Posted by masseur
BBC article
A motorist who was texting on her mobile phone when she hit and killed a cyclist has been sentenced to four years in prison.
she's also been banned from driving for 5 years which presumably means she can't drive for the first year she comes out of jail (assuming she does the full term).
it also says that the cyclist was hit when he went through a red light so it would seem that he was partly to blame though I guess his penalty was far higher than hers
Obviously texting while driving is rediculous but I must say that I agree with the current TV campaign in UK which is targetted not at the driver but at anyone talking to a driver, and which says that "as soon as you know they're driving, hang up immediately"
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[ This Message was edited by: masseur on 2008-02-29 13:06 ]
Posted by LesleyAnn
i agree… it usually takes at least 2 to have a conversation.
i wish for their own sakes though, that cyclists would abide by the highway code.
Posted by PeterKay
women shouldn't be driving full stop (kidding)
Seriously though, i think the punishment is too weak, will never bring back a life.
Posted by gregface
no strength of punishment will bring back a life though...
Posted by PeterKay
unless its life for life.
Posted by Miss UK
Silly Moo.
thats all im saying..
pull over and use the phone!
Posted by gregface
On 2008-02-29 17:32:54, PeterKay wrote:
unless its life for life.
not the solution in this instance, or many instances really. what you wrote still doe not imply that life will be returned.
I may consider agreeing with capital punishment for serial killers, but not accidents like this.
Posted by jcwhite_uk
On 2008-02-29 13:56:30, masseur wrote:
she's also been banned from driving for 5 years which presumably means she can't drive for the first year she comes out of jail (assuming she does the full term).
Obviously texting while driving is rediculous but I must say that I agree with the current TV campaign in UK which is targetted not at the driver but at anyone talking to a driver, and which says that "as soon as you know they're driving, hang up immediately"
As far as I know the ban starts when she comes out of jail.
Hanging up on someone who is talking while driving is a good idea but you cant tell if someone is texting you while driving.
Posted by Dogmann
Hi all,
IMO it's about time the penalties for texting or talking on a phone get stiffer as far to many still engage in this dangerous practice with little or no regard for others.
Marc
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[ This Message was edited by: Dogmann on 2008-02-29 17:16 ]
Posted by fatreg
4 years in jail is pitiful for what is essentially murder...
I'd love to know what the road lay out is like as he jumped a red light. Was it a T junction or something? I myself have jumped numerous red lights on my bike and it was only until I appeared on 3 minutes (a local crime watch) that I stopped. Not wearing a helmet though is unforgivable, I know myself that if neither me or my younger brother wore helmets both of us would be 6ft under by now, my helmets have saved my life a good 2 times, and my brother once. While they are only polystyrene they do serve a damn good purpose, and will save you, needless to say that when my helmet gets hit, I drop it etc, it gets replaced, a helmet with a hairline crack in the shell or polystyrene is useless, any extreme force on it will crack it and 99 times out of 100 whatever it is that's inside of it (usually your head)
As a keen road cyclist myself, I am only too aware that motorists do not always see bikes and have myself been knocked off 3 times, luckily I've stood up after every one, but all it takes is one and you could be gone. But, the cyclist in my mind, should have been more aware of surrounding activity, I always always wear headphones on my bike, as it heightens my sense of vision and smell, if a car is going to get your from behind it's gonna get you no matter what, but when your field of vision is about 270degs you spend a lot of time looking about and see what's about, cars, trucks, motorbikes, dogs etc
Cyclists IMO don't need to obey the high way code, IE, there is no need for a bike to not cross a pelican crossing when it's red but person has crossed, is crossing or is about to cross. A bike is a lot more nimble than a car is.
take for example, my mate, cycling home from work one day, riding past a hospital, some emotional lady in her car opened her door to get out of the car on a busy road without looking in her mirror, my mate on his carbon bike slammed straight into the door, flew over the bike and door and ended up splated on the road, a carbon bike being subjected to that kind of abuse isn't going to survive, and what once was a handmade, strictly limited edition bike shattered instantly, it's not just cyclists that need to watch where they are going, motorists and everyone else needs to too!
Some silly bint T-boned me once, because she "didn't see me" now I wouldn't mind, but my bike, is bright blue and pink, you really can't miss it! oh and my back pack has got a big reflective arrow right on it (like a road works sign) and to tell me you can't see that you don't deserve to be driving if you ask me.
But yeah, wear a helmet and motorists bloody watch were you going!
Posted by gregface
On 2008-02-29 18:48:31, fatreg wrote:
I always always wear headphones on my bike, as it heightens my sense of vision and smell, if a car is going to get your from behind it's gonna get you no matter what, but when your field of vision is about 270degs you spend a lot of time looking about and see what's about, cars, trucks, motorbikes, dogs etc
Can you please clarify what you mean here (out of interest), you say you listen to music whilst cycling?
I started doing this again recently, stopped since I hit a jogger on a cycle path at 630am on my paper round, she was fine, she actually ran into me.
I would say listening to music is not very dangerous, what I would not advise it to see cyclists wearing hoodies (with the hood up). As you say, it totally limits your vision.
Posted by fatreg
I mean headphones as it listening to music, I'd never have a hoodie on as I wear a helmet...
Posted by gabbyevs
so how does it heighten your senses when you cant hear anything coz youre wearing headphones?
Posted by LesleyAnn
@fatreg
i woulda thought it would be useful to have your ears working in tandem with your eyes and sense of smell....?
Posted by jcwhite_uk
I am a cyclist as well as a car driver. A lot of car drivers do not pay enough attention to cyclists but sometimes cyclists dont help themselves. Many a time have I had to swerve to avoid a cyclist who rides into the road into the path of my car. I have also been hit by a cyclist as a pedestrian crossing a pelican crossing while i had a green light. I have even had a cyclist ride into the back of my car, while I was waiting at a traffic junction, as he was changing the track on his mp3 player. Another thing that annoys me about cyclists is the guys who ride on the road instead of the cycle track that has been made for them, they would get upset if I drove my car on the cycle track.
There are 2 main dangers to cyclists: car drivers and themselves.
Saying all of that it does not takeaway the fact that texting or talking on your phone while driving is dangerous and stupid.
Posted by fatreg
On 2008-02-29 19:20:18, gabbyevs wrote:
so how does it heighten your senses when you cant hear anything coz youre wearing headphones?
I'm not deaf when I have my cans in... just can't hear road noise, kids with music too loud in cars, abuse and other such delights, but I can hear sirens, horns and tyre screeches.
@ LesleyAnn..
as above I'm not deaf! just chose to drown out road din.
@ at all, believe when I say your senses heighten, give it a whizz if you don't believe me, put a face mask on so you can see and tell me how much more you listen for things and how much more paranoid you become.. or listen to music thru headphones and tell me you don't look about more...
w=When in an unnatural environment I must add.
Posted by Daedalus85
Cyclists annoy me lol, they just slow everyone else down to their pace and get in the blasted way
Then again, I'm too fat to cycle any long disance so what would I know?
But yes, they can be more of a liability to road users sometimes, mainly because you have to floor it past them to get around them in time, and tends to mean you risk plowing into the car coming the other way if not done fast enough.
And yes, you could say "well then wait until it's clear you plonker!". But easier said than done sometimes. I have to drive down a tight, windy, country road most mornings for a good 80% of the journey, and unless I want to be sitting at 10MPH behind some dipstick on a bike, with a queue of 10 cars behind me getting impatient, then I'm going to floor it past them at some point down that road. Obviously blind corners of course not, but it's hard to judge sometimes, especially when the idiot the otherway isn't looking and it in the middle of the road...
Posted by LesleyAnn
On 2008-02-29 23:38:37, Daedalus85 wrote:
Cyclists annoy me lol, they just slow everyone else down to their pace and get in the blasted way
Then again, I'm too fat to cycle any long disance so what would I know?
…and unless I want to be sitting at 10MPH behind some dipstick on a bike, with a queue of 10 cars behind me getting impatient, then I'm going to floor it past them at some point down that road.
u know, it's probably not a dipstick, more likely sy keeping fit and thinking of saving himself a few quid on fuel…
Posted by leeboy13
well well! i was totally wrong about this.... i did think, it was too light (4 years in prision).... but a cyclist going through a red light! ...... seriously, they broke the law exactlky the same..... i feel for the 'silly' car driver tho, they ahve to live with this life changing event and deal with how their life has dramitcally changed over something sooo rediculous!
it would appear both were to blame tho here