Cyclist on illegal bike who killed a pedestrian on manslaughter charged 'blamed victim'

[mothy]

Harsh lesson for her? really? The charge is manslaughter, what does that tell you do you think?

It tells me it was an accident / wasnt intentional

 

[mothy]

Did he jump lights? I haven't read he did. He was going about 10-18 miles an hour and the woman walked into the road so it's an accident as far as I see it. He might have clumsily written on a forum to defend himself from a witch hunt, but is that enough to ruin a second life as well the first? Is there's anyone who learnt stuff from this it's him. Let him off with a fine for a shit bike (which we've all had in the past when we were young).

Agreed.

Some people think he's a cold blooded killer deserving of having the book thrown at him.

#lookwhereyouaregoingpeople

 

[Creaky]

That's all after the fact though.

Sure after the event and before the full ramifications hit home, he acted like a knob.
For all we know he might have been provoked into knobish behaviour. Nobody on here can claim they've never made a thoughtless post on social media.
I don't care about that, although I'm sure he does at it now makes him easier to vilify.


The simple fact of this case is that he was riding an illegal bike, on which he was unable to perform an emergency stop.
For me the only surprise here is that he is the one still alive.

I presume that is the crux of the matter - would having a front brake have made any difference to the outcome. To prove manslaughter won't the prosecution have to prove this first?

 

[Stat Brother]

Do you know for a fact that even with a front brake he would have had time to perform an emergency stop? You seem to conveniently ignore the fact she stepped into the road!

What are you serious?

He didn't need a front brake because it wouldn't have saved her, so therefore why have a front brake?

Accidents happen, accidents happen all the time, victims can be the instigators.
Charlie Alliston had enough time to call out to her, perhaps he would have been better off using that time to perform an emergency stop.

That might not have been enough to stop this fatality, but he would have done everything possible to prevent it.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Sorry but riding without a front brake isn't one of several unfortunate factors.

Pardon my biking ignorance, but would such a machine have back brakes? Seems that all the talk is of front brakes.

 

[Albumen]

Grow up.

I'm beginning to think these replies are a double bluff wind up.

The bike wasn't rode worthy, the bike was illegal to use on UK highways.

I don't imagine it would take me long to find a crime where a driver of a defective car with no MOT, insurance, or vehicle excise duty, has killed someone.
Would you suggest that person should be let off with a fine for driving a shit car?

It's 19 year old kid on a bike, you use your back brake first then your first in an emergency. He said he swerved away from her but she, having not looked in the first place it sounds, walked back into his path. Why you're bringing a car into it I don't know, why not a bus? A tank? A hot air balloon? Those weren't involved either. Come on Stat you're an intelligent guy, accept it as it is, an accident.

 

[Albumen]

Pardon my biking ignorance, but would such a machine have back brakes? Seems that all the talk is of front brakes.

You use back brakes first so you don't go flying over your handlebars should someone walk out in front of you.

 

[drew]

It's 19 year old kid on a bike, you use your back brake first then your first in an emergency. He said he swerved away from her but she, having not looked in the first place it sounds, walked back into his path. Why you're bringing a car into it I don't know, why not a bus? A tank? A hot air balloon? Those weren't involved either. Come on Stat you're an intelligent guy, accept it as it is, an accident.

He can't, he hates cyclists. Difficult to back down!

 

[Stat Brother]

I presume that is the crux of the matter - would having a front brake have made any difference to the outcome. To prove manslaughter won't the prosecution have to prove this first?

I have no idea of the legal ramifications, his team will do their job in court.
They might do it so well he 'gets off', that's fine due process has been served.

The 'win' from this case could be hipsters up and down the country are currently having front brakes fitted to their fixies.
There certainly isn't a win for anyone involved.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

You use back brakes first so you don't go flying over your handlebars should someone walk out in front of you.

That's what I always thought from my dimly-remembered boyhood cycling days. Presumably having back brakes only would slow you down more slowly?

 

[Stat Brother]

Pardon my biking ignorance, but would such a machine have back brakes? Seems that all the talk is of front brakes.

The drivetrain is 'fixed'.
The bike can't move without the pedals moving.
(You don't want to be going down Coldean Lane on a fixie)

So to 'brake' you modify your pedaling, or push back hard.

Rear wheel braking doesn't stop a bike, certainly not one at speed, it just slows it down.
You stop almost instantly by pulling the front.

Obviously ideally, you use the 2 in tandem, slowing the back wheel while feathering the front.

 

[LU7 RED]

The media absolutely love it when a cyclist kills a pedestrian...all the car drivers pile in too trying to deflect the amount of death and destruction cars have caused to cyclists and pedestrians over the years.

No doubt the cyclist is a bit of a dick though.

 

[Stat Brother]

It's 19 year old kid on a bike, you use your back brake first then your first in an emergency. He said he swerved away from her but she, having not looked in the first place it sounds, walked back into his path. Why you're bringing a car into it I don't know, why not a bus? A tank? A hot air balloon? Those weren't involved either. Come on Stat you're an intelligent guy, accept it as it is, an accident.

I do accept it as an accident.
I don't accept the rider did enough to prevent it.

I'd also be very surprised if he hasn't had a few near misses in the past.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The drivetrain is 'fixed'.
The bike can't move without the pedals moving.
(You don't want to be going down Coldean Lane on a fixie)

So to 'brake' you modify your pedaling, or push back hard.

Rear wheel braking doesn't stop a bike, certainly not one at speed, it just slows it down.
You stop almost instantly by pulling the front.

Obviously ideally, you use the 2 in tandem, slowing the back wheel while feathering the front.

Thanks

 

[Thunder Bolt]

An elderly gentleman stepped off the pavement straight in front of my husband, who was on a motorbike. He was doing 40 mph, which was the speed limit for that road. The old man was dead on arrival at hospital.
He was interviewed by the police, & had his bike checked, which was mechanically sound. There were two motorists who were behind him as witnesses. He wasn't arrested, and the only court appearance was at the coroner's court. The medical report said the victim was deaf & had a cataract in his right eye, so just hadn't looked when he stepped into the road.

The cyclist should have had front brakes to be able to go on the road, so was illegal before any accident.

 

[drew]

There certainly isn't a win for anyone involved.

That is probably the only thing you have said upon which everyone would agree.

 

[The Camel]

Seems like a great deal of sub judice going on in this thread.

 

[jameswestport]

He shouldn't of been cycling the illegal bike.

Sometimes pedestrians don't notice bikes.

 

[Albion in the north]

It's not really about a cyclist and a poor woman who has lost her life. It's about a twunt who thinks he is above the law and can do what he wants and a woman who will not be waking up this morning because of his actions. There must be a reason that "fixies" are illegal on the road.
Disclaimer- The word twunt can also be applied to car drivers/lorry drivers/ van drivers or pedestrians when the situation dictates.

 

[Stat Brother]

It's not really about a cyclist and a poor woman who has lost her life. It's about a twunt who thinks he is above the law and can do what he wants and a woman who will not be waking up this morning because of his actions. There must be a reason that "fixies" are illegal on the road.
Disclaimer- The word twunt can also be applied to car drivers/lorry drivers/ van drivers or pedestrians when the situation dictates.

Fixies aren't illegal on the road.
Riding a bike without a front brake is.
A proper fixie is a track bike and doesn't have a front brake, one would need to be retrofitted to be road legal.



Those of you remembering the Olympic velodrome, will remember the likes of Chris Hoy screaming to the finish line, then having to do a couple of laps, all the while turning the pedals, before being helped off the bike.
Them be fixies, the same style ridden by the bloke here.