Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

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Pete Owens
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Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

Post by Pete Owens »

A bit of good news for a change.

Mr Happy Cyclist reports on a conviction for careless driving due to video evidence submitted to Greater Manchester police:
http://www.happycyclist.org/?p=1817
thirdcrank
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Re: Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

Post by thirdcrank »

That's a very interesting link and its importance goes beyond the result of the court case.

I'd recommend it as required reading for anybody who records incidents with a view to reporting them to the police. It's full of insight and covers a lot of points I've tried to make in my waffling over the years.

Above all, the evidence provided by the vid has been used to corroborate the evidence of the rider. This is a really fundamental point: it's not just a matter of showing the footage and assuming the facts speak for themselves.

I've made the point before that although most crashes inevitably used to result in a prosecution, near misses, even when witnessed by police officers were much harder to prove, because the defence always referred to the excellent judgment of the driver in avoiding a crash.

Mr Happy Cyclist mentions the identity of the driver being an issue, but does not elaborate. The prosecution must prove that the defendant was the alleged offender in any prosecution. It's an elementary point drilled into new prosecutors because otherwise, at the conclusion of the prosecution case, the defence advocate can submit "no case to answer." A mug shot of the driver if the opportunity arises might be very useful if the driver's ID were to be in doubt, rather than the elementary requirement for the prosecution to prove formally that the defendant was the offender.

In his analysis of the law, he tends to refer to careless and inconsiderate driving as part-and-parcel of a single charge. AFAIK, the prosecution must decide which "leg" of s3 RTA 1988 they are alleging: a summons including both is "bad for duplicity."

An excellent report on the case and I'll reiterate my view that cycling cameramen would benefit from reading it.
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Paulatic
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Re: Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

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Meanwhile in Glasgow
The driver was charged with dangerous driving. He was given 5 points and a £375 fine. Justice for driver on cyclists incidents? Not in this country.

[youtube]zDs_6pQY22c[/youtube]
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thirdcrank
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Re: Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

Post by thirdcrank »

Paulatic wrote:Meanwhile in Glasgow
The driver was charged with dangerous driving. He was given 5 points and a £375 fine. Justice for driver on cyclists incidents? Not in this country.


Is that ironic in any way? (From a legal system POV, Scotland is a different country to E&W and it's said by some to be superior.)
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Paulatic
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Re: Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

Post by Paulatic »

thirdcrank wrote:
Paulatic wrote:Meanwhile in Glasgow
The driver was charged with dangerous driving. He was given 5 points and a £375 fine. Justice for driver on cyclists incidents? Not in this country.


Is that ironic in any way? (From a legal system POV, Scotland is a different country to E&W and it's said by some to be superior.)

I couldn’t say , not my words. I’d be thinking it wasn’t a bad result. History suggests the driver wouldhave got much more if he’d knocked him off and killed him.
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thirdcrank
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Re: Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

Post by thirdcrank »

Paulatic wrote:... I couldn’t say , not my words. I’d be thinking it wasn’t a bad result. History suggests the driver wouldhave got much more if he’d knocked him off and killed him.


Right. I've been back and looked at the captions on the vid and it's not on there so, purely out of interest, what were you quoting?

That's had me watching the vid again paying more attention to the rider's comments about things like the prosecutor accepting a guilty plea to the lesser charge. I don't know about Scotland but without looking it up, I believe that in E&W a defendant charged with dangerous driving can elect tp go to the Crown Court for a jury trial. There's a lot to be said for weighing cases off at the summary court. From my personal experience - now a distant memory - the last thing a prosecutor wants is to rely on a witness who lost their rag, no matter how understandable that was in the circumstance. As the plebgate hearing demonstrated, the courts tend to assume that it clouds the memory. Also, there's the very real risk that a defence advocate will try to light the touch paper. I wonder if the following driver gave evidence, or decided they didn't want to become involved. :?

As with the vid linked in the OP, there are lessons here for cameramen.
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Paulatic
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Re: Helmet Cam Evidence Secures Close Pass Conviction

Post by Paulatic »

thirdcrank wrote:
Paulatic wrote:... I couldn’t say , not my words. I’d be thinking it wasn’t a bad result. History suggests the driver wouldhave got much more if he’d knocked him off and killed him.


Right. I've been back and looked at the captions on the vid and it's not on there so, purely out of interest, what were you quoting?



As with the vid linked in the OP, there are lessons here for cameramen.

Sorry I should have said the quote was from Magnatron, the victim, on Twitter . One of our Pedal on Parliament organisers.
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