Michael Stanton, who represents Repton on South Derbyshire District Council, said he had a close encounter with the cyclist when emerging from the driveway of his home in Ticknall in his pick-up truck.
He told the meeting: “I was about to pull out when I noticed this wire going past the bonnet with a pennant on it, then I saw this fellow go past lying on his back in a cylindrical type object.
“If it had been one second later I would have killed him. If he gets killed it probably serves him right, but the problem is, he may end up killing or injuring someone else.”....
…...Councillor Stanton said the cyclist risked killing himself or others and suggested he would be ‘better off going to Dignitas’ — the Swiss clinic which carries out assisted suicide
Mr Stanton was probably reversing out of his driveway so it would be difficult to spot the rider as much as it would be difficult to spot another truck driver, doesn't the highway code say all vehicle should reverse into a driveway so that entering the highway will be forward allowing you to see up and down the road you are about to drive on?
Roger
“I was about to pull out when I noticed this wire going past the bonnet
What a n,,b he should take care before reversing out of his drive, and the bent rider is probably more visible than a DF I should imagine with a flag as well !.
Clearly councillor Stanton believes rule 202 of the HW code does not apply to him.
202 Look carefully before you start reversing. You should ...
check that there are no pedestrians (particularly children), cyclists, other road users or obstructions in the road behind you.
I was about to pull out when I noticed this wire going past the bonnet
Does it make him more justified if he was going forward? The duty of care when moving onto a public road remains the same.Why are you writing about reversing? “
"The man, who asked not to be named, said the same cyclist had recently collided with the back of his tractor and was now claiming £9,000 compensation as he had to import replacement parts from Australia"
What's the recumbent made of. I think it would be a right off if it had done that much damage to any of the tractors at the farm i'm on.