Who is liable?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Charron44
Posts: 1
Joined: 2 Feb 2023, 12:42pm

Who is liable?

Post by Charron44 »

You should always be cycling at a speed at which you can safely stop for oncoming obstacles.

- I wondered to what extent do people here agree with this?

A friend of mine collided with some dustbins that had been dragged into the road by pranksters (she is unharmed), but the blame has been placed on her for going too fast to stop in time. Is this right? Thanks all :)
Last edited by Charron44 on 23 Feb 2023, 9:20am, edited 1 time in total.
eileithyia
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Joined: 31 Jan 2007, 6:46pm
Location: Horwich Which is Lancs :-)

Re: Who is liable?

Post by eileithyia »

Stationary bins already in the road? In which case she should have been observing what was in the road ahead and making suitable adjustments. Were they pulled out into the road in front of her as she approached? Again I would say she should have been watching out for potential hazards... personally I would never trust a bunch of yobs and would always be wary of what they might do.... some years ago I was riding in to work and thankfully not on the adjacent shared path/cycle lane, on which a group of teens were walking..... as cycled past and moved out slightly into the road... one of them lurched to grab/push me.... as said was glad I was not on the cycle lane.... and could keep well out of their way....

I think you will find if you take the advance motorists course / test, you are supposed to be continually observing potential hazards, ie children on the pavement, loose dog... dog on extendable lead.... parked vehicles.. potential for pedestrians crossing from behind them... door opening etc.....
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
Tangled Metal
Posts: 9505
Joined: 13 Feb 2015, 8:32pm

Re: Who is liable?

Post by Tangled Metal »

Yes, you learn to do the commentary like a police commentary but more hazard awareness than what the driver they're chasing is doing. But the principle is the same, you call out what hazards you see and any relevant precise comments. Not easy and you'll find at first you miss more than you see. You don't pass your driving licence with the hazard awareness you get from doing that commentary I reckon.
mattheus
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Joined: 29 Dec 2008, 12:57pm
Location: Western Europe

Re: Who is liable?

Post by mattheus »

Charron44 wrote: 2 Feb 2023, 12:54pm You should always be cycling at a speed at which you can safely stop for oncoming obstacles.

- I wondered to what extent do people here agree with this?

A friend of mine collided with some dustbins that had been dragged into the road by pranksters (she is unharmed), but the blame has been placed on her for going too fast to stop in time. Is this right? Thanks all :)
By whom?
pwa
Posts: 17371
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Who is liable?

Post by pwa »

For your own welfare you should anticipate a potential stationary obstacle around the next corner. Mostly there won't be one, but one day there will. It could be a wheelie bin blown over by the wind, a broken down car, or a stray sheep.
Last edited by pwa on 2 Feb 2023, 4:39pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jdsk
Posts: 24639
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Who is liable?

Post by Jdsk »

Welcome on making your first post.

As above: who is blaming whom? And is this about ordinary responsibility, or civil liability, or road traffic offences?

Thanks

Jonathan
User avatar
Mick F
Spambuster
Posts: 56359
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Who is liable?

Post by Mick F »

On Tuesday, I followed a car down the main road, and he indicated to turn right.
I was also turning right and turned in behind him.
Just here.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.52351 ... 384!8i8192

Narrow road with parked cars, and a car was coming towards him. He stopped, and immediately reversed to let him out. :shock:
Me, just behind him.

Luckily, I was able to avoid him ......... and shouted VERY loudly! ............. and stopped.
I may not have been able to stop.

What then?
He's guilty of not looking where he's reversing to, and also reversing back onto a main road.
Mick F. Cornwall
pwa
Posts: 17371
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Who is liable?

Post by pwa »

Mick F wrote: 2 Feb 2023, 4:38pm On Tuesday, I followed a car down the main road, and he indicated to turn right.
I was also turning right and turned in behind him.
Just here.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.52351 ... 384!8i8192

Narrow road with parked cars, and a car was coming towards him. He stopped, and immediately reversed to let him out. :shock:
Me, just behind him.

Luckily, I was able to avoid him ......... and shouted VERY loudly! ............. and stopped.
I may not have been able to stop.

What then?
He's guilty of not looking where he's reversing to, and also reversing back onto a main road.
He probably felt like a fool.
Bonefishblues
Posts: 11010
Joined: 7 Jul 2014, 9:45pm
Location: Near Bicester Oxon

Re: Who is liable?

Post by Bonefishblues »

Mick F wrote: 2 Feb 2023, 4:38pm On Tuesday, I followed a car down the main road, and he indicated to turn right.
I was also turning right and turned in behind him.
Just here.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.52351 ... 384!8i8192

Narrow road with parked cars, and a car was coming towards him. He stopped, and immediately reversed to let him out. :shock:
Me, just behind him.

Luckily, I was able to avoid him ......... and shouted VERY loudly! ............. and stopped.
I may not have been able to stop.

What then?
He's guilty of not looking where he's reversing to, and also reversing back onto a main road.
Back to the Sun for a pint, I'd say.
peetee
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Joined: 4 May 2010, 10:20pm
Location: Upon a lumpy, scarred granite massif.

Re: Who is liable?

Post by peetee »

If the obstruction not been bins but instead the rear of a parked ambulance and the crew were loading up a patient on a trolley would the cyclist be assuming the fault was not their own?
I would imagine not.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Who is liable?

Post by cycle tramp »

Charron44 wrote: 2 Feb 2023, 12:54pm You should always be cycling at a speed at which you can safely stop for oncoming obstacles.

- I wondered to what extent do people here agree with this?

A friend of mine collided with some dustbins that had been dragged into the road by pranksters (she is unharmed), but the blame has been placed on her for going too fast to stop in time. Is this right? Thanks all :)
Yes. Whilst those dustbins were placed there by persons unknown, they equally could have been (i) a parked emergency vehicle attending to a call (ii) a person crossing the road (iii) a road defect which had yet to be attended.
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
WillCycle
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Joined: 11 May 2021, 8:55am
Location: Heaven. Or, as others call it, Devon.
Contact:

Re: Who is liable?

Post by WillCycle »

The most important principle for using the roads (regardless in what vehicle) is simply this: Travel at a speed that allows you to stop in the distance you can see to be clear.

If I go barrelling along and collide with a stationary object in front of me, then I either was going too fast, or not paying attention. I don't see how this could be interpreted any other way.
The hill is not IN the way, the hill IS the way.
Airsporter1st
Posts: 784
Joined: 8 Oct 2016, 3:14pm

Re: Who is liable?

Post by Airsporter1st »

This is so obviously a no-brainer, that I wonder at the OP’s motive for asking the question in his first ever post.
peetee
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Joined: 4 May 2010, 10:20pm
Location: Upon a lumpy, scarred granite massif.

Re: Who is liable?

Post by peetee »

WillCycle wrote: 7 Feb 2023, 1:16pm The most important principle for using the roads (regardless in what vehicle) is simply this: Travel at a speed that allows you to stop in the distance you can see to be clear.
Unfortunately that give oncoming vehicles no space to slow down. On the assumption that anything coming towards you has the same velocity and/or braking capacity you need to stop in half the visible distance.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
Bonefishblues
Posts: 11010
Joined: 7 Jul 2014, 9:45pm
Location: Near Bicester Oxon

Re: Who is liable?

Post by Bonefishblues »

If I'm stopped and you aren't, I win, shirley? I mean, you run me over and all that, but it's about being right :P
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