[Update] Cyclist convicted of "wanton and furious driving"
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40927791


Will hopefully be found guilty of manslaughter

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Some bike owners will rush to defend him you can bet. Cyclist's never do anything wrong on the road just look at how they all obey the law and stop at red lights :rolleyes:

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

He's certainly at fault by using an illegal bike with no front brakes but if she's a mobile phone Zombie then there's blame on both sides.

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Yeah but they're not a danger to anyone else... :rolleyes:

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Well the CCTV should answer that issue

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

You can be assured of that.

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Sounds like pure chance she didn't kill him. Stands to reason if you're going to get in the way of a faster moving person who has right of way, you might come off worse. Just because he survived and she didn't, should give her actions and those of others a free pass.

If he been able to brake and in time, but was killed in the process(eg sent flying by applying the front brakes, it can happen), what are the chances that she would have been prosecuted?

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

What stands to reason is that if you're going to cycle on public roads you do it on a legal bike equipped with functioning brakes. What she did/didn't do doesn't absolve him of responsibility for that and who knows what would have happened 'if'? If she's shown to have acted negligently and contributed to the accident then I'm sure that'll be taken into account by the court.

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Would having brakes have made any difference? At the moment it just seems to be a pronouncement by the prosecution. Even if he had had brakes, she could have just as easily crossed too near to him. He could have just as easily have been injured or even killed by having to brake. Their heads collided, so he could have been killed instead.

Not sure how there can be any doubt as to whether she was to blame. She crossed the road, 30ft from the crossing.

She IS being absolved of any responsibility by the comments AND by the court case.

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Used to be the case in this country that if someone died whilst you were doing something not legal you'd get done for their death. I know old street very well and wouldn't drive more than 20 either side of the roundabout

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

So are you saying that this bloke wasn't in any way blameworthy given he was riding without breaks?

I certainly hope not. What kind of idiot would do that? He was putting his own life and everyone else's in danger.

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Some more info about this cretin

http://news.sky.com/story/crash-cycl...hears-10989512

Why would he change the wheels unless he knew they were illegal ?

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

I assume by your comment you've ridden a fixed gear bicycle, more later on that.

By your argument a pedestrian who walks out in front of a vehicle and is killed is at fault. There's a law that covers that. It's called driving without due care and attention! In other words be aware of your surroundings and expect the unexpected and be able to stop if necessary.

To get back to the fixed gear bike I used to have one when I was 14yrs old so I know what can and can't be done with them. The front break isn't the only means of breaking and unless you are going downhill "hell for leather" you'd be surprised at the short distance you can stop. Putting your weight on the upward pedal causes a breaking force to be applied to the rear wheel so a front break isn't the sole means of breaking and would prevent "going over the top".

"Why don't velodrome riders use this method to stop after a race?"

1) They've expended that much energy in the race they just want to relax.

2) Vanity as they'd look like horses on a carousel.

Bottom line, he could have stopped, tried to cover it up by changing wheels, prosecute to the extent the law allows!

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Impossible to comment accurately without access to all the evidence other than this is a tragic occurrence. A bit soon to be hanging anyone just yet though :rolleyes: He may have changed the wheels because of damage during the accident and shouting after a traumatic crash isn't an unexpected human reaction.

Oh, and it's 'brake' not 'break' and 'braking' not 'breaking'. You ol' timers. Sigh ;)

Re: What an obnoxious piece of work.....
 

Typical that the argument ends up on how something is spelt :rolleyes: