http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20725496

Doesn’t sound good. Blacked out windows plus opening door yet gets away with no conviction???

Can you ride your bike in a bus lane?

**Be gentle – i’ve never ridden my bike on a road before**

EDIT: nevermind: http://ukcyclerules.com/2011/11/22/cycling-bus-lanes/

I saw this and was about to post. Blacked out windows down to 17% visibility, not sure, but fairly certain thats not legal. Can’t make it out, but sounds like he’d stopped in a bus lane…then opens a door with out looking… then claims that the cyclist had ‘lost control’. So what, he opens the door into his path anyway??? Look after yourself out there kids.

Not the first smidsy case today;

The lorry driver who knocked down the Times journalist Mary Bowers as she cycled to work was cleared today of dangerous driving and fined £2,700.

Petre Beiu, 40, a Romanian citizen, had admitted that he had not been paying enough attention when his lorry dragged Ms Bowers, 28, under his Tipper lorry in November last year.

Jurors took one hour to clear him of dangerous driving but found him guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving.

Beiu, who has previously admitted a series of tachograph offences, including driving a lorry for 20 hours in one day when the maximum is 9 hours, said in the witness box that he was full of remorse over the incident, which resulted in horrendous injuries to Ms Bowers.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3631594.ece

Disgusting.

I reckon you’d have to shoot a cyclist at point blank range with the judge as a witness before having any chance of being convicted, and even then I wouldn’t bet on it

Out of order.

I thought the rozzers were hot on cyclists being doored? I suppose the jury…of drivers…thought it could happen to any of them.

Why do some people want darkened windows, they must be so ugly they dont want to scare the children, or want to perv over women, could be a couple of reasons,not based on any scientific reasoning.

The driver was parked in a layby, adjoining a bus lane, the cyclist and bus where in the cycle /bus lane, so tragic for the cyclists family and the proffesional bus driver who could not stop in time.

There is also a charge that could have been laid against the driver of deliberately or maliciously opening a vehicle door.

I reckon you’d have to shoot a cyclist at point blank range with the judge as a witness before having any chance of being convicted, and even then I wouldn’t bet on it

Especially if they’re not wearing a helmet.

i’ve come to the conclusion, that in the eyes of the police and legal system, were second class citizens.
i keep hearing political types, judges, police say that something will be done about cyclist safety, but it’s all a load of **** bollox.

Although I disagree with the verdict and am IN NO WAY implying the cyclist is to blame (it is 100% on the car users to look) tragedies like this can probably be avoided by simply not cycling in the “door zone”. It makes me cringe when I see cyclists going along 2 inches from the kerb or whatever thinking they are “staying out of trouble”. Take the lane. It’s the safest thing to do in virtually every instance.

But the guy who defaced a Rothko at the Tate was sent down for two years. Something very very wrong with the way the law treats motorists

Jeez. How sad is that? I MTB regularly, ride on the road only occassionally and it scares the bejeezuz out of me.

The judge, Mr Justice Saunders, told the jury: “This is a case where there are no winners. Everyone is a loser.”

I’d say the guy who opened the door will be reckoning he had a win out of it…

The driver was parked in a layby, adjoining a bus lane, the cyclist and bus where in the cycle /bus lane, so tragic for the cyclists family and the proffesional bus driver who could not stop in time.

Sounds to me like the bus driver failed to leave enough room and is every bit as responsible as anyone else here. The guy opening the door didn’t kill anyone. He just started the chain of events.

A drunk in chester a few weeks ago, who ran accross the road, and pushed a cyclist off his bike, and almost causing a car to hit him, was sentanced to 7 months prison yesterday.

All caught on cctv, police even chased the bus he was on and arrested him.

http://www.chesterfirst.co.uk/news/118297/drunken-yob-s-prank-nearly-killed-cyclist.aspx

What simons nicolai-uk said ^^^
There is something seriously out of kilter with these verdicts. People are getting away with manslaughter purely because the deceased was riding a bicycle.

The fact that he died has to be separated from the intention and actions of the motorist when sentencing.

Isn’t that why we differentiate between manslaughter and murder?

Yep. hold up a boat race, go to prison.
Kill a cyclist, slap on the wrist.

There really are some utter simpletons on this site. I was one of the officers who dealt with the initial response to this tragic incident. This guy was found not guilty AT COURT by a JURY. The fact he was let off has nothing to do with the police. Sufficient evidence was gathered to charge him with manslaughter. You perhaps need to understand the judicial system a little better. And have a thought for the poor guy who died and the witnesses and emergency services who have to deal with incidents as harrowing and tragic as this on a daily basis.

Rant over.

I just read that on roadCC.

Sad, all this bollock about changing attitudes and you clear anyone who kills/injures a cyclist.

He had tinted windows FFS .

From RoadCC:

The verdict has been returned on the same day that the lorry driver in the Mary Bowers case was found not guilty of dangerous driving, but guilty of careless driving, in connection with the incident last November that left the Times journalist with life-changing injuries.

Drivers 2, Cyclists f*** off and die, you’re not wanted or protected

well said druidh

Surely in these cases there needs to be a jury which includes cyclists and motorists, maybe if the driver in question had to go and meet injured cyclists and be forced to watch crashes involving cyclists in some sort of Clockwork Orange scenario.

Clearly there is not a strong enough message getting through to drivers and with sentences non existent something needs to be done.

As a cyclist and a driver I don’t ride to work every day but when I drive in I definitely feel that I drive with a higher awareness for cyclists.

it is unfortunately another tragedy and another episode of “getting away with it”

@ Nonsense

Then how are JURY’s being put together and being allowed to pass non guilty verdicts with supporting evidence to the contrary?

gah! is this one of those situations where by going for a manslaughter conviction they took a risk where a lesser charge might have stood more of a chance of sticking??
can he be charged with something else so that he at least gets a conviction, even if it involves just a fine and community service?

oliverholder – Member
@ Nonsense

Then how are JURY’s being put together and being allowed to pass non guilty verdicts with supporting evidence to the contrary?

Isn’t down to the CPS or whoever selects the jury,, which isn’t the Police.

You can’t blame this one on the Met.

Words fail me.

It actually makes me depressed that these outcomes were decided to be just.

The real tragedy here (beside the unnecessary death of Sam Harding), is the seeming apathy of posters on this site to improving the situation for cyclist on the UK roads.

For instance, this thread:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/lobby-europe-to-include-cycling-in-major-transport-plans

which got 2 replies….

another bad day for cyclists.

@ Fourbanger

I am all for improving the situation and signed and sent a letter.

Drivers attitudes towards cyclists in London is horrendous, you take your life in a drivers hands when you ride.

A tragedy but it was avoidable by the cyclist not riding in the doorzone. On google maps the bus lanes on both sides of the road are full width. If I was using a bus lane like that I would be right in the center of it so it wouldn’t matter if a car door opened. I don’t understand cyclists who ride close to parked cars.

oliverholder, agreed. The situation will change if people fight to make it change, but it won’t happen by itself.

Just to make it a bit easier, send this:

Email Subject Line: European Transport Policy Ignores 100 Million Citizens.

Dear Mr Simpson
There are 35 million citizens cycling every day. There are more than 100 million Europeans that cycle regularly. Yet cycling is in danger of being left out of important European transport funding and policy.
In December 2011, the European Parliament showed that it saw potential for significant growth in cycling and that it was a priority case for European investment by recommending that the European Cycle Route Network, EuroVelo and associated cycling facilities should be included in the Trans-European Transportation Network (Ten-T) strategic transport network.
Just one year later, we feel that the European institutions are ignoring, forgetting and failing the millions of European citizen cycling in Europe. As a democratically elected body, European Parliament must listen to its citizens.
We call on you, as our representative in the Transport Committee to respect 100 million European citizens and the actions of the parliament by restoring cycling to its appropriate place in the Ten-T guidelines.
If you do not, you are disrespecting the needs of 100 million citizens and the huge potential for economic growth, carbon reduction and reduced congestion that investing in cycling can bring.
In the vote on the 18th December, please vote the amendments with the following content:
Integrate EuroVelo, the European cycle route network, into the Trans European Transportation Network (TEN-T)
Improve, develop the road infrastructure / conditions of cycle routes that run along the TEN-T Corridors
Implement safe (grade separate) intersections when TEN-T infrastructure corridors cross local, regional, national cycle routes.

Yours sincerely,
Insert NAME/ORGANISATION

to:

brian.simpson@europarl.europa.eu

Edit to add source: British Cycling link

and credit MrGreedy as OP

I think it is the way people drive that needs to change, I do not think roads should be dangerous. Accidents will always happen but most are caused because of the dangerous way people drive around cyclists (as well as some total tits on bikes) I dont know whether it is mainly a lack of awareness, the tolerance of a low standard of driving, or just lack consideration (as a passenger in friends cars I have seen all of these). I think trying to separate cars from bikes especially out of town is impractical and not the answer.

Pretty shocking read really. Two immediate thoughts are the guy in the car can’t have looked properly especially with his illegally tinted windows (windscreen must let at least 75% of light through and the front side windows 70%, BBC said he had 17% visibility), and the buss driver must have been too close to hit the guy on the bike.

It’s pretty sad how us cyclists generally feel like second class citizens as soon as we get on a bike. The same abuse and treatment from motorists wouldn’t be tolerated in any other scenario. If a motorist is involved in an incident would it not be beneficial to get them on a bike for a period of time to get a cyclists perspective. I’m not saying cyclist don’t cause incidents or create there own problems but it seems to lean toward the motorists in most cases.

Should the bus have been able to stop in time? Following vehicle keep clear and all that…

Then how are JURY’s being put together and being allowed to pass non guilty verdicts with supporting evidence to the contrary?

What do you suggest ? juries are handpicked to arrive at a predetermined verdict. what kind of justice system would that be.

Should the bus have been able to stop in time? Following vehicle keep clear and all that…

Could have been in the processs of overtaking and the rider was thrown across the road into it’s path. Or even that the cyclist had just undertaken the bus. Not enough info to judge in that article.

Again, as someone above said, I wouldn’t dream of blaming the cyclist but parked up cars need a wide birth at all costs(especially occupied ones – but I guess with the blacked up windows that would have been hard to determine). It might be their fault and you might be entirely innocent but you end up dead so its a situation to avoid putting yourself in if at all possible.

i’ve come to the conclusion, that in the eyes of the police and legal system, were second class citizens.
i keep hearing political types, judges, police say that something will be done about cyclist safety, but it’s all a load of **** bollox.

The police obviously did proceed with the case, The CPS obviously though it worthy, and the judge didn’t dismiss it as nonsense… so actually the “judicial system” did treat it seriously and not as second class citizens. What then happened was 12 members of the public listened to all the evidence (which none of us have) and decided that it did not constitute manslaughter. They may or may not have been ‘right’ but thats how a jury trial works. The fact they made the decision (apparently unanimously) within an hour suggests it wasn’t that difficult either. Perhaps because any one of them felt it could have been them…

The CPS could have decides to pursue lesser charges, e.g. C&U regs for the window tint, or Opening Door of a Motor Vehicle so as to cause harm etc. Then the cycling community would be up in arms for the trivial nature of the offence. In reality a tragic set of circumstances combined to result in the death of an innocent cyclist. That is sad but it isn’t necessarily manslaughter.

In reality a tragic set of circumstances combined to result in the death of an innocent cyclist. That is sad but it isn’t necessarily manslaughter

A criminal offence was committed which DIRECTLY lead to a death. How can that not be manslaughter?