Motorcycle Forums

@nswers

>"ran out of luck" are you serious?

Absolutely. Every overtake is a gamble. Overtaking past a large vehicle doubly so. Do you think otherwise? It's your life on the line.

>"you seem to have access to the facts"

Sure I do, and so does anyone else prepared to do 5 minutes Googling to find the information from the inquest, rather than ranting and raving on the basis of the deliberately skewed view being peddled by the bike press.

It seems clear enough. The van driver said that the bike was overtaking approaching the junction and that the bike and the car couldn't see each other. The Special pulled out in an action that would have been perfectly safe and reasonable, except for the presence of the bike in that blind spot.

Did her actions fall below the standard expected of a reasonable driver?

Well, when you see a van approaching a junction that you're sat at, and there's plenty of time for you to pull out and turn right, do you really think "Yehbut, what if there's someone overtaking it in a maneuver that's clearly dangerous for them given the situation?"

Ask yourself that the next time you're in that situation. Really, do.  If you stop and wait just out of orneriness when you'd normally have accepted the tiny chance that the RHS lane isn't clear, then I'll applaud your decision.  You won't though, and neither will I or just about any other reasonable driver.

Do I think that the CPS treat us as worthless subhumans who are asking for it? Yes, I do. I really do.

Do I think that the Special should have been prosecuted for using a phone while driving? Absolutely, the typically gormless CPS seem to have missed that using a phone which must be held in the hand AT ANY POINT to make make or answer the call is the offence. There's plenty there to convict her of that.

Do I think that she should be prosecuted for causing death by careless or dangerous driving? Yes, I do, the CPS have already shown that they're ignorant of the law, and so it should be decided by a court.

Do I think that she would be convicted of it? No, probably not. Partly because her actions weren't actually that unreasonable, but mostly because the CPS are institutionally incompetent and don't seem interested in obtaining convictions for killing bikers.

Maybe you cannot call the lady involved a REAL copper  but the powers that be still seem to have closed ranks . The C.P.S  seem to be sticking to the facts as they see them -  the driver was not holding the phone ,end of  ! . But I have seen other cases that have been similar  ,but the driver  was leaning forward changing a  C.D. or  drinking / eating / smoking , and they were taken to court  . If I were  the riders family  I would be seeing a  solicitor  about a private prosecution  .

Regardless

of the rights or wrongs, it really pisses me off that bikers caught doing big speeds have been jailed, yet this arse gets away scot-free.

Sure, judges will consider the 'potential' for serious injury ot death with a speeding biker and hit him with a jail term, but when someone 'actually' kills another roads user, they're able to walk away without penalty?!?!  This country becomes more f**ked up every day. 

e- petition

An e-petition was submitted, but refused yesterday. A new one has been submitted now, waiting to hear back if it is accepted this time. Updates are on the Justice for David Bartholomew face book page, and all links will appear on there. https://www.facebook.com/#!/JusticeForDavidBartholomew

No Different...

No different here in the US, where the neighboring state (Illinois) has just passed a law with draconian penalties for riding a wheelie, but a cager that runs over and kills a motorcyclist, bicyclist, or pedestrian may not even get a traffic citation for failure to yield based on the “I didn’t see him/her” excuse.