Why do some cyclists use the entire lane, use fog horns, and flashing lights?????????

JP08

brat wrote: »

One involved a drunk staggering on a 60mph 'A' road which did not cater for pedestrians. He was hit by a taxi in the middle of the straight road in the early hours. Taxi driver doing ~50mph didn't see him until too late. Turns out her headlight levellers were set for a heavy payload, and the extent of the dipped beam was insufficient for her to have time to see him and react to his presence in the road.
Despite this, she wasn't prosecuted for death by careless driving.

We as a society are too easy on motoring offences (probably because we are pretty much all guilty of them at one time or another, "there but for the grace of God go I" etc, - and are so dependent on the damn machines). And I happily say that as a regular driver for the last 30 years. Removal of the privilege of driving should be a much more frequent occurrence, "I need a car for my job" no defence. And punishment for flouting such bans carry a stronger deterrent.

Tilt

For a start, pedestrian SHOULD be walking against the flow of traffic (assuming the road has no footpath). Second, unlike a cyclist a pedestrian normally has the right of way once in the road (dependent on any restrictions that maybe in place).

I think you will find that there are totally different legal distinctions between the two.

In the case I highlighted (the cycle fatality on the A10), the motorist wasn't speeding (apparently). I don't think it's always going to be a cut and dried case in the event of either a cyclist or pedestrian being hit at night by a vehicle in saying it would always be the driver's fault. Clearly in the case of the A10 incident, it wasn't.