Police appeal following New Year cyclist fatality

TheRealWorld wrote:

This is very sad and my thoughts go out to his family and all those involved.

I know this chap who was killed and I also know how much he had to drink that day before leaving Abingdon on his bike to head to Marcham. This particular stretch of road is 60mph where there is no street lighting but there is a fairly decent shared cycle/pedestrian path. By some accounts the collision occurred in the middle of the road.

I do feel that, in this case, the (currently) unsupported suggestions that it was the car driver’s fault are a bit unfair and rash conclusions should not be drawn so quickly.

As responsible road users we should all be aware of the effects that alcohol can cause when getting on two wheels.

Are your comments about the amount of alcohol allegedly consumed based on hearsay or supported evidence?  By making these comments you have behaved in the same way as those posters you are complaining about. Also, you seem to be trying to put the blame onto the cyclist. As you yourself said,  wait until further information is released before making any judgements on this tragic case.

I know how much was consumed, I know what state he was in when he was asked to leave the pub.

The point I was making here was that alcohol doesn't mix with any type of road use, even two wheels.

Mark By wrote:

TheRealWorld wrote:

This is very sad and my thoughts go out to his family and all those involved.

I know this chap who was killed and I also know how much he had to drink that day before leaving Abingdon on his bike to head to Marcham. This particular stretch of road is 60mph where there is no street lighting but there is a fairly decent shared cycle/pedestrian path. By some accounts the collision occurred in the middle of the road.

I do feel that, in this case, the (currently) unsupported suggestions that it was the car driver’s fault are a bit unfair and rash conclusions should not be drawn so quickly.

As responsible road users we should all be aware of the effects that alcohol can cause when getting on two wheels.

Are your comments about the amount of alcohol allegedly consumed based on hearsay or supported evidence?  By making these comments you have behaved in the same way as those posters you are complaining about. Also, you seem to be trying to put the blame onto the cyclist. As you yourself said,  wait until further information is released before making any judgements on this tragic case.

TheRealWorld wrote:

So did you intervene and offer him any advice?

I know how much was consumed, I know what state he was in when he was asked to leave the pub.

The point I was making here was that alcohol doesn't mix with any type of road use, even two wheels.

 

Mark By wrote:

TheRealWorld wrote:

This is very sad and my thoughts go out to his family and all those involved.

I know this chap who was killed and I also know how much he had to drink that day before leaving Abingdon on his bike to head to Marcham. This particular stretch of road is 60mph where there is no street lighting but there is a fairly decent shared cycle/pedestrian path. By some accounts the collision occurred in the middle of the road.

I do feel that, in this case, the (currently) unsupported suggestions that it was the car driver’s fault are a bit unfair and rash conclusions should not be drawn so quickly.

As responsible road users we should all be aware of the effects that alcohol can cause when getting on two wheels.

Are your comments about the amount of alcohol allegedly consumed based on hearsay or supported evidence?  By making these comments you have behaved in the same way as those posters you are complaining about. Also, you seem to be trying to put the blame onto the cyclist. As you yourself said,  wait until further information is released before making any judgements on this tragic case.

Mark By wrote:

So did you intervene and offer him any advice?

Unfortunately I was not there when he left but you can be assured that I would have done my best to prevent him from cycling. I (with my young son) have witnessed someone who was so drunk while cycling on the pavement, they fell off their bike into oncoming traffic and landing on a car as it drove past. Believe me, this is not something that you want or need to see.

Apart from this, who has put you as the vigilante leader who can question whether I can give advice about using the road while drunk?

TheRealWorld wrote:

...who has put you as the vigilante leader who can question whether I can give advice about using the road while drunk?

1 it doesn't appear anyone (including himself) has made him leader of a section of comments on an internet page.

2 you need to familiarise yourself with what 'vigilante' means.

3 calling you out for speculating about the cause of an accident while you're calling others out for speculating about the cause of the accident is spot on.

TheRealWorld wrote:

Mark By wrote:

So did you intervene and offer him any advice?

Unfortunately I was not there when he left but you can be assured that I would have done my best to prevent him from cycling. I (with my young son) have witnessed someone who was so drunk while cycling on the pavement, they fell off their bike into oncoming traffic and landing on a car as it drove past. Believe me, this is not something that you want or need to see.

Apart from this, who has put you as the vigilante leader who can question whether I can give advice about using the road while drunk?

Have you passed this information onto the police? If not then why not?

If you are a genuine witness then are you sure that putting this evidence into the public eye is legally allowed in an ongoing police enquiry?

Finally,  if you saw someone who was clearly drunk  and going to drive away from the pub would you just let them go?

TheRealWorld wrote:

 By some accounts the collision occurred in the middle of the road.

One reasonable interpretation of this could be there are also some accounts that the collision was'nt in the middle of the road.

Edgeley wrote:

That is a crap bit of road that I use frequently.  Cars come off the A34, which is essentially a motorway, and then go far too fast on the Marcham Road, which is (among other things) a short cut between the A34 and the A420 Swindon Road.

There's a shared use cycle path all the way into Marcham from Abingdon on the A415. I don't think I've ever seen a cyclist not use this path so I expect the driver mounted the kerb.  Condolences.

Regarding the case near Dorchester. The first report in the Dorset Echo clearly stated that the cyclist was struck from behind, which was a very big hint as to who was to blame.  There are several issues with the handling of this case which I understand the CTC  Road Justice Campaign are dealing with.  One being that according to the police the driver would have had at least 7 seconds to see Paul Miller. That stretch of road is straight and clear. There has been no explanation, to my knowledge, of what the driver was doing in that 7 seconds.

Regarding the case reported here,  probably only complaints from the victim's family and friends in the local media, including the TV, will change the way the police, and press, have reported this case.

ooldbaker wrote:

We've just had the court case for a similar accident this time last year when a local headmaster was killed by a driver not seeing him and driving straight into him.

http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Man-sentenced-crash-killed-popular-headteacher/story-28299336-detail/story.html

The police went one step further when the incident was first described as "a cyclist being fatally injured after being in collision with one or more vehicles". There never was more than just the one.  I suppose it insulates the guilty (yes he was convicted) even more from any blame and makes it sound as if the victim was really asking to be struck.

http://road.cc/content/news/140148-sixth-fatality-2015-cyclist-killed-crash-a37

This wording was taken by the local press and taken one step further to say that the cyclist had injured more than one person. Again there was only one and his only injuries were only  the mental trauma of his own actions.

There is a whole industry involved in ensuring that drivers are absolved from any responsibility in incidents. You hear police witnesses describing the appalling conditions drivers put up with when in fact there was in reality a little drizzle.  Another local coroner recently stated that "it would have been impossible for Mr x or any others driving on that road to steer or break to avoid her." because of foggy conditions ignoring the fact that the driver had been drinking, awake for 19 1/2 hours, should have slowed due to the prevailing conditions, and had left the scene of the fatality.

http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/12967264.Lack_of_street_lighting_a_factor_in_death_of_Melksham_woman__inquest_hears/