Killer bus driver- trial starts

First day of the trial is reported he
http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/d...chatting.ph p

Some grim remarks concerning cyclist safety.

"Willis replied: "I understand what you are saying, but if every bus
driver in the city did not overtake a cyclist without giving 6-8ft the
whole city would grind to a halt, so where do you draw the line?""

FFS!!!!

spindrift wrote:

"Willis replied: "I understand what you are saying, but if every bus
driver in the city did not overtake a cyclist without giving 6-8ft the
whole city would grind to a halt, so where do you draw the line?""
FFS!!!!

and.... He said his experience told him he had time to go past Miss
Harris before a central island ahead narrowed the carriageway and
squeezed the available space.

So all cyclists travel at the same speed?
His experience wan't worth a damn in this case.
Robert

Essentially, "We can't avoid killing cyclists, it would make the buses
late!"

BigRab wrote:
spindrift wrote:

"Willis replied: "I understand what you are saying, but if every bus
driver in the city did not overtake a cyclist without giving 6-8ft the
whole city would grind to a halt, so where do you draw the line?""
FFS!!!!

and.... He said his experience told him he had time to go past Miss
Harris before a central island ahead narrowed the carriageway and
squeezed the available space.

So all cyclists travel at the same speed?
His experience wan't worth a damn in this case.
Robert


What about the 4x4 driver coming the other way, overtaking a cyclist who
was already overtaking parked cars? Just how wide is the Cowley Road?
(Wide enough for a car, 2 bikes, a 4x4 and a bus to travel side by side?)

Wheelist wrote:

Just how wide is the Cowley Road? (Wide enough for a car, 2 bikes,
a 4x4 and a bus to travel side by side?)

Not even close, and if it was near the top, it is heavily 'traffic
calmed' and hardly wide enough for a 4x4 (brilliant area with pubs,
ethnic resturants, guitar shop, 2 bike shops - ok, one is Cycle King,
but still...)

On 2006-10-26 13:39 +0000, Wheelist wrote:
BigRab wrote:
Just how wide is the Cowley Road?
(Wide enough for a car, 2 bikes, a 4x4 and a bus to travel side by side?)

There were some recent works on the road which changed it from a narrow,
heavily trafficed street into a slightly better-thought-out but equally
narrow and heavily trafficed street with shinier road furniture, a small
number of good cycle stands, and a (slightly redundant and poorly
implemented) 20mph limit.

Maps and pictures of the current state and before at
http://www.eastoxford.com/beta/eoalt...wley_index.htm

Note that the death in question happened before any of this new stuff
went in, so you can't really go by the maps on the site. But it'll give
you an idea.

Also http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...re/3605954.stm .

--
Andrew Chadwick

Andrew Chadwick wrote:

There were some recent works on the road which changed it from a narrow,
heavily trafficed street into a slightly better-thought-out but equally
narrow and heavily trafficed street with shinier road furniture, a small
number of good cycle stands, and a (slightly redundant and poorly
implemented) 20mph limit.

Maps and pictures of the current state and before at
http://www.eastoxford.com/beta/eoalt...wley_index.htm

Note that the death in question happened before any of this new stuff
went in, so you can't really go by the maps on the site. But it'll give
you an idea.

Also http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...re/3605954.stm .

Does the following show it before the works?

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v...style=h&lvl=15

You may need to zoom in a bit to the scene of the crash.


--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no
reference to fun in any Act of Parliament.

spindrift wrote:
First day of the trial is reported he
http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/d...chatting.ph p

Some grim remarks concerning cyclist safety.

"Willis replied: "I understand what you are saying, but if every bus
driver in the city did not overtake a cyclist without giving 6-8ft the
whole city would grind to a halt, so where do you draw the line?""

FFS!!!!

That is the common attitude of drivers IMO. However much it might say
"allow the same space as for a car" in the HC, in reality most car
drivers will give about 3/4 a car-width when the road is wide and
unobstructed, but if it narrows they just pass closer, down to a few
inches away if they can.

Note also the underlying assumption that motor vehicles are much faster
than cyclists and therefore *must pass before the narrowing", mentioned
in another post.

Pyromancer wrote:

That is the common attitude of drivers IMO. However much it might say
"allow the same space as for a car" in the HC, in reality most car
drivers will give about 3/4 a car-width when the road is wide and
unobstructed, but if it narrows they just pass closer, down to a few
inches away if they can.

Not if that means their offside wheels might stray across the centre
lines...
:-((

Pyromancer wrote on 26/10/2006 20:46 +0100:
spindrift wrote:
First day of the trial is reported he
http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/d...chatting.ph p


Some grim remarks concerning cyclist safety.

"Willis replied: "I understand what you are saying, but if every
bus driver in the city did not overtake a cyclist without giving
6-8ft the whole city would grind to a halt, so where do you draw
the line?""

FFS!!!!

That is the common attitude of drivers IMO. However much it might
say "allow the same space as for a car" in the HC, in reality most
car drivers will give about 3/4 a car-width when the road is wide and
unobstructed, but if it narrows they just pass closer, down to a few
inches away if they can.


OTOH I doubt it will do his case much good. He's as good as admitting
passing close because he couldn't be bothered to wait. I doubt his
lawyer is happy with his comment.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci