Boris nearly killed whilst cycling

[chrisw]

Has any one else seen this? CCTV captures the moment Boris Johnson is nearly killed whilst cycling in London.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/23/boris-cycling

I couldn't believe it to say there were lucky is an understatement!

[thirdcrank]

"Round a corner peddled (sic) the mayor and the minister, enjoying the ride, until a large lorry overtook them."

We've had a thread on here about that too.

[hubgearfreak]

let's have a sweepstake. my bet is 3 points, £50 fine for that lorry driver

[jan19]

well I am certainly no fan of Boris but that's horrible.

I hope the driver of the lorry is disqualified from driving at the very least. For a long time.

Jan

[thirdcrank]

You never know how the publicity affects something like that but around here, I would have expected that to be a caution letter. Probably a firm's lorry, not easy for the driver to know the back door lock / latch was dicky etc. I suppose we are unlikely to hear the result.

[eileithyia]

Well I would have thought anyone driving is responsible for the vehicle's roadworthiness at the time it is taken from the depot.
If I were to start driving someone else's car with a load on a roof rack and that load fell off I would be prosecuted for having an unsafe load.
So surely a lorry driver should be responsible for ensuring the rear doors are secured etc.

What is so horrifying is the speed with which the door swung open and the effect on the parked car, it is very lucky that no one was seriously injured or killed.

.....and besides he was going extremely fast for the conditions, and should not have been overtaking at that narrow point in the road.
So you can probably add speeding, driving without due care and attention, to driving with a unsafe/illegal vehicle.

[7_lives_left]

Of course it was the cycle helmet that saved him...
I'll get my coat.

[Beakyboy]

I had a goldfish called Boris once.

[Mick F]

My goldfish was called Fred, and he never made to the dizzy heights of Mayor of London despite having a good CV.

[Cunobelin]

LOcally a couple of years ago we had a child killed by a loose crane arm, the driver got 2 years

[Cunobelin]

My goldfish was called Fred, and he never made to the dizzy heights of Mayor of London despite having a good CV.

Traditionally London is rather "Cattist" in these matters, although a fish might be able to access the floating vote

[richardyorkshire]

It looks like the truck accelerated in an attempt to get past the cyclists, and in doing so clattered over a speed bump causing the ill fastened door to come open.

I've seen similar situations when cars put on a burst of speed to get past, ignoring the fact that there is a speed bump approaching. They then hit the speed bump way too fast and there is a clang from undercarriage striking the bump. It must play merry havoc with their suspension.

Why do some drivers insist on overtaking come what may?

[Fatou]

I like the way the story is written as 'Boris diced with death', as if the probability that this would happen is likely.

[thirdcrank]

LOcally a couple of years ago we had a child killed by a loose crane arm, the driver got 2 years

Unfortunately, I can't get that link to work. I presume the charge was manslaughter, in which case two years would be viewed by many people as lenient. In this case, it's a non-injury collision. It's my impression that in many parts of the country the police might not even attend:

With apologies to Bob Newhart:
(999)
Brr brr
Police emergency. You've had an accident? I see. Is anybody hurt? Well, if nobody's hurt, is the road blocked? I see. You can drive your truck but there is a car in the road. I see. Is it blocking the road? Only partly? Traffic can still get by. Good. Nothing to do with us then..... What's that? A very angry cyclist says he's Boris Johnson? Ho, ho. Tell him he should have been wearing a helmet. What's that? You say he was wearing a helmet? That's OK then. Click... (dialling tone.)

[sirmy]

What struck me was that the driver, after coming to a stop, first went to close the doors on the back of his lorry!

Did he go over to the cyclists and ask if they were OK? No he didn't. From what can be seen he had very little communication with them and the fact that he had just put a group of people in an extremely dangerous situation appears not to register at all.