A motorist charged with causing the death of a cyclist through dangerous driving failed to apply emergency braking or take evasive action during the fatal collision, a court in Livingston has heard.
In August 2019 66-year-old Iain Anderson, from Glenrothes, was killed in a collision involving a Nissan Cabstar flatbed truck while riding his electric bike on the B937 near Ladybank. He died at the scene from serious head injuries.
80-year-old Adam Fernie has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving. According to an experienced accident investigator, no emergency braking was applied to Fernie’s van before it collided with the cyclist.
While the locked wheel of Anderson’s e-bike left a tyre mark at the scene of the incident, the investigator said no tyre marks attributable to the Nissan were found. This was despite tests carried out on the vehicle after the collision which proved that its front service brakes were capable of locking the wheels, which would have left marks on the road.
The investigator claimed that the damage to both the bike and the van, including a smashed windscreen and damage to the internal dashboard, was consistent with a collision between the cyclist and driver. He also concluded that the bike contained no defects which may contributed to the incident.
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As well as causing death by dangerous driving, Fernie is charged with failing to stop after the incident, failing to give his name and address to any person with reasonable grounds for asking, failing to identify the vehicle’s owner, and failing to provide the identification mark of the vehicle.
The court heard earlier this week that, after driving a further 100 yards up the road, Fernie turned around to attend the scene. A bus driver, who captured footage of the incident on his dashcam and rushed to help the stricken cyclist along with another passer-by, claimed that he heard the motorist say that he didn’t see the bike rider “because the sun was in his eyes”.
Fernie faces another charge of driving his van in dangerous condition. According to the prosecution, at the time of the collision, the truck included a seized brake, a loose handbrake cable, a missing wheel nut, a worn track rod ball joint, a noisy wheel bearing, a missing fuel filler cap, and a fractured fuel tank strap. He denies the charges.
Don't forget their insurance will double or even triple for the next few years...
That Trondheim lift is pretty cool, tbh. It is very niche, going up a killer short hill to a residential area.
Thank-you. It says "compactable" - does that means it folds?...
All that glisters...there's an awful lot of fake Rapha kit available, not got any myself but from the photographs online it looks pretty...
That's all well and good but in now point during the video are you in the centre of the lane
A few snaps from the P-R sportive....
Yeah just block the footway mr policeman, that won't increase risk for pedestrians. Are they incapable of parking somewhere safe ?
Car damaged after crashing into house in Hereford street...
Yeah, I can't find any authoritative studies from a quick search. Anecdotally, EV owners are wearing through tyres quicker than with ICE vehicles...
If you're interested, Westbrook Cycles have them down to £140 already, albeit in a very limited range of sizes.