Cyclist Killed in west Lothian

[just jim]

That's terrible news. I know this stretch fairly well. I think it's also part of the PFS route.

 

[sleekitcollie]

That's terrible news. I know this stretch fairly well. I think it's also part of the PFS route.

Yes it is on P4S route . As honest man said it was between the motorway flyover and the roundabout at the leisure center . I went passed this morning and there are flowers there . So sad
apparently there were 2 cyclists involved . Still no names yet
really tragic

 

[sleekitcollie]

News on the BBC website . A 42 year old man has been arrested and will appear in Edin sheriff court on road traffic offence's . Cyclist still not named yet .

 

[cd-w]

Thanks for the messages. The cyclist who died was a very good friend of mine. He was a popular chap in Edinburgh and beyond and will be greatly missed.

He was cycling with his girlfriend, in preparation for a cycling holiday in Shetland. She was unhurt in the incident.

Unfortunately it does not seem to have been simply an accident.

C

 

[sleekitcollie]

Thanks for the messages. The cyclist who died was a very good friend of mine. He was a popular chap in Edinburgh and beyond and will be greatly missed.

He was cycling with his girlfriend, in preparation for a cycling holiday in Shetland. She was unhurt in the incident.

Unfortunately it does not seem to have been simply an accident.

C

so sorry about your friend , it has shocked everyone in the local community cyclists and non cyclists ,
please accept my sincere condolences and pass them on to his family & friends
even though i did not know him he and his family are in my thoughts

 

[HLaB]

I saw a wee bit on STV before my ride tonight. Story
Drink Driving

 

[bauldbairn]

I saw a wee bit on STV before my ride tonight. Story
Drink Driving

Very sad story - hopefully a suitable sentence will follow.

It was a bad enough story when it was just an accident - but for the driver to be drunk, defies belief.

My condolences to his girlfriend,family and friends.

 

[Crankarm]

Ha! An Eastern European driver. It was a major and still is a problem to some extent here in the Fens. A large proportion of the Eastern European migrant population think they are governed by road traffic rules and conventions that apply to them back home where they hail from, so will think nothing of driving having had a skinful or being half cut through alcohol more than likely wodka. The Chief Constable of Cambs Julie Spence took part in a few high profile local media campaigns to try to stamp out the problem with limited success I think.

It is so sad that this idiot has been so selfish and killed some one which happens to be a young man out cycling with his girlfriend. Awful for her.

I hope he recieves a long, long sentence.

 

[bauldbairn]

A large proportion of the Eastern European migrant population think they are governed by road traffic rules and conventions that apply to them back home where they hail from, so will think nothing of driving having had a skinful or being half cut through alcohol more than likely wodka.

Sadly very true here too(Central Scotland) they just don't seem to take it(drink driving) seriously. Four years ago I was in charge of a small team of Polish guys(from Scotland) in Sunderland. Don't get me wrong they were good workers(as good as all the Scottish guys on the job) but their was one problem - drinking. Every working night till the early hours(4am-ish), then up at 7.30am for an 8am start(they never missed work or slept in). Every morning they'd been driving to the site and would take turns to drive. I was put on the job to make sure they didn't drive and to try to bring it under control. They just didn't understand that what they were doing was illegal here and dangerous. I had to take the van keys off them and shuttle them in other vehicles.

 

[HLaB]

Not that it matters, they've released the name of the 37 (Spanish ? ) bloke, from Leith :-(

Turns out he was a Greek, naturalised Scot; RIP Kostas

 

[661-Pete]

For those who think D/D limits are slacker in Eastern European countries, here is a list culled from Wikipedia. Blood alcohol levels:

Bulgaria: 0.05%
Czech Republic: Zero
Estonia: 0.02%
Greece: 0.05% (BrAC 0.25 mg/L)% and 0.02% for drivers who have held a license for less than 2 years, motor cycle and professional drivers
Hungary: Zero
Latvia: 0.02% for drivers with less than 2 years of experience and 0.05% for those with more than 2 years of experience
Lithuania: 0.02% for drivers with less than 2 years of experience and 0.04% for those with more than 2 years of experience
Poland: 0.02%
Romania: 0.0%
Slovakia: Zero
Slovenia: Zero for drivers with 2 years or less experience and professional drivers, 0.24 mg/l (0.05%) for all others.
Albania: 0.01%
Belarus: 0.05%
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 0.05%
Croatia: Zero for professional drivers and drivers under 24 years of age, 0.05% for all others
Macedonia: Zero for professional drivers, public service drivers, commercial transport and drivers beginners, 0.05% for all others
Moldova: 0.03%
Russia: 0.03%
Serbia: 0.05%
Turkey: 0.05%, zero for commercial transport and public service drivers.
Ukraine: Zero

For comparison, the UK limit is 0.08%. So which Eastern European country were you thinking of, Crankarm?

It may be of course that enforcement is slacker in some or all of these countries. The article didn't say.

 

[wafflycat]

Deep condolences to the family & friends of the man so sadly killed.

 

[wafflycat]

Pete... Crankarm didn't say that D/D limits in Eastern European countries are slacker, what he said was "...think they are governed by road traffic rules and conventions that apply to them back home" and I think that the enforcement issue is at stake here in what Crankarm was referring to. As with Crankarm, I live in an area not a million miles from him and there is a similar problem here where there are periodic reports of road traffic incidents where the driving is dangerous and all too often, alcohol is involved and the drivers Eastern Euopean. Not by any means am I suggesting that all Eastern European drivers are drunken idiots or the only drunken idiots, simply that there is a noticeable number. It's not that often I find myself in agreement with the Cranky-one, but in this he has a valid point made even if I wouldn't have put it in quite the same words.

 

[HonestMan1910]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_east_and_fife/10323125.stm

Such a waste of life

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_east_and_fife/10312854.stm

Hope they through the book at this guy

 

[661-Pete]

and I think that the enforcement issue is at stake here in what Crankarm was referring to.

I did make that point, in the very last line of my post. But anyway, no amount of railing at drivers or at their country of origin can ease the pain for the family of this tragic victim. Let's hope that justice will be done in this case.