Brakeless fixie rider on trial for killing pedestrian in London

[rousseau]

As cyclists travelling faster than pedestrians I think we have a responsibility to slow down for them if they look unsure of themselves crossing the street when they're far enough away to be yelled at. Trying to dodge them is dangerous and reckless, and in this unlucky case, it was fatal.

[buddybikes]

Another cell phone induced death.

[ultraman6970]

I do not know how is that this dude killed at person because I havent read anything about it but since i had used fix gears for years in the street I can tell you that skidding to stop becomes second nature after a few months (if you are good at it), same with the handling and the use of a front or a rear brake.

And this takes me to think that this accident probably happened due to combination of things, the dude is not a great bike handler as he thinks, excessive speed and the bad luck of the pedestrian he hit.

As a cyclist you have to share the road with motorized vehicles and pedestrians at the same time... sure he did not meant to kill the pedestrian but clearly half of the problem was negligence too, from him or the diseased, some pedestrians have no idea w** are they doing aswell...

[dpk501]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

Similar thing happened here a few years ago

A bicyclist who fatally struck a 71-year-old man who was crossing the street in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service.

Chris Bucchere, 37, cut a deal with prosecutors last month, pleading guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter and avoiding a jury trial that could have exposed him to prison time if he had been convicted.

The charge was the most serious ever brought in the U.S. against a cyclist in a fatal crash with a pedestrian, said District Attorney George Gascón. He said the victim's family did not want Bucchere to be locked up.

"After the accident, but before Hui died, Bucchere wrote a post on an online cycling forum saying he was "way too committed to stop" before hitting Hui."

Zero remorse asshat. He was lucky that family was so generous. In the olden days, the chinese groups would have have chased him down with cleavers.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by steveandbarb1

Another cell phone induced death.

There is no evidence that either the cyclists or the pedestrian was using a phone at the time of the incident.

In original statements to police, the cyclists said that he thought that the pedestrian was using here phone, but that appears not to be the case, as it was never brought up at trial.

[zap]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

There is no evidence that either the cyclists or the pedestrian was using a phone at the time of the incident.

In original statements to police, the cyclists said that he thought that the pedestrian was using here phone, but that appears not to be the case, as it was never brought up at trial.

According to reports out of England, the pedestrian was not using her mobile.

[Gurpil23]

Some more updates on this

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...arlie-alliston

See a lot of cyclists without brakes in downtown Chicago ..

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

Similar thing happened here a few years ago

A bicyclist who fatally struck a 71-year-old man who was crossing the street in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service.

Chris Bucchere, 37, cut a deal with prosecutors last month, pleading guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter and avoiding a jury trial that could have exposed him to prison time if he had been convicted.

The charge was the most serious ever brought in the U.S. against a cyclist in a fatal crash with a pedestrian, said District Attorney George Gascón. He said the victim's family did not want Bucchere to be locked up.

"After the accident, but before Hui died, Bucchere wrote a post on an online cycling forum saying he was "way too committed to stop" before hitting Hui."

Wasn't that incident caused by the cyclist racing virtual competition on Strava?

[benb]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Sure. But you most likely have brakes, so you can stop quickly if needed. Even at 10 -14 mph, it takes a brakeless fixie much longer to stop.


Here in Massachusetts the law specifically states that bicycles ridden on the roads have to have brakes that stop the bicycle from a specified speed (15mph) within a specified distance (30 feet). This requirement can be met with just a rear brake (such as on a coaster brake bike), but it is nearly impossible to meet by reverse pedal pressure on a fixed gear.

Sure no doubt. My own fixie experience years ago (in MA) was that even with front and rear brakes (I had V-brakes, they were pretty good), the fixie felt like it was still dangerously slow to stop. It was like even with the brakes the fact that your legs had to keep turning made it feel like the bike had more inertia or something and made it harder to stop.

Guess that's me... great stopping ability (power + modulation) is part of what defines a high performance bike IMO.

[verticaldoug]

I'm in London and this has received a fair amount of press. I even listened to Nick Ferrari on LBC chat about it on talk radio yesterday.

The whole thing is a big like Camus 'The Stranger'. The judge was really angry the cyclist showed zero remorse. Ultimately, I think this is what he is guilty of and the judge does have discretion.

Moreover, immediately after the accident, he was online in forums saying some pretty stupid things.

Although the CCTV video was not released to the public, the expert did say he cannot tell if she was looking a phone as she was behind a car on the video.

At the end of the day, if he had kept his big mouth shut and said sorry about the 'accident', he'd probably had walked. He looks like a pretty anti-social punk.

D

[Idris Icabod]

Update: 18 month sentence in a young offenders institute:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-41306738