by the defence. A sorry story from start to finish but not entirely the fault of the police.
Rome73 4 hours ago
A capped speed of 28mph - that’s fast. Does it mean kph? In the EU it is 26 kph. I think it should be more, 30kph for example.
bathcycleguy 5 hours ago
I only report on Avon & Somerset now, as they at least respond 90% of time, so I feel like it is worth it. I might see something outrageous in Wiltshire or TVP, but have learned it is a waste of my time. The general vibe is third party reporting is very under resourced.
StevenCrook 7 hours ago
Never met a 2x system I liked. Had to tolerate them because there was nothing else & mostly they're just duplicated gears. XPLR works for me, I don't race, don't do group rides, and with some practice I've widened my comfortable cadence to anywhere between 70-90, 85 being Goldilocks. I'll probably never go back to 2x. As for tyres, you can do a lot with gp5k astr. I have a set of the 35mm on Roval Terra cl III and they have been excellent, road and gravel.
Mybike 10 hours ago
My Cervelo with deep carbon wheels has been ridden on road gravel and dirt. its a bike ride it enjoy it Yes I also have a Gravel bike I ride just the same and a city bike too.
Chris RideFar 12 hours ago
@tomlew That's one (very insignificant) positive effect of global warming - I've noticed that the busy season for bike mechanics is now longer than it used to be. Obviously, I would still prefer it if global warming wasn't happening.
17 thoughts on “Live blog: Jenny Graham smashes round-the-world record, protest organised against lack of police action over spate of bike muggings in Manchester, new 3T Exploro + more”
I’ve always wanted my bike to
I’ve always wanted my bike to ride itself, leaving me to watch tele and get fat while notching up all those verifiable Strava miles
MarkiMark wrote:
it gives the autonomous cars something to aim at
From the Irish Article…..
From the Irish Article…..
“He told me he saw the cyclist ahead of him. He told me he saw the cyclist turn his head but the cyclist did not alter his position on the road,” Garda Vance said.
Ms Harrington, who was in the front seat, heard a bang and her husband realised the car had collided with the bicycle as they passed.
Mr Carney was not wearing a helmet or high visibility clothing, the court heard.
Forensic Collision Investigator Garda John Culleton said both the car and the bicycle were travelling in the same direction at a similar speed along Butterfield Park when the collision occurred.
“Both parties were travelling alongside and either could have encroached on the other. One moved towards the other and contact was made.
“I cannot say who made the contact between these vehicles. There was contact between both parties but I can’t say who made the manoeuvre that resulted in contact,” Garda Culleton said.
The jury of three women and three men returned a verdict of accidental death and made a recommendation that all cyclists wear helmets.
FFS!
Deeferdonk wrote:
Quite staggering. What else can be said?
Regarding the inquest verdict
Regarding the inquest verdict, despite the driver admitting he saw the cyclist and that the cyclist didn’t alter direction (read – didn’t get out of the way), the cyclist ends up dead despite what’s practically an admission of fault the old victim blaming should wear a helmet nonsense appears again. Not a word about drivers taking more care and overtaking safely.
The three men and three women of the jury should be made watch the effect of a ton+ of metal rolling over a foam hat (I’m not completely sadistic – I wouldn’t insist their heads be in it at the time) to see what utter pointless shite that is as a verdict
JMcL_Ireland wrote:
Clearly the three men and three women of the jury haven’t been told what a bicycle helmet is – and isn’t! – designed to help protect the wearer from…
brooksby wrote:
Spot on there!
77 years old, eh? Probably
77 years old, eh? Probably been driving the thick end of 60 years without any further scrutiny. Eyesight could be shot as well.
vonhelmet wrote:
In a fair and reasonable society, they would obviously have checked his eyesight at around the same time they checked that he wasn’t drunk etc.
Quote:
What is the possible relevance of this given that the motorist and his wife both admitted having seen him?
I saw the cyclist ahead of me
I saw the cyclist ahead of me and decided to run him over anyway.
On what informed basis, having regard to all the benefits and cons of a helmet did they come up with that recommendation?
How about recommending that drivers don’t run cyclists over? That drivers give an appropriate amount of room? That drivers don’t drive right next to a cyclist, maintaining the same speed?
Oh on their lack of facts basis, drivers of that age need to pass a retest and eye test before being allowed to drive.
hirsute wrote:
Ah, but remember: “the cyclist did not alter his position on the road“. Clearly his fault, then…
You wonder how it’s possible
You wonder how it’s possible to have a fatal accident on a residential street like this…
Until you look at google maps and see how it’s a great little rat-run parallel to a main road. Perfect if the rush hour traffic is bad and you’re running late on your way to the train station. Maybe…
Surely the police can tell
Surely the police can tell where the car hit him ? If the damage is at the front he’s just run him down.
If it’s the side it’s more complicated.
RIP fellow cyclist.
We’re not sure if he forced
We’re not sure if he forced his penis inside of her or whether due to his close proximity she fell onto his exposed penis, so accidental ‘relations’, the rape cannot be proven. The victim was wearing a low cut top, short skirt and was walking down a street minding her own business, we recommend long dresses, big baggy tops and chasisty belts for all women.
Fucking cunts.
Hopefully this gets taken to
Hopefully this gets taken to a court of appeal, with expert witnesses for the deceased. That summary of facts sounds like an admission of guilt to me
Professor Mingguo Zhao, who
Professor Mingguo Zhao, who led the team that developed the bike, said:“Our project is about how a bicycle can keep its balance like a human. We chose the most similar method to a human, making use of centrifugal force produced by controlling the handlebar to keep balance,”
Nope. No such thing as centrifugal force. What sort of professor makes that statement?