Since it’s my first live blog shift in over a week (it’s great to be back…), I thought I’d start the morning by flicking through the latest questionable cycling – or, to be more exact, anti-cycling – takes filling up the pages of this week’
s local newspapers.

And over in Swindon, a collision between a motorist and a cyclist on a busy major roundabout, which left the rider with a broken leg, has rather inevitably prompted the driver to contact the Advertiser (link is external)… to complain about the police’
s “shocking” failure to prosecute the cyclist for damaging her car.

You couldn’t make it up.

According to the driver, the collision happened on the Wiltshire town’s Gablecross roundabout on 9 January, when she claims the cyclist hit the side of her vehicle.

“I heard the most horrendous noise and felt a bang on the passenger side of my car and I was horrified at the time,” she told the Swindon Advertiser (link is external).

“I was breathalysed and it showed nothing, but the police didn’t take a statement off of me at all and purely went from the dash cam footage.

“It is disgusting as the cyclist was riding illegally with no lights on at all.”

Wiltshire Police, who did not take action against either party, also confirmed that the 19-year-old cyclist involved in the crash suffered a serious leg injury.

Not that our caring, conscientious motorist noticed too much, telling the Advertiser that she had to fork out £700 to pay for the damage to her car, in order to protect her insurance policy’s no claims bonus.

Money that could have been spent, clearly, on a few games of anti-cycling bingo.

“I want awareness to be put out there that this sort of thing can occur,” she added.

“I’m concerned that the people who use bikes for work don’t spend money on protective clothing and lights. He wasn’t even wearing a helmet, dark clothing, it is reckless.

“I’m upset and I’m more wary of driving now and it’s something that could have been totally avoided.

“The police response is absolutely shocking and no prosecution has happened, and instead, I’ve had to fork out for my own car’s insurance. I have found the whole experience harrowing.”

Imagine, just imagine, how the person with the broken leg must feel…

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-4-may-2023-301019#live-blog-item-45341

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So the cyclist in this story was…

on a roundabout
at night
wearing dark clothes
had no lights

These are the official figures:

Cyclists:

Roundabout
4.3% killed
10.9% seriously injured
11.6% slightly injured.

Rider wearing dark clothing
573 Fatal or Serious Collision

Not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility
367 Fatal or Serious Collision

Looks like he got off lightly, not even fined for no lights.

You couldn’t make it up.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Since it’s my first live blog shift in over a week (it’s great to be back…), I thought I’d start the morning by flicking through the latest questionable cycling – or, to be more exact, anti-cycling – takes filling up the pages of this week’s local newspapers.

And over in Swindon, a collision between a motorist and a cyclist on a
busy major roundabout, which left the rider with a broken leg, has rather inevitably prompted the driver to contact the Advertiser (link is external)… to complain about the police’s “shocking” failure to prosecute
the cyclist for damaging her car.

You couldn’t make it up.

According to the driver, the collision happened on the Wiltshire town’s Gablecross roundabout on 9 January, when she claims the cyclist hit the
side of her vehicle.

“I heard the most horrendous noise and felt a bang on the passenger side
of my car and I was horrified at the time,” she told the Swindon
Advertiser (link is external).

“I was breathalysed and it showed nothing, but the police didn’t take a statement off of me at all and purely went from the dash cam footage.

“It is disgusting as the cyclist was riding illegally with no lights on at all.”

Wiltshire Police, who did not take action against either party, also confirmed that the 19-year-old cyclist involved in the crash suffered a serious leg injury.

Not that our caring, conscientious motorist noticed too much, telling the Advertiser that she had to fork out £700 to pay for the damage to her
car, in order to protect her insurance policy’s no claims bonus.

Money that could have been spent, clearly, on a few games of anti-cycling bingo.

“I want awareness to be put out there that this sort of thing can occur,” she added.

“I’m concerned that the people who use bikes for work don’t spend money on protective clothing and lights. He wasn’t even wearing a helmet, dark clothing, it is reckless.

“I’m upset and I’m more wary of driving now and it’s something that could
have been totally avoided.

“The police response is absolutely shocking and no prosecution has happened, and instead, I’ve had to fork out for my own car’s insurance. I have found the whole experience harrowing.”

Claim against the cyclist, dear, you don’t need to go through your
insurance company, although it would be wise to tell them.

Imagine, just imagine, how the person with the broken leg must feel…

Lucky that his careless and illegal riding didn’t get him fined or killed?

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-4-may-2023-301019#live-blog-item-45341

--
Spike

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QUOTE: “I’m upset and I’m more wary of driving now. ENDS

Yup - maybe now you understand why the cops didn't see it the way you hoped.

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swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

QUOTE: “I’m upset and I’m more wary of driving now. ENDS

Yup - maybe now you understand why the cops didn't see it the way you hoped.

All fairly clear:

QUOTE

“I heard the most horrendous noise and felt a bang on the passenger side of my car and I was horrified at the time,” she told the Swindon Advertiser (link is external).

“I was breathalysed and it showed nothing, but the police didn’t take a statement off of me at all and purely went from the dash cam footage.

“It is disgusting as the cyclist was riding illegally with no lights on at all.”

ENDQUOTE

--
Spike

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On 04/05/2023 11:25 am, Spike wrote:

So the cyclist in this story was…

on a roundabout
at night
wearing dark clothes
had no lights

These are the official figures:

Cyclists:

Roundabout
4.3% killed
10.9% seriously injured
11.6% slightly injured.

Rider wearing dark clothing
573 Fatal or Serious Collision

Not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility
367 Fatal or Serious Collision

Looks like he got off lightly, not even fined for no lights.

You couldn’t make it up.

But... but... but...

Conforming with the rules and/or advice on fairy-bike lights and brakes
and the wearing of light-coloured clothing makes you look like a... tit!

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

Since it’s my first live blog shift in over a week (it’s great to be
back…), I thought I’d start the morning by flicking through the latest >> questionable cycling – or, to be more exact, anti-cycling – takes filling
up the pages of this week’s local newspapers.

And over in Swindon, a collision between a motorist and a cyclist on a
busy major roundabout, which left the rider with a broken leg, has rather
inevitably prompted the driver to contact the Advertiser (link is
external)… to complain about the police’s “shocking” failure to prosecute
the cyclist for damaging her car.

You couldn’t make it up.

According to the driver, the collision happened on the Wiltshire town’s
Gablecross roundabout on 9 January, when she claims the cyclist hit the
side of her vehicle.

“I heard the most horrendous noise and felt a bang on the passenger side >> of my car and I was horrified at the time,” she told the Swindon
Advertiser (link is external).

“I was breathalysed and it showed nothing, but the police didn’t take a >> statement off of me at all and purely went from the dash cam footage.

“It is disgusting as the cyclist was riding illegally with no lights on at all.”

Wiltshire Police, who did not take action against either party, also
confirmed that the 19-year-old cyclist involved in the crash suffered a serious leg injury.

Not that our caring, conscientious motorist noticed too much, telling the
Advertiser that she had to fork out £700 to pay for the damage to her
car, in order to protect her insurance policy’s no claims bonus.

Money that could have been spent, clearly, on a few games of anti-cycling bingo.

“I want awareness to be put out there that this sort of thing can occur,” she added.

“I’m concerned that the people who use bikes for work don’t spend money
on protective clothing and lights. He wasn’t even wearing a helmet, dark >> clothing, it is reckless.

“I’m upset and I’m more wary of driving now and it’s something that could
have been totally avoided.

“The police response is absolutely shocking and no prosecution has
happened, and instead, I’ve had to fork out for my own car’s insurance. I
have found the whole experience harrowing.”

Claim against the cyclist, dear, you don’t need to go through your insurance company, although it would be wise to tell them.

Imagine, just imagine, how the person with the broken leg must feel…

Lucky that his careless and illegal riding didn’t get him fined or killed?

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-4-may-2023-301019#live-blog-item-45341

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Are we in a state where every road traffic collision results in a prosecution? I was not aware of this, I understood this was normally a civil matter and dealt with by insurance.

Back to the incident, the cyclist collided with the passenger side of the car, three ways a collision can occur at a roundabout

1) vehicle enters roundabout and collides with the side of another vehicle already on the roundabout (passenger side impact)

2) vehicle pulls out onto the roundabout in front of a vehicle on the roundabout (driver side impact)

3) vehicle tries to leave the roundabout cutting across another vehicle on their left, passenger side impact.

Given that there was no mention of anyone going through a red light on this traffic light controlled roundabout, I wonder if the driver actually left hooked the cyclist, hence resulting in her being breathalised.

The alternative of the cyclist riding into the side of her vehicle as he was joining the roundabout seems unlikely, we don't tend to ride into objects in front of us. Unless she went through a red light.

But if the dashcam footage indicated one of the two parties went through a red light I would expect a prosecution.

TOP ANALYSIS AS USUAL.

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JNugent <jenningsandco@mail.com> wrote:

On 04/05/2023 11:25 am, Spike wrote:

So the cyclist in this story was…

on a roundabout
at night
wearing dark clothes
had no lights

These are the official figures:

Cyclists:

Roundabout
4.3% killed
10.9% seriously injured
11.6% slightly injured.

Rider wearing dark clothing
573 Fatal or Serious Collision

Not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility
367 Fatal or Serious Collision

Looks like he got off lightly, not even fined for no lights.

You couldn’t make it up.

But... but... but...

Conforming with the rules and/or advice on fairy-bike lights and brakes
and the wearing of light-coloured clothing makes you look like a... tit!

Well, it’s only a handful of cyclists that are KSI in this way, presumably that’s acceptable in order for other cyclists to go about looking like
he-men and so avoiding using lights, helmets, and bright clothing.

If one wants ultimate safety for cyclists, first remove the hazard - which
is the cyclists themselves.

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-4-may-2023-301019#live-blog-item-45341

--
Spike

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muhasib | 225 posts | 2 hours ago
4 likes

No sympathy for the driver unless there was an accompanying sadface photo pointing at the damage to their car. I only hope that the cyclist is fully recovered and had sufficient means to support themselves during their healing time.

cmedred | 78 posts | 1 hour ago
3 likes

In the Advertiser story, the driver did confess " I’m more wary of driving now.'' Isn't that a good thing? Wouldn't the world be a better place if all drivers were more wary? Maybe what it is needed is more teenagers colliding with cars!

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On 04/05/2023 04:49 pm, Spike wrote:

JNugent <jenningsandco@mail.com> wrote:

On 04/05/2023 11:25 am, Spike wrote:

So the cyclist in this story was…

on a roundabout
at night
wearing dark clothes
had no lights

These are the official figures:

Cyclists:

Roundabout
4.3% killed
10.9% seriously injured
11.6% slightly injured.

Rider wearing dark clothing
573 Fatal or Serious Collision

Not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility
367 Fatal or Serious Collision

Looks like he got off lightly, not even fined for no lights.

You couldn’t make it up.

But... but... but...

Conforming with the rules and/or advice on fairy-bike lights and brakes
and the wearing of light-coloured clothing makes you look like a... tit!

Well, it’s only a handful of cyclists that are KSI in this way, presumably that’s acceptable in order for other cyclists to go about looking like he-men and so avoiding using lights, helmets, and bright clothing.

If one wants ultimate safety for cyclists, first remove the hazard - which
is the cyclists themselves.

Exactly.

They have proven over and over again that they cannot be trusted to
behave lawfully - or even in a grown-up manner.

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-4-may-2023-301019#live-blog-item-45341

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lllnorrislll | 119 posts | 4 hours ago
2 likes

I wonder if they have declared their accident to their insurance company? I appreciate she has paid for repairs out of her own pocket, but as far as I am aware, she still needs to declare this 'non-fault' accident.

It would be a shame for her insurance to become null and void and liable for increased policy payments.

:-)

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