Getting prosecuted from Dashcam?

[b0rn2sk8]

I do a bit of road cycling, but i stay off the main roads as much as possible because i don't want to die. Nice long stretch by the river, but i have to go on the main road to get there

What i am seeing recently on A Roads is joggers! Absolutely nuts. HGV's, tractors etc, you come around a bend and there's a jogger, or 2 running side by side, and you either have to slow to a crawl/stop because there's traffic coming the other way, or you see them last minute and it's a swerve to avoid.

As i say, nuts.

Or as a driver of a 1.5T - 44T killing machine, you need to drive to the conditions.

You have absolutely no idea what is behind any corner and you need to be able to stop in the distance you can see in front of you.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a jogger, cyclist, a broken down car or a baby duck in the road, you need to be able to stop (and not in an emergency fashion) before you even come close to making contact with them.

If you can’t stop in time, it’s your fault.

 

[ivrytwr3]

Lol, so by your example: i am doing the speed limit, i come around the corner and there are 2 joggers side by side coming directly at me. There are no paths to jump onto and the roadside is hedges, there is a tractor coming the other way - i have nowhere to go. Straights are fine, it's the blind bends. Yes, i can hit the brakes - but it's an accident waiting to happen.

Joggers also have responsibilties:

Wear Bright Clothing: the ones i see are usually the Soccer Moms in black lycra - nom.

Avoid Headphones: the ones running alone 9/10 usually have ear buds in.

But yes, put the blame on the drivers when these nutters are jogging and chatting to each other on busy A roads.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Lol, so by your example: i am doing the speed limit, i come around the corner and there are 2 joggers side by side coming directly at me. There are no paths to jump onto and the roadside is hedges, there is a tractor coming the other way - i have nowhere to go. Straights are fine, it's the blind bends. Yes, i can hit the brakes - but it's an accident waiting to happen.

Yes, put the blame on the drivers when these nutters are jogging and chatting to each other on busy A roads.

… and you’d get prosecuted for causing death by dangerous driving when you plough into them.

You have to be able to stop in the clear road you can see in front of you, those are the rules of the road. If you can’t, you are not driving with due care and attention, it’s that simple.

It shouldn’t need explaining that a speed limit isn’t a target.

I’m not sure why this is even a debate

 

[ivrytwr3]

I agree i would be at fault - what i'm saying is, jogging on busy roads isn't the brightest idea. I'm not talking city centre traffic that are crawling, i'm talking 60mph zones, at all times of day wearing dark colours and them having no spatial awareness.

But you're right, let's move on.

 

[adam cool dude]

As a cyclist, I don't like most other cyclists. With the London Tube strikes on, Lime Cycle users are even worse. Swarms of them this week.

I am a cyclist and absolutely hate the vast majority of them too. I always do my routes on back roads and away from A roads or cycle paths along rivers etc. I can still get a good 20 miles in easy that way which is plenty for a morning ride. I always pull over if I am holding up large vehicles.

I was driving in my lorry around Suffolk/Colchester area last weekend and the amount of selfish cyclist did my nut in. I did 5 miles behind a couple doing 10 mph before I could get by. I do not have the acceleration to overtake safely. Yet they had not a care in the world.

I always pull over for HGV's and tractors even if I am on it. It is only courtesy sharing the road.

10 minutes down the road a women coming the other way had a tailback for 20+ cars!

Shame you cannot send in dash cam footage and get cyclists fined!

 

[Simon]

I agree i would be at fault - what i'm saying is, jogging on busy roads isn't the brightest idea. I'm not talking city centre traffic that are crawling, i'm talking 60mph zones, at all times of day wearing dark colours and them having no spatial awareness.

But you're right, let's move on.

Nothing like being dead right though. Still on the runners to not put themselves in danger. As well as all other road users.

 

[Scort]

… and you’d get prosecuted for causing death by dangerous driving when you plough into them.

You have to be able to stop in the clear road you can see in front of you, those are the rules of the road. If you can’t, you are not driving with due care and attention, it’s that simple.

It shouldn’t need explaining that a speed limit isn’t a target.

I’m not sure why this is even a debate

I'm not sure it's as night and day as you make out - in the example, the joggers wouldn't be expected traffic on the road; I mean, they're pedestrians - so unless there's signage to indicate the possibility of humans in the road, then they would be putting themselves into harms way.

There was one of those Police programs on TV recently, though might have aired years ago for all I know, where a young woman driving a Mini, hit and killed a cyclist. She had left the scene of the accident and drove home - the collision investigators found that the cyclist had been riding at night with no lights or high vis clothing, had also been intoxicated - the road had been a crossing over a major road and unlit.

When you first got introduced to the situation it looked like a clear case of hit and run, but the Police were satisfied that the driver did no wrong, and it was the cyclist who had put themselves into such a dangerous position.

Might not be the same, but it's pause for thought - and interesting to see that when it comes to decisions for dangerous driving, the Police do seem to take common sense into account.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I'm not sure it's as night and day as you make out - in the example, the joggers wouldn't be expected traffic on the road; I mean, they're pedestrians - so unless there's signage to indicate the possibility of humans in the road, then they would be putting themselves into harms way.

There was one of those Police programs on TV recently, though might have aired years ago for all I know, where a young woman driving a Mini, hit and killed a cyclist. She had left the scene of the accident and drove home - the collision investigators found that the cyclist had been riding at night with no lights or high vis clothing, had also been intoxicated - the road had been a crossing over a major road and unlit.

When you first got introduced to the situation it looked like a clear case of hit and run, but the Police were satisfied that the driver did no wrong, and it was the cyclist who had put themselves into such a dangerous position.

Might not be the same, but it's pause for thought - and interesting to see that when it comes to decisions for dangerous driving, the Police do seem to take common sense into account.

There are exceptions to everything.

However at the end of the day, if you take a blind cornet at maximum speed and hit another road user who is otherwise abiding by the rules of the road, it isn’t going to end well for you.

 

[Rroff]

if you take a blind cornet at maximum speed and hit another road user who is otherwise abiding by the rules of the road, it isn’t going to end well for you.

It is an interesting one when it comes to corners - there are a lot of corners near me where the speed average traffic goes around them is far too fast to stop if there is a problem through the corner, some of them have recently had 40MPH MAX signs up up but that is still too fast - but on the other hand to actually take them at a speed which gives you ample safety margin would mean dropping down to like 10-15MPH and absolutely crawling around which itself could be dangerous given that traffic behind you is probably going to doing 25-35MPH faster and potentially catch you up mid corner.

 

[Nasher]

It is an interesting one when it comes to corners - there are a lot of corners near me where the speed average traffic goes around them is far too fast to stop if there is a problem through the corner, some of them have recently had 40MPH MAX signs up up but that is still too fast - but on the other hand to actually take them at a speed which gives you ample safety margin would mean dropping down to like 10-15MPH and absolutely crawling around which itself could be dangerous given that traffic behind you is probably going to doing 25-35MPH faster and potentially catch you up mid corner.

I once had a near miss after a blind corner. Some idiot in a van was blocking the road so I had to stop just after the corner. Someone came round it, slammed the brakes on and he came skidding past me on the wrong side of the road (old car so no ABS). I pretty much waved at him as he went by and he would have hit me pretty hard if he didn't evade.