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Cyclists to be awarded equality with motorists.

Apparently she did a lot of crying & wrote a gushing self serving letter to my friend, he refused to see it or meet her for obvious reasons. To rub salt in his wounds further the police also sent him a patronising letter as to how ‘driver education’ was more important than ‘prosecution’.
How does your friend know the driver’s letter was ‘gushing’ and ‘self serving’ if he refused to read it? And if the police judge that the objective of improving road safety is better served by driver education rather than punishment, that’s a justifiable decision IMV. You and your friend may wish for retribution but if the circumstances show that it was a genuine error, what is there to punish?
 
Cyclist knocked off bike, nearly killed, among other things he suffered the following:

Fractured Skull
Broken Elbow
Compound Fracture of the tib/fib, 7 pieces below the knee. Had to wear a cage for 18months & was off work for over a year.
Suffers from panic attacks & has had 6 months of therapy
Has life changing injuries, leg still wonky, cannot fully extend arm.

He’s had a pretty terrible two years, thankfully he was a member of British Cycling which offer superb 3rd party insurance so he & his employer were able to claim against drivers insurance for injury & loss of earnings.

Police, on informing his wife of situation wanted to know if he was wearing hi-viz which I find pretty appalling but there you go.

So, driver admitted responsibility, police were at the scene etc. What do you think is a far outcome in terms of criminal action? Here are 3 options:

A) 6 points, fine
B) Driving Ban, fine
C) Driver awareness course, no fine

The police often want nothing to do with it. I was knocked off and hurt quite badly (no actual broken bones) a few years ago by some idiot in a van who didn’t look before joining a roundabout. The police didn’t press charges, but I lawyered-up and hobbled away with £6k without having to attend court (i.e. the drivers side knew damn well he’d lose as he was so clearly in the wrong they settled out of court). Police not interested; no points, no penalties, he will still be driving with a clean license.
 
5 years ago whilst walking on Sutton Bank I was on the right side of the road, two cyclists coming downhill missed me by inches, they were travelling faster than I would have in a car. Had they hit me, doesn't bear thinking about. What did stike me is they were not riding in consideration of other road users (me as a pedestrian) or their ability to anticipate the need to stop in an emergancy.

Once very 5 years? Happens to me with a car every single time I go for a bike ride.
 
How does your friend know the driver’s letter was ‘gushing’ and ‘self serving’ if he refused to read it? And if the police judge that the objective of improving road safety is better served by driver education rather than punishment, that’s a justifiable decision IMV. You and your friend may wish for retribution but if the circumstances show that it was a genuine error, what is there to punish?
You're right, sending drivers to jail doesn't reduce harm. I suspect lifetime driving bans would be far more effective.
 
If someone maims or kills another person what does it matter the weapon they use if they are being reckless? Treat the perpetrators the same. Cases with cyclists will surely usually be much rarer than those concerning motorists but treat them equally.
 
The police often want nothing to do with it. I was knocked off and hurt quite badly (no actual broken bones) a few years ago by some idiot in a van who didn’t look before joining a roundabout. The police didn’t press charges, but I lawyered-up and hobbled away with £6k without having to attend court (i.e. the drivers side knew damn well he’d lose as he was so clearly in the wrong they settled out of court). Police not interested; no points, no penalties, he will still be driving with a clean license.
Did the Police give a reason they would not prosecute? You were involved in an RTA and injured, surely the van driver had a case to answer.
 
The police often want nothing to do with it. I was knocked off and hurt quite badly (no actual broken bones) a few years ago by some idiot in a van who didn’t look before joining a roundabout. The police didn’t press charges, but I lawyered-up and hobbled away with £6k without having to attend court (i.e. the drivers side knew damn well he’d lose as he was so clearly in the wrong they settled out of court). Police not interested; no points, no penalties, he will still be driving with a clean license.
That's unusual if you have witnesses, which I assume you did of you got the payout, although you often have to get the witness details yourself. IIRC, you were pretty badly knocked about and the process can require one to be a bit stubborn and committed to see it through.

I got knocked off by a taxi driver a few years ago. Not looking where he was going. I had to get the names of the witnesses myself and give them to the police. Eventually, after I a lot oif chasing progreess, he got 6 points which, on top of the points he already had, landed him with a 6 month ban. Hopefully he now looks where he's going. I donlt know if it would have made it's way to the top of the pile had I not been persistent.
 
I think it does help to cycle defensively / carefully. For example over the last 10 years ive had NO run ins with drivers, and thats London.
Yes there s been a few cases of close passes / bad driving, but generally not too bad. Some cyclists and drivers seem very
AGGRESSIVE.... If you look for confrontation.... you will find it
 
My friend was actually ‘lucky’ as a passing Dr straightened his leg/ankle out to keep the blood flow stable, otherwise he would have lost his foot.
 
I think it does help to cycle defensively / carefully. For example over the last 10 years ive had NO run ins with drivers, and thats London.
^^this. I cycle, albeit not regularly, and I use my anticipation skills (learned as a driver) to read the road and the moves of the other drivers. It's not infallible, obvs, but I've avoided a number of potential 'situations' just by not being in the place where it might have happened. Whenever I read about a cyclist being killed by a lorry turning left, I wonder whether the cyclist could have helped themselves by not moving up the blind side of a lorry at a junction. IME lorry drivers aren't like BMW drivers - they do tend to use their indicators, and otherwise signal their intentions by their road positioning. You need to learn to read the signs.
 
^^this. I cycle, albeit not regularly, and I use my anticipation skills (learned as a driver) to read the road and the moves of the other drivers. It's not infallible, obvs, but I've avoided a number of potential 'situations' just by not being in the place where it might have happened. Whenever I read about a cyclist being killed by a lorry turning left, I wonder whether the cyclist could have helped themselves by not moving up the blind side of a lorry at a junction. IME lorry drivers aren't like BMW drivers - they do tend to use their indicators, and otherwise signal their intentions by their road positioning. You need to learn to read the signs.
You type very quickly my friend !. Would have taken me 30 mins to compose that. Yes, blindside cycling involving vans / lorries is a big problem me thinks
 
Did the Police give a reason they would not prosecute? You were involved in an RTA and injured, surely the van driver had a case to answer.

They cited no CCTV as the main reason. The only witness who came forward was known to the van driver (it was outside a pub he frequented). The damage to both the bike and myself proved my story. Basic physics proved it couldn’t have happened any other way than how I described it. Not enough for the police though. I left in an ambulance so didn’t have the opportunity to interview anyone who might have been in the area. A randomly passing nurse helped me hugely, though she saw nothing of the accident.

PS I do resent the police for this. The very fact the drivers side settled out of court for almost our whole claim proved that it was legitimate. IIRC I might have taken another £500 had I gone through the ordeal of a court appearance (I didn’t want to, I was just too stressed and annoyed by the whole thing to worry about that low a figure). Had they thought they could win they’d have fought it. I was using a no-win/no-fee lawyer (Slater Gordon), so I assume they actually paid out a lot more than I eventually saw.
 
It never went to court. The police decided that a driver awareness course was sufficient.

Thanks for clarifying. That decision is not made without recourse to a set of guidelines, including how to assess if the driver was criminally negligent or deliberate in their actions etc. That will only be taken up by fully weighing up the entire set of facts, which you probably aren't privy to.
 
PS I do resent the police for this. The very fact the drivers side settled out of court for almost our whole claim proved that it was legitimate. IIRC I might have taken another £500 had I gone through the ordeal of a court appearance (I didn’t want to, I was just too stressed and annoyed by the whole thing to worry about that low a figure). Had they thought they could win they’d have fought it. I was using a no-win/no-fee lawyer (Slater Gordon), so I assume they actually paid out a lot more than I eventually saw.

Agreeing an out of court settlement has nothing to do with the police. That would have been agreed between solicitors, possibly with the drivers insurers wanting to avoid costly barristers and the like.
 


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