Yes, this victimâs family members may be reading. I am the victims brother, Andrew. Tony, the victim, was a person, a human being, he had an identity, he had a life, friends, family, hobbies, work. He lived and breathed, ate and slept, every day like you and I. He brought pleasure to his family and friends, they enjoyed his company, had him round for dinner, went for a pint to the pub with him, watched football on telly with him, went cycling and camping with him, played with their kids with him. Took photographs, made videos, went on holidays. Tonyâs life was good, and life with Tony was good.
His chosen mode of transport was the bicycle. He used it to get to the shops, to see his friends, to go on holiday with. He was fit and healthy and strong because of it. Just like cars, buses and lorries it is a perfectly valid form of transport, and has equal place on the road with us all. In fact, it is illegal for them to be anywhere else but on the road. But people on bicycles are seen as a nuisance, they get in the way, slow you down, they are awkward to manouevre around. You have to think about them. Where did that cyclist go? Where is he? I might crash into that car if I overtake the cyclist, but I have to overtake the cyclist. Its awkward isnât it?
Imagine the road from a cyclistâs point of view. It is a pretty terrifying place to be. 2 ton cars and 40 ton lorries, huge bulky killing machines come roaring past you at 50 mph so close you could touch them with your elbow. One little nudge from one of those and youâre dead, simple as. A car driver gets a nudge in his car and he gets furious at that scraped bumper â it doesnât compare. The tarmac is pretty hard too, imagine falling on that? A helmet is no good really, hitting the tarmac at anything above 10mph wonât protect your brain from being slammed against your skull and splitting. And potholes, you think theyâre bad when youâre in a lorry, try being forced into one on a bike.
My brother stood face to face with a 40 ton lorry. More to the point, he stood face to face with a MAN driving a 40 ton lorry. When that MAN turned his lorry into him, my brother shouted for him to stop. That didnât work so he banged on the panel below the windscreen with his fist. When that didnât work he thought âthis is it Iâm deadâ. One last attempt to jump on the wipers, maybe that will save me. It didnât. He was dragged under with his bike and dragged for 150 metres more, his body mutilated, his life over and his family destroyed. What a way to end your life hay? The MAN drove on, he claimed he didnât see any of that, felt nothing and heard nothing. My brother was simply invisible. And bangs, thuds, scrapoes, shudders, horns and such were simply inaudible. He continued for 6 miles and then dumped the bicycle, which had become wedged under the lorry, over a barrier. And then he stood in a court of law and said my brother was âstupid and suicidalâ, as if it was all his fault. No apology, no remorse, no regret. Just contempt really. And that MAN was ENGLISH. Since when did the English become famous for not killing people?
I am sorry to come into your forum like this. I am not a truck driver, I drive a car. I am interested to know what you truck drivers think of cyclists? Some arenât very good cyclists, like truck drivers, some are exemplary at cyling, and experienced, like some truck drivers. Could you run a 90kg man over on his bike and not have any clue you did it? What goes through someoneâs head when they have run a cyclist over? Do you get angry when youâre driving? Do cyclists annoy you? Could we all take greater care and protect cyclists on the road? What could we do to stop people being killed like this? Is it acceptable to run over a cyclist and not accept any responsibility? So many questionsâŚ
. so when i see a tesco trolley overtaking another tesco trolley on a dual does that mean then that the driver being overtaken is trying to build is percentage up 
and the other one can afford for 3 odd seconds to floor it then sette back down to 50 as they have a high percentage 
- they do go at 56 though