Saw a cyclist knocked down this evening.

[Lisa21]

That must have been an awful thing to witness, I just hope the poor girl is alright as at the end of the day that is the main thing.

 

[TVC]

She was very calm. I would say shockingly calm actually. She was measured and frankly very selfish in not considering the welfare of the person who she had just collided with. Her only thoughts seemed to be to keep saying it was the cyclists fault as she had no lights - she did. I told her to shut up as the priority was the welfare of the girl lying in the road not her. It was better for us not to say anything to each other about what we thought happened as the police would be coming and they would deal with working out what happened and which party was to blame. I did not want this woman badgering the young girl making her more even more uncomfortable than she may already have been. I tried to comfort the girl as she looked concussed. fortunately another girl probably student came out of an adjacent house to lend support to help the cyclist and she helped to diffuse the situation. Was I being unreasonable do you think? Irrespective of who was responsible for the collision, the cyclist's welfare was the first consideration. I found the driver's behaviour especially shocking as she was about the right age to be the cyclist's mother, mid forties and all she could think about was saving her own skin. Nice woman indeed.

The first time I was knocked off I had two guardian angels to do this for me, a work colleague who I didn't know had seen it and an RAC patrol guy. The driver was in my face the whole time trying to blame me by saying I reversed my bike into him on the roundabout that he took me out on, I don't think so! Fortunately the RAC guy kept him away and the work colleague, who I didn't know that well, comforted me by the side of the road before the police came and took me to hospital. I was just trying to repay this cyclist the kindness I was shown. The second time I was knocked down there was no one. As I lay in the road another chav car driver blew their car horn as they drove around me shouting "Get out the f*cking road!"

So last night I tried to help this cyclist as best I could, make sure she was comfortable, warm enough and not let her be bullied by the driver. I would have let her sit in my car but I had just returned to it to go home from work so it was still freezing. So I offered her my heavy wax winter coat and also the other girl as she didn't have to much on as she ran out when she hear the crash. The cyclist must have been in shock, concussion, although she told me she didn't hit her head, no wound, but she seemed rather groggy to me. I shall give her a call later to find out if she is ok.

No you weren't.

As I said, perhaps today she will be more reasonable, if not nail her.

 

[deckertim]

Slightly off-topic, but I heard an interesting thing on Radio 4 the other day, with regard to the recent cruise ship sinking and the behaviour of the captain. They spoke to a naval captain, someone who'd served in the Falklands, possibly the captain of HMS Coventry.

The Captain of HMS Coventry is David Hart Dyke, the father of Miranda Hart. He was the last person to leave HMS Coventry when it was sunk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hart_Dyke

 

[DiddlyDodds]

If Crankarm wanted a more outraged and universally supportive set of responses then this ought to have been posted in the commuting forum where the predictable responses would have supplied several hours worth of reading.

While I am concerned about the welfare of the victim, the poster's belligerant rants add nothing other than his distorted sense of injustice.

bigonabianchis comment " nailing the bitch in the car to the wall in a public place for all to spit on and stone her to within an inch of her life..." is a complete disgrace , and Crankarms rant calling her a stupid b*tch over and over again is almost just as bad ,have you ever heard of shock and the way people react under such stress as hitting someone on the road.
As Vernon says the commuting section love this type of post , spitting venom at anything with a motor, Crank arm says she crossed in front of the car so therefore she will have been side on to the car and would appear to have no lights showing, he says the car could have stopped in time as it was a new one, so an older one would not have been able to stop so this says she moved out in front of the car side on showing no lights at close range.
It is never nice to see someone hurt in a road accident ( i once sat with a lad as he died after hitting a car head on as he came round a corner on the wrong side of the road on a motor bike and ripped his leg off and had massive head injuries) but 99% of these accidents are not intentional , people dont intend to have an accident,to hit others on the road.
Hope the lass on the bike gets over it quickly.

PS i wont bother reading this thread again so you can all rant on for several days to come.

 

[Blue]

Slightly off-topic, but I heard an interesting thing on Radio 4 the other day, with regard to the recent cruise ship sinking and the behaviour of the captain. They spoke to a naval captain, someone who'd served in the Falklands, possibly the captain of HMS Coventry.

He was saying that to be the captain of ship (or high up in any profession), you generally have to be an Alpha male, just to have made your way up with enough determination. And Alpha males do very well, until they make a mistake, when they find it very hard to cope with the idea that they've cocked up. As a result, their behaviour tends to focus entirely on justifying their actions - whether that's by blaming someone else, or by pretending that nothing is wrong until it's far too late.

And of course it seems just as likely to me that the same thing applies to both sexes. For some people, the first reaction on making a mistake is to be horrified and apologetic or simply shocked into incapacity, for some, it's to try and divert the blame, because they can't face the fact that they are fallible.

There's a much wider question I think, about whether the increased aggression we seem to see in society is exacerbated by people being given a greater sense of their own worth and ability than they perhaps have, but that's going way off topic.

I hope the girl recovers quickly, and that the driver gets what she deserves.

IME the highlighted points are so so accurate. During my career I spent some 10 years dealing with High Court litigation. It always annoyed me to some extent that so many 'at fault' drivers had to be persuaded of the so so obvious fact that they were at fault. Even when not blaming the other party they would turn their attention to weather or road conditions etc., before even comtemplating that their driving was less than perfect. When it comes to the blame game people can, sadly, be more like eels.

 

[Arch]

The Captain of HMS Coventry is David Hart Dyke, the father of Miranda Hart. He was the last person to leave HMS Coventry when it was sunk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hart_Dyke

Yes, it may have been him I heard. He made the point that although he was also in this Alpha male position, he'd had extensive military training to know what to do in an emergency. Also, he wasn't at fault, so he wasn't trying to justify wrong actions.

If the driver was calmly blaming the victim, she was presumably trying to justify to herself a mistake she assumed she wasn't capable of making.

Of course, understanding why people react in certain ways doesn't excuse the intial mistake (or deliberate action) that led to the situation.

 

[S_t_e_v_e]

Crankarm! Good on you for stopping! If I had a mishap I would be very grateful for someone as yourself to offer assistance.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

bigonabianchis comment " nailing the bitch in the car to the wall in a public place for all to spit on and stone her to within an inch of her life..." is a complete disgrace

Why? She showed no compassion for th epoor girl she dam nearly killed, and simply was nterested in apportioning blame so as to save her own worthless skin. Sorry, but I stand by it. The real disgrace is not having th eguts to stand up to drivers like this and let them think their actions and incompetence is acceptable. It isnt.

 

[paulw1969]

Crankarm,
good on you for stopping and helping this girl......in a world where many wouldn't, hope she is ok and i also hope that someone like you is around if i ever have the same misfortune

 

[Crankarm]

If Crankarm wanted a more outraged and universally supportive set of responses then this ought to have been posted in the commuting forum where the predictable responses would have supplied several hours worth of reading.

While I am concerned about the welfare of the victim, the poster's belligerant rants add nothing other than his distorted sense of injustice.

I should tell you where to get off for being so obnoxious. I would even help you if you were knocked off your bike if only so I could have the satisfaction of having done the right thing and then being able to call you a total sh1t to your face which is what you are. if you haven't anything constructive to say FFS stay away from your keyboard. Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?

 

[CopperCyclist]

She was very calm. I would say shockingly calm actually. She was measured and frankly very selfish in not considering the welfare of the person who she had just collided with. Her only thoughts seemed to be to keep saying it was the cyclists fault as she had no lights

Unfortunately some people are just like this. I recall the video (posted many times for comment on this forum) where the cyclist is knocked off by a car turning into a junction, and then whilst he's on the floor a second car drives out over him. The driver of the second car in that incident had a similar reaction, not helping the cyclist at all, just repeating a mantra shifting the blame off her.

We shouldn't have to say 'well done Crankarm for stopping' as it SHOULD be a natural human reaction. However, given the state of society... well done Crankarm.

 

[Crankarm]

Crankarm,
good on you for stopping and helping this girl......in a world where many wouldn't, hope she is ok and i also hope that someone like you is around if i ever have the same misfortune

Thanks. There are still a few that would stop. Not many but a few. I have been a bit of mess today thinking about it and whether the girl is ok. I am sure she is.

The post above by the sh1t vernon upset me even more. I reported it earlier today but the mods haven't done anything so I now tell him where to get off. What an a-hole.

I called the girl's mobile earlier this evening and left a message hoping she was feeling better. She has my email as well. I guess no news is good news. I hope the driver's insurer doesn't now try and stiff her for a new front to the car which had a few deep gouges on the air dam, grill and edge of bonnet from striking the bicycle which judging by the car could easily come to £2,000-£3,000 maybe more. I doubt whether she has 3rd party insurance or any experience of dealing with these sorts of things. I still think it was the driver's fault. They will want their car repaired and will try and pass the bill onto the cyclist if they can as she was adamant that it wasn't her fault (the driver). I don't think so. Or I might be totally wrong the driver takes the hit so to speak and gives the girl a reasonable amount of cash to get her bike repaired and for her injuries. I think she will just have some rather painful bruises. Tbh she was lucky not to be more seriously injured or killed as the car appeared to hit her and then she the road pretty hard. I suppose the thick coat she was wearing saved her. She wasn't wearing a helmet. I keep seeing her fly up over the front of the car like a rag doll.

 

[Crankarm]

Unfortunately some people are just like this. I recall the video (posted many times for comment on this forum) where the cyclist is knocked off by a car turning into a junction, and then whilst he's on the floor a second car drives out over him. The driver of the second car in that incident had a similar reaction, not helping the cyclist at all, just repeating a mantra shifting the blame off her.

We shouldn't have to say 'well done Crankarm for stopping' as it SHOULD be a natural human reaction. However, given the state of society... well done Crankarm.

One would think but there are so many instances, not just cycling RTAs where people who should help walk on by, cross the road. I couldn't do that. I was only doing what any person with an ounce of humanity and compassion would hopefully do. It is not worthy of thanks. Just part of basic human rights owed to your fellow man ........ or woman. Person. The right to life if you like.

I am sure you know that in France and maybe other European countries it is a criminal offence not to offer assistance to some one whose is in such a situation needing emergency help. I think it should be the same here. If only to the extent of making people call the emergency services and offer basic comfort and assistance to the injured party before paramedics etc arrive on the scene. But hey ho.

 

[vernon]

I should tell you where to get off for being so obnoxious. I would even help you if you were knocked off your bike if only so I could have the satisfaction of having done the right thing and then being able to call you a total sh1t to your face which is what you are. if you haven't anything constructive to say FFS stay away from your keyboard. Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?

The calm voice of reason?..........

 

[snapper_37]

Good on you for stopping and assisting Cranks. The girl sounds like she had a lucky escape.

Bit like the one I saw 2 weeks ago who was hit at a busy junction. I was on my bike across the road waiting for the lights to change. I then heard a bang and saw what I acutally thought was a bag of rubbish thrown in the air. It took for a few seconds for the penny to drop it was a human being and I went cold. I really thought she was a gonna but stitches and a couple of metal plates later, she was thankfully ok.

Young girl, walking home from uni. She felt she had jumped the lights, but so did the driver apparently (according to my OH who looked after the girl in theatre). I pass through this junction everyday and I don't even bother with the lights, especially on my morning commute. I wait for the cars to STOP as there is always some self-gratification artist going through on red.