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Statue of Justice, Old Bailey (licensed CC BY 2.0 on Flickr by Ronnie Macdonald).jpgMotorist admits causing death of 'hero' cyclist by careless driving
A Neasden man has admitted causing the death of a cyclist who was once offered a police bravery award for helping catch a mugger.
The Kilburn Times reports that Mishal Alshammary had been due to stand trial for causing death by dangerous driving, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving after the prosecution accepted that he had not been driving over the 30mph speed limit at the time.
Clifton James, 60, was riding his bike home at around midnight on June 20 2015 when he was hit by a car driven by Alshammary as he crossed a mini-roundabout in Forward Drive, Harrow.
Alshammary failed to slow down as he approached the junction and James, who was just yards from his home, suffered serious head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A formal not guilty verdict was entered to the charge of causing death by dangerous driving and Alshammary was released on bail before sentencing, which is expected to be on March 30.
Judge Anthony Bate said: “Immediate custody may well be an option in this case for the judge to consider, and you should prepare yourself for that.”
James had once been offered a police bravery award for helping to catch a mugger, but had turned it down as he did not want the attention. He had tackled the man as he tried to rob an elderly lady and pinned him down until police arrived.
His widow, Sandra, said she was unhappy with how the case had panned out.
“It doesn’t take 20 months to plead to careless driving, does it? I don’t feel like he’s remorseful — he’s going to think about himself and his family. He shouldn’t have been going at that speed on that roundabout. We’re not happy with it but it’s not in our hands.”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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11 comments
Knowing the junction/ rab pretty well, 20mph is too fast.
Not possible to drive dangerously at 12mph and kill?
So we have to fundraise for Cycling UK to make the CPS do their job every time now?
US 4 way stops really are better than mini-roundabouts.
This country seems to have the most extaordinary disconnect between Health and Safety, which leads to warnings that you might burn yourself on your hot cup of coffee, and careless driving, in which insufficient regard for the safety of others and/or a lack of competence leads to the death of someone. How ******** dangerous does it have to be? Consider a school science experiment in which a ton of metal was punted at speed in the general direction of a free-moving child whilst the teacher wondered if the new bar maid was going to be in that evening and checked his phone - the whole country would have apoplexy.
I despair.
Completely agree with his family. This is not justice.
Completely agree re miniroundabouts, a couple near me a 'kin horrendous when you're in a car, let alone on a bike. They are both in a 30mph zone, but drivers often go through them at 40ph+ without a thought of slowing. I will often make a point of risking my car just to make the fcukers think twice the next time they go through there.
there are a few mini roundabouts near me - introduced as "traffic calming measures" - and you take your life in your hands if try to turn right on a bicycle...
the road was better before, 30mph, but almost everyone went 45-50, but at least then there was some certainty - now the road practically instructs the cyclist to offer themselves as a human target in order to try to slow the traffic
There's one near me that used to be T junction. As such, most of those going in what was 'straight on' don't tend to bother slowing much. If you're doing a right turn from the former junction, those approaching from the left rarely give a shit, even in a car I've had plenty of near moments that result in the person who hasn't given way to their right looking all agrieved that they had to stop, sometimes suddenly. I hate the things.
I'd like to see stats on how "safe" mini roundabouts are. Its a design that encourages high speed and brinkmanship. I suspect its fundamentally unsafe. The part where you have to de-facto give way to on-comming cars turning right before they have got to the roundabout often catches me out. The can be 20-30 metres back from the roundabout but because they have their indicatior in they expect to just dive accross the roundabout.
Referring to the tragedy in the article, I don't understand what measure they have used to determine how "not slowing down" for a roundabout is merely careless instead of dangerous, can anyone explain?
Reminds me of when I objected to another miniroundabout in South Glos, pointing out that they were more dangerous for vulnerable road users, especially cyclists. The response I got beggared belief: they claimed that they were safer in SGlos because in the past two years there had been six cycliist incidents at miniroundabouts, but almost a hundred at T junctions and cross roads. Which just ignores the fact that there were about a dozen miniroundabouts and 10,000 other junctions. Numerical illiterates the bloody lot of them.
How many times must it be said? Our legal system is totally buggered for vulnerable road users. Despite clear evidence, this man is not convicted of dangerous driving. The law must be reformed so that if you cause a death it is automatically dangerous, not careless driving or some other weasel words.