Bad News

[hellymedic]

I don't think anyone else has posted about the dreadful crash on the Itchen Bridge in Southampton a couple of nights ago.
The Andover Advertiser has an article herehttp://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news/regional/southampton/display.var.2431090.0.cyclists_pay_tribute_to_veteran_rider_killed_on_bridge.php
and the BBC has a report here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7577602.stm
 

[numbnuts]

that's very sad  been over that bridge many times

[Pancho]

Very sad and, as always in these situations, also anger inducing.

I regularly cross that bridge and simply work out how a crash could have happened. The road is dead straight, street lit and has FWIW, cycle lanes.

[hellymedic]

7 occupants from the car were arrested, which is unusual.

[JohnP]

7 people? In a 406?  Almost reason enough to arrest them, especially at the scene of a fatal incident.  Some confusion over who was actually driving at the time ?

Is the 406 available as an estate with 7 seats? Were they driving one? If not then they were probably driving without insurance.

Makes little difference really - a very sad and unecessary loss of life.

[SteveC]

I grew up in Woolston, just at one end of that bridge.
I walked over it before it was finished (our school physics teacher arranged that for us)
I was really pleased when it opened as it meant that I could cycle home from my first girlfriends house without having to wait ages for the chain ferry.
I'd never seen a cycle path before the bridge opened.

I regularly cross that bridge and simply work out how a crash could have happened. The road is dead straight, street lit and has FWIW, cycle lanes.

I totally agree with Pancho about the layout -- something must have been seriously wrong with the car or the driver.

My sympathies go to the family and friends of the victim. 

Steve

[David Martin]

I totally agree with Pancho about the layout -- something must have been seriously wrong with the car or the driver.

Drink and drugs, the lot of them. Hit a bunch ride.

According to comments elsewhere, the vehicle occupants were so stoned they didn't even have a clue what had happenned or where after exiting hospital and being arrested.

Absolutely shocking.

..d

[hellymedic]

I totally agree with Pancho about the layout -- something must have been seriously wrong with the car or the driver.

Drink and drugs, the lot of them. Hit a bunch ride.

According to comments elsewhere, the vehicle occupants were so stoned they didn't even have a clue what had happenned or where after exiting hospital and being arrested.

Absolutely shocking.

..d

Disgraceful.
The vindictive bitch in me takes some comfort that this crash has occurred after the new legislation has been enacted and that the perps have a better chance of a realistic custodial sentence.
Won't bring Derek back though.

[dkahn400]

This is a scenario we all have the prospect of facing. No amount of defensive cycling can protect you from a speeding out-of-control car. Fortunately it is a rare event but it is still devastating when it actually happens. 

[tonycollinet]

That is true - but we face it whatever we do. Walking, driving cycling - it makes no difference. Stupid brain-dead f***wits in cars can mess you up.

[Pete]

If there were more people in the car than allowed for in the seating, then an offence was committed anyway, wasn't it?  Could these passengers be prosecuted for aiding and abetting a more serious offence, that of causing Death by Dangerous Driving?  That might shake one or two up - being banned from driving without even having had your hands on the steering wheel.

No amount of speculation, however, will bring the departed cyclist back.  Echoes of Abergele...

[Clare]

The verdict

[spindrift]

Blimey, the car owner's on the run.

 I sometimes smell fragrant clouds of smoke from builders' vans as I cycle past early in the morning, but if the driver's pissed as well you stand no chance.



 What a grim story.

[delthebike]

The verdict

Excellent! Seven and one half years plus a life time driving ban.
Teeth at last! 

[SpaceBadger]

That is true - but we face it whatever we do. Walking, driving cycling - it makes no difference. Stupid brain-dead f***wits in cars can mess you up.

How sad, but how true. What little value some people place on other life is astounding. Then consider how often we witness it.