rammed from behind, cops say your fault.

[GrumpyGregry]

Fair point.

Though perhaps a bit different, in the type of communication that we're discussing i.e. an email from a police officer, rather than a support session.

And it's not just an email from a police officer. It's from a Sargent of police, someone in a leadership position, in response, if the Gruaniad is to be beleived, to a "what are you going to do about it?" query from the victim.

It's victim blaming pure and simple.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

The cyclist is not to blame here. We should all take care not to insert ourselves into funeral processions, but he wasn't to know the red car was part of it, and he was only turning right anyway. Ultimately, the driver deliberately rammed the cyclist with his car, which is a criminal offence.

A little quibble with this: the cyclist did not insert himself into a funeral procession, he got caught in the middle of an overtaking cortège. Quite why a cortège couldn't drive with a sense of processional dignity and stay behind is beyond me. Why do undertakers have to overtake? Not to exonerate the sheep behind though.

 

[Cyclopathic]

What a stupid woman. What was the big hurry? I'm sure her grandma would still be dead when she got there.

 

[Hip Priest]

A little quibble with this: the cyclist did not insert himself into a funeral procession, he got caught in the middle of an overtaking cortège.

I agree.

I think you've misread what I was trying to say.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I agree.

I think you've misread what I was trying to say.

Ok, at least I know now!

 

[deanbmx]

This is near me. The road is quite narrow by the centre reservations. It is ridiculous that he is being blamed for it.

 

[Archie_tect]

By deliberately ramming the cyclist causing him to fall off his bike they ensured they missed the funeral anyway. Can't see any mitigating factors for their actions, the woman's threatening behaviour or the woman's language.

 

[Maylian]

Disgraceful response from the driver and passenger, things like this make my blood boil. Only today I had a similar scenario in that I saw a hearse and small cortege following as I joined the main road. The hearse overtook just before a pinch point and I had to take primary as there is another one shortly after. In my case the cortege seemed to have peeled off somewhere as the limo's had disappeared.

Fortunately I was on a straight drag for 2 miles so didn't need to turn but there is almost no way you can tell what is in a procession. Not that I drive but I don't know the point of these awareness courses, most people seem to go into them blinkered and have little impact on their driving once they've completed them!

 

[Boris Bajic]

There is never a time when snobbery is out of place, so I'll add this:

What looked like a metallic grey Rolls-Royce hearse followed by two matching metallic grey (Coleman-Milne?) Rolls-Royce limousines was never likely to auger well for the social skills or educational achievements of the passengers.

In funeral vehicles, the further the colour from black, the more likely a fight at the wake.

Similarly, the more lavish and opulent the vehicles, the more likely Stella will be served in bottles.

I still think the woman was Lauren Cooper and I want my fiver.

 

[Hip Priest]

There is never a time when snobbery is out of place, so I'll add this:

What looked like a metallic grey Rolls-Royce hearse followed by two matching metallic grey (Cileman-Milne?) Rolls-Royce limousines was never likely to auger well for the social skills or educational achievements of the passengers.

In funeral vehicles, the further the colour from black, the more likely a fight at the wake.

Similarly, the more lavish and opulent the vehicles, the more likely Stella will be served in bottles.

I still think the woman was Lauren Cooper and I want my fiver.

Ha. At my nan's funeral, we had black Mercedes cars, and a white van still managed to get between them! As a happy coincidence, my nan was a big Coronation Street fan, and the cars had been used a couple of weeks earlier for Des Barnes' funeral on the show.

 

[Profpointy]

and there can be few clearer examples of that failure, that I've seen, than in this case. Riding the horn for three seconds whilst your passenger is shouting and then ramming a cyclist. What part of 'accident' covers that?

Spot on ! And at some risk of derailing this thread into the re-definition of "accident" thread I think this well illustrates the difference between not-an-accident but assault, and an accident, however irresponsibly or blameworthy the cause of an accident - be that inatention, carelessness, error all the way up to insane stupidity

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Some forces now only refer to RTC's. Road Traffic Collisions. Perhaps the tide is turning.

 

[Saluki]

I can't see how the cyclist is to blame. Unless he is the son of mystic meg, I cannot see how he could know that the car was part of the funeral cortage. What utter twats those car drivers were. Poor chap. I hope that this sorts in his favour.
I wonder, if that car had rear ended another car while signalling to turn right whether it would have been their fault or not. One rule for cars and another for bikes?

 

[J1780]

and supposing the cyclist was a driver who had entered funeral procession in an appropiate gap in traffic and then stopped in order to turn right would he then be to blame if he was rammed from behind simply because the car behind was going to a funeral the driver should have known it was a funeral and not pulled out....I wonder. In any case the cyclist was in no way to blame here.

 

[sheddy]

Probably said already, but I guess that the motorist was just blindly trying to keep up with the procession and was scared of losing them.
Still no excuse tho.