Are the drivers who kill cyclists villains, or just victims of our
mobility system?
For the most part: villains.
Without wishing to invoke Godwin’s
Law, would you excuse the concentration camp guard as a victim of Nazism? Hannah
Arendt had a few things to say on these matters, IIRC.
Anyway, I’m not sure what your point
is regarding
According to the news report the collision
took place further south, closer to this location:
(note child cycling on the pavement,
clearly exercising confidence in his fellow road users’ behaviour)
The other vehicle involved: ‘a
white Vauxhall "combi" van’.
The real issue here is that the police
have immediately opted to charge with causing death by careless driving, rather than causing death
by dangerous driving (in itself a
watered down offence because juries refused to finding ‘otherwise
law-abiding motorists’ guilty of manslaughter). For the historical/political
background to this I strongly urge anyone interested to read Jake Voelcker’s
work on the subject: http://www.jake-v.co.uk/content/cycling.php.
For CTC’s position on the careless
driving/dangerous driving issue see p 2-3 of this document: http://www.stop-smidsy.org.uk/sites/www.stop-smidsy.org.uk/files/0910_CTC-View.pdf
Chris
Christopher Peck
Policy Co-ordinator
CTC, the national cyclists' organisation
Tel: 01483 238313
Mob: 07951 213 554
From:
Sent: 07 January 2011 12:09
To:
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Subject: White van driver - victim
or villain in boxer Masons cycling death?
The headlines read:
"Former British boxing champion Gary Mason has died in a
cycling crash in south
and continues: "A man has been arrested
on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and bailed until March
pending further inquiries"
But is it the drivers fault, or those who built this infrastructure?:
Although this will make the sports headlines for a day or two, Mason's
death, like others, will surely become a "forgotten" statistic.
Are the drivers who kill cyclists villains, or just victims of our
mobility system?
Ian