Inquest absolves cyclists of causing death of man

The case of the "39mph cyclist" has been concluded.
QUOTE:
A pensioner died after a collision with a cyclist on a busy Derbyshire road, an inquest heard.

Seventy-nine-year-old John Beach, who was also known as Trevor, passed away in hospital on April 18 - two days after he suffered serious injuries in a collision with a pedal cyclist on Nottingham Road, Ripley.

An inquest into Mr Beach’s death was resumed on Thursday, December 19 after Derbyshire assistant coroner Sarah Huntbach had asked police to carry out further investigations to determine the speed the cyclists were travelling at during an initial hearing in October.

Chesterfield coroners' court heard friends Craig Bond and James Holmes were cycling on Nottingham Road at around 5pm on April 16 when the crash occurred.

Giving evidence at the earlier hearing, Mr Bond said: "He (Mr Beach) stepped out in front of me - he came out of nowhere.

"I couldn't have done anything to prevent it."

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire Constabulary, said tests concluded there were no defects with Mr Bond's bike.

He told the court he carried out CCTV analysis and calculated that Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of 38mph. The speed limit on Nottingham Road is 30mph.

This speed was questioned at the earlier hearing by Mr Bond, so PC Simpson was asked to carry out further analysis of the speed using a Garmin cycle computer mounted to Mr Holmes’ bike.

Thursday’s inquest heard data from the computer confirmed Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

Recording a verdict that Mr Beach died as a result of a road traffic collision, Ms Huntbach said the tragic incident was due to ‘a tragic combination of factors’.

“Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it was too late,� she said.

The coroner also said /////speed limits on roads only referred to motor vehicles///// (EMPHASIS MINE) but she would be filing a report asking whether regulations should include pedal cyclists in future.

https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/ne...ist-1-10164476

On 21/12/2019 12:21, Simon Mason wrote:
The case of the "39mph cyclist" has been concluded.
QUOTE:
A pensioner died after a collision with a cyclist on a busy Derbyshire road, an inquest heard.

Seventy-nine-year-old John Beach, who was also known as Trevor, passed away in hospital on April 18 - two days after he suffered serious injuries in a collision with a pedal cyclist on Nottingham Road, Ripley.

An inquest into Mr Beach’s death was resumed on Thursday, December 19 after Derbyshire assistant coroner Sarah Huntbach had asked police to carry out further investigations to determine the speed the cyclists were travelling at during an initial hearing in October.

Chesterfield coroners' court heard friends Craig Bond and James Holmes were cycling on Nottingham Road at around 5pm on April 16 when the crash occurred.

Giving evidence at the earlier hearing, Mr Bond said: "He (Mr Beach) stepped out in front of me - he came out of nowhere.

"I couldn't have done anything to prevent it."

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire Constabulary, said tests concluded there were no defects with Mr Bond's bike.

He told the court he carried out CCTV analysis and calculated that Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of 38mph. The speed limit on Nottingham Road is 30mph.

This speed was questioned at the earlier hearing by Mr Bond, so PC Simpson was asked to carry out further analysis of the speed using a Garmin cycle computer mounted to Mr Holmes’ bike.

Thursday’s inquest heard data from the computer confirmed Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

This reporting is terrible. There is a tremendous suspicion of a
deliberate intent to mislead.

They stress "average" prior to the accident, not when, or where, or how
long. Bear in mind the world record for an hour is 34 mph. My guess
would if the "average" genuinely did occur anywhere in the journey it
would be very close to the maximum and occur for a very short time.

The report doesn't even say it confirmed the CCTV analysis, it just says
they found a period when he could have been riding that fast. We are not
even sure it was on the same stretch of road where the 30mph limit applied.

These are all questions I would have wanted considered in the inquest.


Recording a verdict that Mr Beach died as a result of a road traffic collision, Ms Huntbach said the tragic incident was due to ‘a tragic combination of factors’.

“Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it was too late,� she said.

The coroner also said /////speed limits on roads only referred to motor vehicles///// (EMPHASIS MINE) but she would be filing a report asking whether regulations should include pedal cyclists in future.

He wasn't exceeding the limit just before the accident, presumably that
means in the period before the collision, when it would have been
relevant? Although this isn't made clear.

So given that we assume this speed wasn't involved in the accident, it
would be interesting to know what percentage of the cycle journey was
over the speed limit. We could then compare that to the average for
motor vehicles, despite regulation. We could then wonder why the coroner
would ask his pointless question. I mean pointless because it isn't
based on any significant new evidence, that wouldn't have been
considered before, and because it will be totally ineffectual

On 22/12/2019 11:53, Tom Evans wrote:
On 21/12/2019 12:21, Simon Mason wrote:
The case of the "39mph cyclist" has been concluded.
QUOTE:
A pensioner died after a collision with a cyclist on a busy Derbyshire
road, an inquest heard.

Seventy-nine-year-old John Beach, who was also known as Trevor, passed
away in hospital on April 18 - two days after he suffered serious
injuries in a collision with a pedal cyclist on Nottingham Road, Ripley.

An inquest into Mr Beach’s death was resumed on Thursday, December 19
after Derbyshire assistant coroner Sarah Huntbach had asked police to
carry out further investigations to determine the speed the cyclists
were travelling at during an initial hearing in October.

Chesterfield coroners' court heard friends Craig Bond and James Holmes
were cycling on Nottingham Road at around 5pm on April 16 when the
crash occurred.

Giving evidence at the earlier hearing, Mr Bond said: "He (Mr Beach)
stepped out in front of me - he came out of nowhere.

"I couldn't have done anything to prevent it."

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire
Constabulary, said tests concluded there were no defects with Mr
Bond's bike.

He told the court he carried out CCTV analysis and calculated that Mr
Bond was travelling at an average speed of 38mph. The speed limit on
Nottingham Road is 30mph.

This speed was questioned at the earlier hearing by Mr Bond, so PC
Simpson was asked to carry out further analysis of the speed using a
Garmin cycle computer mounted to Mr Holmes’ bike.

Thursday’s inquest heard data from the computer confirmed Mr Bond was
travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision
but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

This reporting is terrible. There is a tremendous suspicion of a
deliberate intent to mislead.

They stress "average" prior to the accident, not when, or where, or how
long. Bear in mind the world record for an hour is 34 mph. My guess
would if the "average"Â* genuinely did occur anywhere in the journey it
would be very close to the maximum and occur for a very short time.

The report doesn't even say it confirmed the CCTV analysis, it just says
they found a period when he could have been riding that fast. We are not
even sure it was on the same stretch of road where the 30mph limit applied.

These are all questions I would have wanted considered in the inquest.


Recording a verdict that Mr Beach died as a result of a road traffic
collision, Ms Huntbach said the tragic incident was due to ‘a tragic
combination of factors’.

“Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it
was too late,� she said.

The coroner also said /////speed limits on roads only referred to
motor vehicles///// (EMPHASIS MINE) but she would be filing a report
asking whether regulations should include pedal cyclists in future.

He wasn't exceeding the limit just before the accident, presumably that
means in the period before the collision, when it would have been
relevant? Although this isn't made clear.

So given that we assume this speed wasn't involved in the accident, it
would be interesting to know what percentage of the cycle journey was
over the speed limit. We could then compare that to the average for
motor vehicles, despite regulation. We could then wonder why the coroner
would ask his pointless question. I mean pointless because it isn't
based on any significant new evidence, that wouldn't have been
considered before, and because it will be totally ineffectual


Where were the cyclists 'absolved of causing the death'? They were
riding too fast for their skills and the conditions. The pedestrian did
not drop dead in front of them, they caused his death.

On Sunday, December 22, 2019 at 11:53:45 AM UTC, Tom Evans wrote:

So given that we assume this speed wasn't involved in the accident, it
would be interesting to know what percentage of the cycle journey was
over the speed limit.

None of it was, since, as the court heard, speed limits do not apply to cyclists.

On 22/12/2019 12:15, MrCheerful wrote:
On 22/12/2019 11:53, Tom Evans wrote:
On 21/12/2019 12:21, Simon Mason wrote:
The case of the "39mph cyclist" has been concluded.
QUOTE:
A pensioner died after a collision with a cyclist on a busy
Derbyshire road, an inquest heard.

Seventy-nine-year-old John Beach, who was also known as Trevor,
passed away in hospital on April 18 - two days after he suffered
serious injuries in a collision with a pedal cyclist on Nottingham
Road, Ripley.

An inquest into Mr Beach’s death was resumed on Thursday, December 19
after Derbyshire assistant coroner Sarah Huntbach had asked police to
carry out further investigations to determine the speed the cyclists
were travelling at during an initial hearing in October.

Chesterfield coroners' court heard friends Craig Bond and James
Holmes were cycling on Nottingham Road at around 5pm on April 16 when
the crash occurred.

Giving evidence at the earlier hearing, Mr Bond said: "He (Mr Beach)
stepped out in front of me - he came out of nowhere.

"I couldn't have done anything to prevent it."

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire
Constabulary, said tests concluded there were no defects with Mr
Bond's bike.

He told the court he carried out CCTV analysis and calculated that Mr
Bond was travelling at an average speed of 38mph. The speed limit on
Nottingham Road is 30mph.

This speed was questioned at the earlier hearing by Mr Bond, so PC
Simpson was asked to carry out further analysis of the speed using a
Garmin cycle computer mounted to Mr Holmes’ bike.

Thursday’s inquest heard data from the computer confirmed Mr Bond was
travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision
but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

This reporting is terrible. There is a tremendous suspicion of a
deliberate intent to mislead.

They stress "average" prior to the accident, not when, or where, or
how long. Bear in mind the world record for an hour is 34 mph. My
guess would if the "average"Â* genuinely did occur anywhere in the
journey it would be very close to the maximum and occur for a very
short time.

The report doesn't even say it confirmed the CCTV analysis, it just
says they found a period when he could have been riding that fast. We
are not even sure it was on the same stretch of road where the 30mph
limit applied.

These are all questions I would have wanted considered in the inquest.


Recording a verdict that Mr Beach died as a result of a road traffic
collision, Ms Huntbach said the tragic incident was due to ‘a tragic
combination of factors’.

“Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it
was too late,� she said.

The coroner also said /////speed limits on roads only referred to
motor vehicles///// (EMPHASIS MINE) but she would be filing a report
asking whether regulations should include pedal cyclists in future.

He wasn't exceeding the limit just before the accident, presumably
that means in the period before the collision, when it would have been
relevant? Although this isn't made clear.

So given that we assume this speed wasn't involved in the accident, it
would be interesting to know what percentage of the cycle journey was
over the speed limit. We could then compare that to the average for
motor vehicles, despite regulation. We could then wonder why the
coroner would ask his pointless question. I mean pointless because it
isn't based on any significant new evidence, that wouldn't have been
considered before, and because it will be totally ineffectual


Where were the cyclists 'absolved of causing the death'?Â* They were
riding too fast for their skills and the conditions.Â* The pedestrian did
not drop dead in front of them, they caused his death.

I didn't absolve the cyclist. I was just commenting negatively on the
inquest process, especially reporting.

I commend your attitude of placing the burden of responsibility on
traffic rather than pedestrians. I assume you would support a presumed
liability law, such as they have in Holland.

FWIW, I hit a deer whilst driving my car yesterday, came out of the
woods right in front of me. I would have been going just under 40, when
I first saw it. Very impressed with the cars brakes. A few seconds
warning slowed the car enough for the deer to walk away. The deer was
running in the same direction as the car which may have helped too.

On 22/12/2019 14:55, Simon Mason wrote:
On Sunday, December 22, 2019 at 11:53:45 AM UTC, Tom Evans wrote:

So given that we assume this speed wasn't involved in the accident, it
would be interesting to know what percentage of the cycle journey was
over the speed limit.

None of it was, since, as the court heard, speed limits do not apply to cyclists.

Yes, but the question is, what difference would it make if they did.