New Highway Code Rules

No ifs nor buts the driver is at fault. I struggle to see how any experienced driver can condone that low level of awareness & driving. On collision a car gets a dent & a cyclist has life changing injuries or death. Anyone with such disregard for human life should be banned & made to resit a test before getting behind the wheel.

What we can’t see is any potential reason for the car crossing the white line…..dog just about to launch itself in front of the driver who instinctively attempts to avoid etc? What we may then be seeing is the car returning to its rightful position immediately following avoidance of collision. The driver could be praised for having made a successful judgement about collision avoidance - cyclist and dog (or whatever). The cyclist may have contributed to the hazard due to their inappropriate positioning for no apparent reason? ‘Excessive speed’ - where’s the evidence for that?

Its dangerous to rush to judgement and impose harsh penalties when you can’t see the full picture and/or have an agenda about these things. Plenty of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ in a balanced perspective.

The Police & courts & me are on the same page👍🏻. Apologists for bad & dangerous drivers will only ever cost lives. Harsh but true. BTW-the cyclists where in their passing position of the badly parked car before the idiot driver swerved into the oncoming cyclists side of the road.

All your points will have been dealt with in the course of the prosecution, SB, and the defendant will have had chance to put forward any factors of mitigation so I think we can safely assume there is no rush to judgement here.

I cycle regularly now. One of first things my OH said to me was “ if passing a parked car, ride wider than the door” People open car doors without a thought for what might be coming down the road. I think there’s a bit of a campaign to try and get folks to do the “Dutch reach” which uses the left hand in this country. Makes you turn round and look. 

Just watched the video. Sadly, that’s a fairly typical situation when out cycling. Car parked so you have to go round, oncoming traffic loathe to slow down or move over a little more away from central white line. More and more cyclists are using very good cameras now, front and rear, so hopefully, once the message gets through to those who show little respect for pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists, things might improve. 

As said in the video and in other reports of this in various places if the driver had stayed within his/her lane then very probably they would not have been prosecuted. Some reports also appear to think the driver did it on purpose to 'annoy' the cyclists? 

One dented wing mirror v one possibly very injured or worse cyclist, not much to think about and I believe the police and courts got this fully correct, thanks for all the replies.

It does make me think I should invest in a camera. I was thinking of getting one just to record the outings but also for this.

Another such video and more points from the first one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdyjmaAGLjg

No one can excuse the driver here (I hope), but I note he originally pleaded not guilty!

I made my OH buy two Corners, one front, one rear. They are incorporated into lights, and playback is excellent. He’s been knocked off his bike twice by motorists, both times needing outpatient treatment, and time off work, thankfully nothing worse. I am very selective about the routes I ride, don’t have his courage I’m afraid. It does seem to depend a little on where you ride. If it’s an area where lots of folks commute regularly on bikes, say Peterborough, we found drivers and pedestrians more in tune with cyclists, all showing a bit more respect. Round us, it’s a ruddy free for all, very disrespectful drivers without a care for anyone else on roads, be they walking, riding, or even driving! So a camera is a must.