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How in the name of heaven and hell can blind clear you, when he could have seen the rider if he'd moved his head?

"I was driving a lorry that I knew had blindspots but I didn't take account of the fact that a cyclist might be in one - got to be a one in a million chance..."

"Ah well then, discharged without a stain on your character or licence..." 

On a point of genuine curiosity, how can a cyclist entering a roundabout from the right of a lorry driver in a right-hand-drive vehicle possibly be in a blind spot? Quite obviously he simply didn't look.

A Felixstowe lorry driver accused of causing the death of a 69-year-old cyclist by careless driving has been cleared by a jury.

A jury of drivers not cyclists.

Mr Bleaney told the jury that prosecution and defence experts agreed that there were three blindspots in the lorry Wilkinson was driving.

However, he said that by moving his head around Wilkinson, who was driving at around 20mph, could and should have been in a position to have seen Mr Down.

So he chose not to look, but that isn't careless, according to the jury of drivers.

....described it as “a one in a million accident”.

Considerably less than that if he doesn't bother turning his head to check, in fact, it's odds on.

Great to see justice being done by our superb system.

In case anyone missed it in yesterdays blog here are the two pevious articles. The second one contains the testimony from the driver.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24702352.trimley-careless-crash-death-trial-...

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24705235.felixstowe-lorry-driver-gives-evide...

Quote:

 Defence barrister Ian Bridge questioned Wilkinson and asked him if he had anything to say to Mr Down’s family who were sitting in the public gallery.

Wilkinson, 36, said: “I’m deeply sorry for what happened. As I was driving correctly the only sense I can make of it is it’s a one in a million accident."

The defendant told the court he had “most certainly” looked around in the mirrors but added blind spots can never be entirely removed.

He said: “It’s almost impossible to move a lorry without taking some risks of blind spots otherwise you just couldn’t possibly move."

Mr Bridge asked Wilkinson to explain how he did not see Mr Down.

Wilkson replied: “From the synchronisation of both of our movements he just remained hidden the entire time. If he was clear to see I’m certain I would have see him.

Bungle_52 wrote:

Defence barrister Ian Bridge questioned Wilkinson and asked him if he had anything to say to Mr Down’s family who were sitting in the public gallery.

Wilkinson, 36, said: “I’m deeply sorry for what happened. As I was driving correctly the only sense I can make of it is it’s a one in a million accident."

So all he had to say to the family is "sorry, not sorry". Disgusting and so are the jury.

The most concerning thing is the "as I was driving correctly". I just cannot accept that at all and if he continues to drive like that, then others are going to be put at risk.

Yes, and plenty of people 'drive as correctly' as him on the roads round here, tbh I always expected this outcome, simply because of my experiences with local drivers who made up the jury and the countless times I've used that roundabout and been put in danger by the way drivers approach it.

Another thing that wasn't mentioned in the news articles, is why this lorry was there in the first place. There are weight restrictions on both exits, the lorry has been described as an 18 tonne tipper.

Location of collision from report: https://www.cyclestreets.net/collisions/reports/2020371002018/

Looking at the Streetview on the link you give, on the exits to the roundabout there are 7.5 tonne weight limit signs but underneath it says "Except for loading" so presumably if he was going to collect rubble from a building site or similar he would be permitted to use the road.

There have been, and still are, plenty of construction sites for new housing around the Trimley area. In fact the other cyclist killed by a truck driver in the area in the past couple of years, was on a roundabout put in for one of those developments.

Worth highlighting also the signage isn't always maintained, the Kirton side the sign is often completely hidden by overgrown hedges/bushes, as are the roundabout approaches.

Statement from the family of the cyclist killed https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/24708294.felixstowe-family-statement-...

Thanks for the link. I'm still trying to get my head around this. Lorry driver kills cyclist and its not even careless and everyone seems quite happy to let him carry on driving the same vehicle with it's blind spots so he can kill another with impunity. Something is wrong somewhere.

theres an attitude I encounter alot locally, and demonstrated in bucket loads by drivers on my commute home tonight, that cyclists shouldnt be on the roads, because its dangerous for cyclists to mix with traffic, so that anything that then befalls you by their crappy driving and inability to look, think ahead or simply drive safely, is your own fault, not theirs.

so I can almost guarantee the jurors sitting there and saying stuff like, well its a dangerous roundabout, trucks are bound to use it and they cant be expected to see in their blindspots, and if you needed to cross the A14 to get to Kirton, you should use the footbridge instead thats what its there for.

RIP.

As has been said in other cases "the cyclist was there to be seen".

Here: "The prosecution case is that Andrew Down was visible and could have been seen and should have been seen and we suggest the defendant is sitting in the dock because his driving fell below the standard of an ordinary, careful driver ... 'If you can’t see, you don’t go' ".

Unfortunately "seeing" is an active thing.  As a society we seem to accept that "looking" is good enough e.g. didn't have windscreen blocked by stuff / wasn't just on the phone.  And in fact even the latter is increasingly "understood".

This was a professional driver operating a large vehicle, not just an "ordinary driver"...

I was wondering why the prosecutor used the word ordinary rather than competent. The two seem completely different to me.

We're decades behind in the UK of being able to do this, Utrecht works because the Dutch prioritised safe cycling infra, which makes convenient bike park facilities a necessity.

You could spend 30million GBP, more like 50-60million based on our track record of infrastructure projects, but you'd still have a crappy ride to the station to use it.

Don't forget the trains when you get there also...

True, fwiw they're half decent round my neck of the woods, but I appreciate having travelled around the UK via train, it ain't always so good elsewhere.

If only public transport were like this (video of NL looking in part at the public transport connections / stations in small towns with frequent services)...

... but "people won't pay for it, because it's expensive, because we don't have enough users, because it's often infrequent and unreliable, because ..."

Ultimately "because we got rid of lots of services because we decided to make way for driving".  And now we've made it often quicker, easier and - remarkably - cheaper to drive.

"However, he said that by moving his head around Wilkinson, who was driving at around 20mph, could and should have been in a position to have seen Mr Down. "

But it was “a one in a million accident”.

Which was it then ?
 

tipper truck as well.

Naturally "ride to the walk / shopping / cafe" parking is also required for city centres:

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2021/10/20/why-did-utrecht-open-yet-a...

...just as in the UK we have multi-story car parks around the "shopping streets" and/or at big stores.

wtjs wrote:

Some said that while these sort of posts can come across as elitist

Reminds me of the rather good sketch with Rowan Atkinson, and Mel Smith I think, playing counter staff in a 'HiFi' shop, ridiculing the customer not versed in HiFi jargon. Probably 'Not the 9 'O Clock News'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvswW6M7bMo

I actually had a similar stem issue. Went in for a bike fit a few years back, and the fitter found a hairline crack in the faceplate when adjusting the stem. Was very happy to leave that one with a new stem  rather than finding out the hard way!