Driver view of Jason MacIntyre's fatal accident.

[killiekosmos]

Comment from Sunday Mail about the accident. Does this not show one of the reasons why cycle lanes can be MORE dangerous.




"Driver In Cycle Star Tragedy Speaks Out

Jan 20 2008 By Alan Dow

Exclusive Driver In Cycle Star Tragedy Speaks Out

A DRIVER involved in the crash that killed cycling star Jason MacIntyre spoke of his horror yesterday.

Robert MacTaggart, 35, was at the wheel of his council van when it collided with Jason's bike.

The shocked driver was breath-tested and quizzed by police but yesterday pleaded his innocence over the death of the 34-year-old Olympic hopeful.

Jason, who had eight-year-old twin girls to wife Caroline, won 13 Scottish titles, three British championships and cycled at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Robert said: "My heart and that of my wife goes out to Jason's wife and children. It is a loss they'll never get over."

Robert heard a loud noise on the A82 on the outskirts of Fort William on Tuesday, after making a right turn into a side road to a council depot.

He said: "I had just turned off when I heard a bang and felt the pick-up jolt slightly after an impact on the rear nearside.

"People assumed Jason was on the main A82 road but I don't believe he was.

"I think he was on the recently completed cycle path which runs parallel to the road and a few yards off it.

"The short road into the council depot cuts across the cycle track at right angles and I would have expected any cyclists to watch for vehicles on this road and wait until they have passed. I can only assume Jason did not notice me swinging off the main road into the side road.

"I was stunned. It was awful and I was totally shocked at being part of it.

"A couple of other council vans were leaving the depot and the guys and myself helped Jason into the recovery position."

The ambulance was quickly on the scene but Jason later died in hospital.

Yesterday the accident scene had become a shrine to Jason with flowers and brightly coloured cycling shirts.

Messages included: "May the wind always be behind you" and "Jason, you were a legend".

He broke fellow Scots cyclist Graham Obree's 10-mile time trial record last year and was preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Married dad-of-one Robert passed a breath test and has not been charged.

Robert, originally from Glasgow but living in Fort Wiliam, said: "I don't want to cause further upset but I don't believe there was anything wrong with my driving."

More than £12,000 has been raised to provide for Jason's family whose funeral takes place in Fort William on Wednesday.

Apolice spokesman said: "A 35-year-old man is the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal."

 

[yello]

I would have expected any cyclists to watch for vehicles on this road and wait until they have passed.

And drivers have no responsibility to check for cyclists on a cycle lane before crossing it?

I'm not commenting on the rights and wrongs in this tragedy, or attempting to apportion fault or blame, but this kind of 'car centric' view needs to be challenged.

 

[atbman]

Of course, one of the UK's top riders was training on the cycle path, wasn't he.

 

[piedwagtail91]

The driver only "thinks" jason was riding on a cycle path?
he wasn't very aware of other vehicles /cyclists then was he?

i don't know about that particluar cycle lane but on some around here the cars have to give way and stop where the cycle lane crosses the road,
i've yet to see that happen, even though there are signs up and white lines on the road.
it's time "car is not king" but human life is, and if the motorists don't like it tough.

 

[wafflycat]

I can't post my true thoughts on the driver's comments, as they are unprintable on the grounds of decency.

 

[wafflycat]

Other than to add I know of not one single time triallist who would be training on a damned cycle farcility.

 

[ufkacbln]

It is unfortunate that this type of article is published.

There are too many variables

Was the driver actually signaling?
What was visibility like?
What speed was the van doing?
Did the cyclist look ahead?
Was the cyclist actually on the path?

If the cyclist was on the road then the driver is entirely responsible?

Wait for the Procurator Fiscal's actions and lets establish what happened with evidence.

 

[palinurus]

Other than to add I know of not one single time triallist who would be training on a damned cycle farcility.

That was my first thought.

 

[andygates]

So, is he saying that he knowingly cut across the cyclist's lane expecting him to stop? Then failed to put together "I am cutting across another lane" and "thud" in any logical way?

He sounds genuinely remorseful, which is doubly tragic, because it sounds a lot like he was a total bloody incompetent twat who killed a man. And who doesn't even realise now that he was in the wrong.

 

[Crackle]

Wait for the Procurator Fiscal's actions and lets establish what happened with evidence.

Absolutely. let's wait for him/her to conclude the investigation. I concur, I think it unlikely he was on the cycle path, though stranger things have happened.

The cycle path runs from Aonach Moor to Fort William where it rejoins the road, it was only completed in September for the world Championships and much of it runs alongside the A82.

 

[simon l& and a half]

indeed

 

[Pete]

Other than to add I know of not one single time triallist who would be training on a damned cycle farcility.

I'm inclined to support this view too. We need to be careful what we say here though, accusations of perjury won't help anyone. (though it's not perjury unless someone lies in court under oath).

BUT...

I am, however, very familiar with a cycle track near where I live, completed a few years ago with a big fanfare and local dignitaries to give it a royal send-off. This too is a segregated track running along a fairly busy single carriageway 'A' road. It is intersected at intervals by private entrances and driveways, amongst which are entrances to a pub car park and a garden centre. At each intersection the private drive has priority, and GIVE WAY lines are painted across the track. Many motorists, it is true, I have seen give way to a cyclist on the track, even though it is the motorist's right of way. Common sense. But one day, a motorist will be there asserting his 'rights' at the same time as a fast cyclist has, for some reason, chosen to use the cycle track instead of the road.

A disaster waiting to happen.

I rarely use it, only when in no hurry. At least, when I do, I know what the score is.

 

[spindrift]

On Orient Way there's a cycle lane that's hardly used. I certainly don't use it, no driver would use a road that insisted you give way at every drive so why should a cyclist? The driver wasn't even aware there was a cyclist there, by his own admission he failed to exert care. Damned by his own words, and a pretty shocking attempt at weaselling out of guilt.

 

[spindrift]

Come to think of it - isn't the whole article contempt of court?

 

[MartinC]

We can only speculate as to what really happened. If there are no independent witnesses or any physical evidence (e.g. marks on the road) we may never know. What is implicit in what the driver is reported as saying is that he doesn't believe that there's a general responsibility to be aware of anything other than motor vehicles on the carriageway.