Blimey 8 month prison suspended for 1 year. He got off very lightly, as stated above prison would of killed him and it would of been very sad. Judge must of seen it as an accident and not this guys fault
I was in Oxford Friday and i have never met so many jumped up cyclists in my life. I was in Ship Street reversing back down the road so i could get to Broad Street to make my delivery. As i was revering back down the road i put the van tight to the wall on my left and swing the front round as i was backing into tight street. Whilst doing that i had noticed in my left mirror this ■■■■ little blonde coming up my inside squeezing past the van. I had to stop and let her through as she must of been in a hurry.
It then happened again as i was turning around in Broad Street due to one end of the road having barriers by the bus lane. As i was reversing i noticed two cyclists on my left. I then checked my right mirror and then checked the cyclists were still there and guess what, they wasn’t. I noticed them making there way round the back of the van whilst i was moving.
The sods are a danger and like rats and i really think london cyclists have better manners then this lot.
What is it with bus drivers in Oxford■■?, that’s another subject 
I saw a report at a Cemex plant back in May that said all witnesses saw the mixer go over cyclist. Not all said he reversed over, there were stories that the bike came off the path as the mixer went forward.
From what you said Mick about the cyclists, I think the judge in the case considered that when sentencing.
Broad Street is bad, a dustcart squashed a foreign student there a few years back. I’ve tipped mortar sand in Broad Street (normally early morning to avoid the bikes) but even with two or more banksmen (builders are very wary in Oxford-mostly) the bikes will ignore them,I’ve seen and heard them give banksmen abuse and even V signs to any traffic that stops to let me turn around.
I think it’s mainly the arrogant “I’m saving the planet, I donate £3/month to Greenpeace” cyclists that cause the most trouble…
Now buses; Never had issues with Stagecoach buses, they always let me out, it’s the Oxford Bus Co you have to watch. They’ll pull away before passengers are anywhere near a seat and lane discipline at roundabouts seems to be optional to them.
and it was the Oxford company who i had the issue with
I noticed from the newspaper link several comments about the fitness of aged HGV drivers to handle such things.
Don’t you have regular medicals for older drivers in britain already?
Here in France I have had to have a medical every 2 years since age 65 (or it could have been 60, can’t remember) and my next renewal at age 70 will trigger an annual medical. I’ll keep doing them till I fail.
Spardo:
I noticed from the newspaper link several comments about the fitness of aged HGV drivers to handle such things.Don’t you have regular medicals for older drivers in britain already?
Here in France I have had to have a medical every 2 years since age 65 (or it could have been 60, can’t remember) and my next renewal at age 70 will trigger an annual medical. I’ll keep doing them till I fail.
Yes, we have medicals to get our licence, then regular medicals after 45yrs old.
Also, trucks are power steering, assisted clutches and brakes etc, how fit do you really need to be to reverse a truck and engage a PTO?
But, as I’ve said in the past, I’ve worked with guys MUCH older than me that are fitter than most people my age, including myself, and I take care of myself tbh
I agree Wayne, I walk the dogs every day that I am at home, I go through a short exercise regime every morning wherever I am to keep all the joints in working order and my eyes are the main test at each medical along with heart and blood pressure.
All that is required further is to engage brain at the same time as gear and think about all possible dangers before moving. Age has very little to do with it beyond that, which is why my insurance is as low pro rata as it ever has been in the last 50 odd years.
The unlikely chance of someone else doing something silly applies to all ages.
It’s a tragic incident and condolences to the grieving family…but what would a prison sentence have achieved? The driver has to live with it for the rest of his life…and at that age…it must be an horrendous prospect. Who amongst us would want that on our consciences?
I’ve just read another report saying the family of the cyclist asked the judge not to jail the driver as it would benefit nobody. Not sure I could be so understanding.
On the age thing I read a couple of weeks ago that there are now over 700,000 drivers over 90 and over 1.4 million over 80. As we have an aging population living longer these figures will only get higher. Trucks may be easier to drive these days, and with all the mirrors & cameras fitted you can see everything, but your reactions, or mobility, dont improve with age.
Unless there is an ongoing medical reason to have shorter ones, here in the UK all LGV C & CE medicals are every 5 years after age 45 and then every year from age 65
oxfordmail.co.uk/news/998343 … own_mercy/
He didn’t “miss the turning” the concrete pump was facing the other way, he was turning around so he could back onto the discharge hopper.
A lengthy investigation and trial and still they don’t report it properly. I wonder if the mixer’s been returned to its’ owner, it hadn’t last time I heard. It can’t be in that great condition, being sat idle for so long, and it’s S reg so getting on in age for a mixer.
mickyblue:
i really think london cyclists have better manners then this lot.
Oh really? Have you tried Bayswater and Notting Hill, on a dark and rainy rush hour evening, with a 13.6m trailer?
They are seriously scary round there.
The problem with Oxford is, for too long the City Council treated cyclists as the saviours of Earth. Every road building or repair job was to “make it a safer place for cyclists” and every time traffic management was mentioned on local radio, every solution was “cycle,cycle,cycle”. No wonder they think they’re so wonderful.
240 Gardner:
mickyblue:
i really think london cyclists have better manners then this lot.Oh really? Have you tried Bayswater and Notting Hill, on a dark and rainy rush hour evening, with a 13.6m trailer?
They are seriously scary round there.
The truckers code soon sorts 'em out.
The truckers code soon sorts 'em out.0
[/quote]
Keltbray or as they are commonly known killerbray due to the high number of cyclist they squash
Chewyboy:
The truckers code soon sorts 'em out.0
Keltbray or as they are commonly known killerbray due to the high number of cyclist they squash
[/quote]
I ride a bicycle myself, mainly on my rest days, never had a problem with trucks, but I was t-boned by a car one day. Quote " I didn’t see you " unquote. I thought the bike was okay, three weeks later the pedal mechanism fell to bits.
Wasn’t too bothered about the bike, I was just glad I didn’t break any bones.
The car driver was Asian, he was well shook up, he only lived 100 yds. away. He took me to his house and made me a cup of tea. I ended up feeling sorry for him.
DieselDemon:
Chewyboy:
The truckers code soon sorts 'em out.0Keltbray or as they are commonly known killerbray due to the high number of cyclist they squash
I ride a bicycle myself, mainly on my rest days, never had a problem with trucks, but I was t-boned by a car one day. Quote " I didn’t see you " unquote. I thought the bike was okay, three weeks later the pedal mechanism fell to bits.
Wasn’t too bothered about the bike, I was just glad I didn’t break any bones.
The car driver was Asian, he was well shook up, he only lived 100 yds. away. He took me to his house and made me a cup of tea. I ended up feeling sorry for him.
[/quote]
Why didn’t you claim for 5 passengers then?
Multi dropping around Oxford City Center was a major hate of mine…alot of our work was obviously the colleges etc and many of the delivery points needed a reverse up/down some stupidly tight side street. And how many students rode bloody bikes? Pain in the bloody arse to say the least! I’m actually surprised I never had at least half a dozen in my time around that place! The worst bit was when you could come down the High Street and turn left into Longwall Street…thousands of 'em squeezing along the inside of an 18t, putting life and limb at risk just to get to Magdelan College…pretty certain theres been a few wiped out there before by something turning left, iirc, dustcarts were the main culprit! And what makes ‘an experienced cyclist’? Have they been popping wheelies and stoppies for years or that they know how to ride a bike properly in traffic and stick to the cycle lanes that they were all hankering after for years? I was one of these poor unfortunates who also used to take an artic up into London at night (to our Battersea depot) and how the ■■■■ I never had a cyclist or one of those knob-heads delivering Pizza etc on those bloody ‘twist & go’ things wrapped around one of the axles i’ll never know! Looked up to the sky and whispered a little ‘thank you’ when my boss asked me if i could go back to doing the same, mind numbingly boring Cannock trunk!! I’d have hated to rock up to the depot one night to find the lads stood looking at the carcass of a numpty minus his bike/moped twisted around the axle!
Cyclists and motorbike riders fly about cutting in and out of traffic but the minute one gets injuried or killed their considered the poor victim that was just going about there day minding their own business.