Sure, she didn´t mean it. At least she wasn´t drunk this time god love her.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/beauty-therapist-who-catapulted-cyclist-into-air-avoids-jail-29149055.html

FFS. “…and was banned from driving for four years in December 2010”. So this happened whilst she was still banned?

Words fail me.

But at least the ban was a decent length.
Edit: missed the already banned bit – should have been jailed

It’s because she’s a mother, had she been a bloke she would have gone down.

article doesnt say if she was banned at the time or not, she may have appealed original ban .

“Nothing would be achieved by sending her to prison”…….. Stop her from driving whilst banned and injuring cyclists??????

FFS

Article says the accident happened on 16th Oct 2010, whe was then banned in December 2010 for another offence.

bwaarp – Member
It’s because she’s a mother, had she been a bloke she would have gone down.

POSTED 2 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
+1 and the fact it was an old English guy she hit probably didn’t help either.

I’d be seeking my own retribution. I hope he recovered and made a HUGE claim against her for the damage and injuries.

I find that most of the “near misses” I encounter on the road are with female drivers in their late 20’s to early 40’s – not intended as an inflammatory remark, purely a statement of my own personal expediences. They tend to stem from ignorance rather than recklessness – where as the fewer encounters I have with male drivers of a similar age tend to be due to aggression.

I’m so glad I’ve sold my road bike recently.
Just the occasional short bit of quiet tarmac inbetween trails for me from now onwards, or at least until we are treated as equals on the road by EVERYBODY.

Stories like this really make me question whether I should be about to start road cycling…

Thats interesting your comments Willber because 90% of my near misses come from Women 30 to 55 years old.I dont think there is anything wrong with there driving its there OBSERVATION they just dont look enough.

user-removed – Member

So this happened whilst she was still banned?

Nope, this happened before she was banned- nothing to suggest she’s driven while banned. The ban’s now extended to 10 years.

Not going to say I think it’s right but a 10 year ban is not nothing.

The judge said nothing would have been achieved by sending her to prison. WRONG; some people think they can get away with putting others’ lives at risk – they don’t care and the only way to stop them is to make clear that there’s a risk to themselves.

one of the reasons Im in the ctc as I commute miniumum 75km a day. Near misses happen nearly every day. See at least one road accident every 2 weeks. Their insurance will at least allow me to get some justice.

Ride with peace of mind – you’ll be covered by £10m third party insurance and will benefit from a cycling-related support and advice

Bristol the cycle city

I actually agree that I don’t believe anything would be achieved by sending her to prison. She f’d up, shes not allowed to drive again for a long time, hence shes no longer a danger to other road users.

I’m sure others will disagree..

I agree. She made a mistake. I think we’ve all been there (rushing/busy/not-quite defrosted everything etc) and whilst I’d certainly not be pleased with broken limbs following a careless mistake, I don’t think sending her to prison would achieve very much.

I’d like to know if the cyclist had vivid clothing/lights etc. I certainly don’t ride anywhere without these, even in the day

Wouldn’t do anything jailing her,making sure she can’t drive for a long
,long time is prob the correct decision.

TBH I agree that a suspended prison sentence and a long ban makes more sense than jail. The sentence is harsher than one might expect in the UK for causing similar injuries.

“Paul Comiskey O’Keefe, defending, said his client had “made a simple error”.”

If being a near-homicidally negligent operator of a ton of machinery is a simple erroe, then yes, I suppose so. I guess at least with her previous conviction her lawyer must have found the usual phrase “momentay lapse of concentration” to be a step too far.

on Thursday morning at 8.40am in Covent Garden, 100 metres from my work place

40-something women got out of passenger side of Addison Lee taxi-van without looking out for oncoming traffic, causing motorcyclist to hit the edge of the van door and get catapaulted into the kerb, smashing his helmet, it honestly looked like a Hollywood film stunt!

we assisted the motorcyclist (stopped him getting up and kept him calm), called for Police and Ambulance. thankfully concussion and bruising but nothing more serious

numerous witnesses telling Police she did not look before opening door into traffic.

the women was insisting she had done nothing wrong and “did not see him” – yes, because you were so busy going to your fashion meeting you were not paying attention

she spent the 25 minutes the Police were there, telling everyone listening she would be late to her fashion meeting

she became very hostile to me (a cyclist who had witnessed the incident from 20 metres behind the vehicles) because I was telling the Police what I had seen, rather than offer sympathy to her because she was “in shock” and “late for her meeting”

I had sympathy for the guy on the motorbike who was going to hospital in an ambulance, and the security guard who helped me park the motorbike in a courtyard, and the Police Officer who was a motorcyclist himself and had recently been through a similar scenario…

It always baffles me that people can maintain they’ve done nothing wrong because they haven’t seen someone. That’s the bit you did wrong, bungnut.

To lighten the mood, I had to shout at a 20 something female a few years back who just looked at me in a “Just what the **** do you expect me to do” kind of way.

She was in the middle of the road (in a car) with a fag in one hand and a mobile in the other! Genius.

Very bad what happened, but agree with above. Jail seems a bit pointless, it was a bad accident, the 10 year ban from driving is excellent.

Woman crashes into cyclist and gets away with it.

And wouldn’t say she ‘gets away with it’. That would mean nothing happened and she was still allowed to drive.

@jambon

unfortunately, our cities and towns are full of “Geniuses” using their ‘twit-boxes’ (smart phones) to tweet, access bookface and navigate their mapping software to find the nearest Starbucks!

way too busy with the virtual world, not to realise their physical body is walking through the real world, where it can easily end up under the wheels of a passing motor vehicle or bicycle, due to their lack of attention

my current commute is only 3 miles each way from NW to Central London, I am amazed every day that more pedestrians and cyclists do not become participants for the ‘Darwin Awards’ due to the sheer stupidity I see every commute, from cyclist jumping traffic lights, pedestrians stepping into the road without looking

please, someone lend me a helmet camera for 2 weeks, it would make awesome television…

I do agree that sending her to prison doesn’t serve any purpose for her; the point is that it’s a deterrent to other people.

Same reason as sending Price and Huhne to jail – in their case, people will get the message the message that trying to get around the law is risky.

In this case, they will get them message that failing to take care how you drive is risky. Same as the way the law in Germany works; if a motorist hits a cyclist, it’s the motorist’s fault, unless there’s proof otherwise; it makes drivers look for bikes.

bigdan6 – Member
I agree. She made a mistake. I think we’ve all been there (rushing/busy/not-quite defrosted everything etc) and whilst I’d certainly not be pleased with broken limbs following a careless mistake, I don’t think sending her to prison would achieve very much.

I’d like to know if the cyclist had vivid clothing/lights etc. I certainly don’t ride anywhere without these, even in the day

just because we’ve all been there doesn’t make it right…hopefully we’ve all learnt that driving a vehicle has responsibilities that go with it
riding a bike has some responsibilities but if more drivers knew they would definitely lose their license for extended periods for not bothering to take care then no need for dayglo and lights – don’t shift the blame

@Greybeard

the problem I see in London, UK is that large numbers (the majority) of cyclists and pedestrians are actually causing the problem that creates a “road traffic collision” (RTC), rather than any negligence on the motorists’ part.

I stop at every red traffic light during my commute, typically 3/4 of the cyclists around me will blatantly jump the light or veer off to the side and ride up onto, and across the pavement to jump the light.

every day, I see instances that make my blood boil, when a stupid cyclist jumps the lights, cycles through the red (traffic) light, almost runs down several pedestrians crossing on a green (pedestrian) light, and then cycles off down the street.

I have no shame in admitting I will have “strong words” with this idiot when I pass them shortly after they have RLJ

with the pedestrians, its usually an ignorance of the world around them, for whatever reason (newspaper, smart phone, sandwich), stepping into the road without looking for oncoming traffic – a big problem for these pedestrians is that they use their ears to gauge traffic, and cyclists are near silent until ringing their bell or shouting to warn the pedestrian, which is usually too late to avoid a collision 🙁

the problem I see in London, UK is that large numbers (the majority) of cyclists and pedestrians are actually causing the problem that creates a “road traffic collision” (RTC), rather than any negligence on the motorists’ part.

That’s your perception, it’s not the reality. The vast majority of RTCs involving cyclists and cars are the motorists fault, and the cyclist hasn’t done anything wrong.

We all have a duty to not act like dicks. If you act like a dick, you will be run over / run someone over / hit a lamp-post.

Sad story: I worked with a guy who has everything going for him. He’s been with his highschool sweetheart since, well, highschool.

His girlfriend, 23 years old, was applying make-up according to witnesses whilst doing just 50 in a 60 zone. She failed to notice the van parked at the side of the road until the last second, veered onto the wrong side of the road and hit an oncoming car.

It was a fatal accident. She spent nearly a year in hospital, followed by a few months in jail.

Lovely girl, lovely couple. I was torn. But if she’d killed a cycling mate of mine I know I’d be sharpening the pitchforks.

Driving is a HUGE responsibility and despite being an ex-professional driver, I feel the weight of it every time I get in my car.

>I think we’ve all been there (rushing/busy/not-quite defrosted everything etc)
Nope. Please don’t assume we’re all as idiotic as you.

>I’d like to know if the cyclist had vivid clothing/lights etc.
You’re right. It was probably the cyclist’s fault. <rolls eyes>

the problem I see in London, UK is that large numbers (the majority) of cyclists and pedestrians are actually causing the problem that creates a “road traffic collision” (RTC), rather than any negligence on the motorists’ part
Fortunately, people with computers and pens have special numbers on these sort of things – they call them <WARNING: big word coming> statistics – that show that this is bollocks.

I do agree that sending her to prison doesn’t serve any purpose for her; the point is that it’s a deterrent to other people.

Deterrence doesn’t work unless you are taking some premeditated / contemplated act. Nobody (well almost nobody) sets out on the road to cause accidents. So the “if you cause an accident you will be penalised” isn’t really a deterrent, as you know its very unlikely you will have an accident, afterall you’ve done the same thing 1000x before and nothing bad happened.

Same reason as sending Price and Huhne to jail – in their case, people will get the message the message that trying to get around the law is risky.

Huhne and Pryce will be on the roads again long before she is. Which is worrying because not only can he not follow the rules but he actively tried to circumvent justice.

Huhne made an interesting speech at the Lib Dem conference a few years back – the issue is not sentencing it is likelihood of getting caught. Far better that people get stopped for steamy windows and booked (not just a warning). That would prevent accidents rather than simply seeking retribution. It would also have a greater deterrent effect even if only 3pts and £60 compared to bans/prison because it IS much more likely you will get encounter a police office than hit a bike.

Nobody (well almost nobody) sets out on the road to cause accidents.

They do if they can’t be bothered to demist their windows. That is a pre-meditated act.

The way I see it is the roads are full of idiots, whether in a car or van or bus or truck, whether a cyclist or a pedestrian. Yes, the motorist drive the the most lethal out them all, no doubt about that. But I think it’s all about the person not just ‘car drivers’. In Edinburgh I see god awful drivers on phones, no lights, no indicators, speeding all over the place. Then cyclists on pavements, red light jumping, going the wrong way down a one way street. A cyclist I almost hit with my car a few months ago rode out a park, no lights, one arm holding a large bit of wood. I slammed the brakes on blaring my horn, he did a wobbly u-turn about a foot in front of me to go back the other way and almost got twated by a large flat bed truck and rode off the wrong way down the street. And pedestrians walking over roads texting, Facebooking, or the old couple crossing a very busy double lane road yesterday with all their shopping when the pedestrian crossing was 10 feet away.

I’m not defending any one them, but it ain’t all about ‘bad drivers’. Its all about people in general just being bloody stupid.

but it ain’t all about ‘bad drivers’. Its all about people in general just being bloody stupid.

and it is about the consequences of the stupidity

ped with earphones steps out in front of car, consequence? and to who?

cyclist rides on 2 lane highway without hig viz, drivers assume they can see through cars and vans consequence is? and who gets hurt?

driver fails to clear windscreen, pulls away without checking and consequence is? and who gets hurt?

rarely do the idiotic actions of peds or cyclists cause actual harm to others

I see you are completely missing my point.

No, I think your point is completely missing the point.

I see you are completely missing my point.

usually i know when i’m being completely stupid must be having an off day