cyclist who knocked over and killed

My f...ing ass it could, from 18 mph.

Tests showed his bike would have taken at least 36ft to stop. A similar model with a front brake could have stopped in 12ft and a mountain bike in 9ft.
 
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Not seen it specifically mentioned but doing 18mph around Old Street on a weekday lunchtime seems nuts to me, and surely only doable carving between lines of traffic.
 
It's the whole attitude thing that does my box in.

Running red lights, weaving through traffic at speed (extreme filtering?), crossing junctions on the green man, not having brakes because it's cooler like that... It's all bollocks. These people need to grow up.

If you can't obey the law don't expect not to get hammered when you get involved in an incident.

These are tragic circumstances and selfishly I'm glad he was found not guilty of manslaughter, he does seem however, to deserve more than just a slap on the wrists.
 
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I've lived and worked in London for the last 18 years or so and have commuted by bike everyday across vast swathes of it since 2010. Cycling in London has boomed in London since 2012 and also with the more recent provision of cycling 'infrastructure'.

I've almost seen everything and nothing surprises me any more. I've kind of developed a sixth sense which is basically expecting that I will see or experience something stupid on the road, from any kind of user, and this has really sharpened my biking skills and my awareness. I don't actually have much bother with motorised traffic but I am staggered at how reckless, inconsiderate, impatient, arrogant and aggressive a lot of London cyclists seem to be. To be honest, I experience more trouble from cyclists than from any other road user. None of them seem to have any bike riding craft, most of them seem to have complete disregard for the Highway Code and have no idea how to behave out there. I can see why people have it in for cyclists as a bunch.

On my way back tonight, I had three run ins. I follow the south riverside of the Thames from Wandsworth Bridge up to Waterloo/South Bank. A lot of the riverside is footpath but gets used by cyclists and joggers on a mission, weaving fast between people on foot (residents, boat dwellers, families with kids, tourists, office workers). Some planters have been positioned at points across the path as barricades to slow cyclists. It's peaceful in the morning but I dread making this journey every evening.

The first cyclist took a swing at me as they went past me on a corner because they deemed me to be on the wrong side or in their way – firstly, it's a footpath, and secondly there's no correct side to be on as it's a footpath and everyone is all over the place on it. The second cyclist came up behind me and called me a twat because I'd slowed for a lady crossing the road in front of me. This was dual carriage road in the city centre now with plenty of road space and no traffic at that point. The third cyclist was a hipster on a Genesis – regulation coiffured hair, bushy beard, extensive forearm tattoo, lumberjack shirt, cropped legged jeans, big headphones (why do people wear headphones on a bike in the middle of traffic?). Traffic was queuing to get past a parked van so he swerved in front of me and on to the pavement to get past everything, scattering people on foot.

Something has gone very wrong somewhere along the line with the attitudes and behaviour of a growing number of 'cyclists'.

Today's verdict of "guilty of causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving" may potentially have future implications on cycling. Although the defendant seemed to be another arrogant dick on a flash bike, I do feel there's also been an element of negative spin through the case which will do cyclists as whole no favours and only entrench opinion against 'us'.
 
Sadly, I have to agree with everything Groovyblueshed says above.

The wanton or furious driving conviction does concern me for what its precedence may lead to, but if you're riding a bike legally, it should be very difficult to apply.
 
If that's how it is out there I hope we see a few more regulations/prosecutions.
 
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Errrm, not sure if anyone noticed, but there are one or two people who... now hold on to your seat here, don't live in LONDON.

I predict that this guy is going to get a heavy sentence, and probably rightly so, but it will be completely disproportionate to the sentences routinely handed to drivers who have killed. Because of the level of media coverage, this case also has the potential to, or probably already has raised the hackles of the bike haters Nationwide and that's the bit that worries me the most.

I ride a lot on the road, I experience all sorts on nonsense from car / van / lorry drivers and also some pretty good behaviour too. Thus far I have never had one of those 'you cyclists' conversations, but the chances of that happening have just ramped up, because of an idiot rider in London, a place I refuse to drive through, let alone cycle.
 
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It's on C5 Wright Stuff at the moment.


Me, hopefully it's a wake up call for nob head cyclists and yes that needs cracking down on.
Ignore the deaths part of it, just the social part of it.
 
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This is a weird one, because as cyclists, we are accustomed to aligning our sympathies with the vulnerable soft in the path of something fast and hard, rather than with the righteous (auto)pilot of something fast and hard which finds something vulnerable and soft unexpectedly in its path.

But then there has been a lot of animus against 'fixies' around here- and against cyclists in general elsewhere- which could be interpreted as envy (with rationalisations) based on the fact that, taken as a group, 'they' are likely to be younger, leaner, faster, fitter and freer than 'us'.

And let's not forget that fixie culture has its roots in a competitive fast delivery market that more or less obliges couriers in any size of vehicle to routinely break the law if they wish to remain economically viable- i.e. the 'problem' is systemic, with periodic victims, witch hunts, and scapegoats. And couriers are of course far from being the only people who are harried to distraction, and often distracted, in their day-to-day affairs.

Just to say that circumstance could place any of us in the position of being the vulnerable soft in the path of something fast and hard, or of being the righteous (auto)pilot of something fast and hard which finds something vulnerable and soft unexpectedly in its path. Or indeed of being the hard and stationary in the path of something soft and fast, or the soft and fast which finds something hard and stationary unexpectedly in its path. Whatever the iteration, psychopaths apart, the result is traumatic for all surviving parties.

So...you know.. I'd say: "judge ye not lest you also be judged", except I'd also like to say that self-appointed 'Remorse Police' are creepier than the Inquisition. Some people cannot make overt displays of emotion in a manner or at an intensity that will satisfy neurotypicals. That doesn't mean they don't feel emotions. Such people can be distinguished from psychopaths, who are adept at mimicking an appropriate display of emotion, while feeling nothing.
 
When it rained an old London colleague of mine, Jim Ronayne, would say "could be pizza tonight.........."
 
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