Sussex Police seek hit-and-run horsebox driver who left two cyclists injured

You would have hoped that this sort of driver would be on our side considering their hobby.

This incident highlights a very common problem. If a vehicle collides with a cyclist, drivers don't see it as a reportable incident. If the 2 cars had collided they I bet they would have stopped and exchanged details.

The driver who was coming the other way should, if found, prosecuted they were part of the incident and left the scene of an accident.

I've seen some reports on here but I'm shocked that drivers are leaving accidents because they are not taking cyclist seriously.

very, very typical of these horse-owning discovery or range rover drivers, this doesn't surprise me at all, unfortunately.

could be right about effects of the bbc documentary, too.

There seemed to be an unusually large number of antsy drivers out last weekend. I was cut up twice within 5 minutes on Sunday. A gift to cyclists from the BBC as a result of screening War on Britain's Roads last week?

Most people seem to have short memories, so maybe they will calm down again by Christmas.

Good point AV - on my commute to my old job in Woolwich I used to cycle thru Blackheath. As I cycled up the top of the hill, the road narrowed considerably. After several occasions when buses or trucks started overtaking and then cut in due to an oncoming vehicle, I'd ride way out from the kerb and really claim the lane until the dangerous narrow point had been passed. I did have a tailback of vehicles behind for this short stretch and I'm sure the drivers were fuming at the 30 second delay to their timetable but it was certainly safer for me. And to be honest, if they cared so much about journey times they certainly wouldn't have used a car on that route. I regularly used to pass a colleague at New Cross, wave to him as he sat amidst traffic, and then be in the office a full 15 minutes before he got there. When I pointed out that he'd be quicker cycling he complained he lived too far away but he then said his journey was only 10 miles, and I answered that it was the same as mine. But he was on the portly side and the prospect of exercise wasn't one he probably relished.

In this incident with the horse trailer, it is possible the trailer was being stolen. It's also possible the driver simply forgot about the cyclists as soon as he/she had passed them. It is a common problem amongst drivers of longer vehicles. Towing trailers does require some additional driving skills and clearly, the person involved in this incident didn't have them. It's very lucky indeed that the cyclists weren't more serioussly injured and hopefully the one with the worst injury will recover. Perhaps the driver will be caught, perhaps not. Had the driver of the oncoming vehicle been as helpful as the couple in the BMW, it's entirely likely the idiot in the 4x4 would have been tracked.

The facility to tow a trailer for a standard category D licence is actually limited, with grandfather rights exceptions for Category E) but rarely checked for the private motorist. Many tow trailers too heavy for the towing vehicle, and fail to display the gross weights as required by law.

Chances are that the driver of the vehicle will be totally unaware that the incident occurred as the impact would have been when the impact zone would not be visible through the rear view mirrors. Trailer angled for a right turn of the steering as the vehicle pulled in.

The trailer may well be marked from the impact and the bikes may well be carrying paint from the trailer.

Motorists being creatures of habit you might find that this was a regular trip to take horses to & from pasture, or to winter livery stables.

There is one key detail of self preservation here, and one which I've seen others nearly hit through failure to observe. Do not ride so close to the nearside that the dangerous fools even consider overtaking, when you are not happy about your safety in this move. Be well aware of the vehicles behind AND oncoming on single carriageway roads. Watch Magnatom's encounter with the Tesco van and see how he blocks the first very dangerous move, and from his road position has plenty of space on the nearside to react when the driver again overtakes crossing the double solid lines and again nearly runs head-on into an oncoming vehicle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iGXfP9KMPcM On roads like this it is in your own interest to be highly pro-active.

All those traffic islands that now litter the middle of so many urban roads at crossing points and within so called traffic calmed areas!!! They are a real nightmare, cars, lorry’s, buses, you name it play Russian roulette – can they beat you to the narrows first? To save them self 20 seconds, or they will try the - If pass with cm to spare we will fit approach! I hate it

I was clipped but a trailer once, I freaking hate the things and they are often wider than the vehicle. why the snizzle people cant wait 30 seconds is beyond me.

'Hope they get the guy and prosecute to the full capacity of the law.'
It was a woman horse box driver who nearly did for me once, it could have been a woman.

There's a small possibility that the horse box was stolen, which would account for the hasty behaviour of the driver of the 4x4 and them not stopping. An assumption though...
Hope they get the guy and prosecute to the full capacity of the law.

I'm getting sick and tired of reading about cyclists getting injured and killed by motorists. Things need to change.

This is one of the most common acts of dangerous driving I see (I rarely ride in built up areas) - drivers overtaking when the gap is too small/road is blind, only to slam on the brakes and swerve into the side of the road when they finally realize they've misjudged it.

Scary

There but for the grace of god and all that.