This country is cursed by a Police force and a Judiciary run by idiots.
Last year before Christmas, Emma Foa’, a mother of two and successful jeweller was brutally killed by a lorry driver.
Moving Target alerts us of the sentencing of the killer.
Prosecutor Graham Parkinson told Westminster Magistrates Court the incident happened at 9.10am in Camley Street, Kings Cross.
“Emma was riding her bike and reached the traffic lights. She went along the nearside and waited for the lights to change,” he said. “She was alongside for 37 seconds and would have been visible. He moved off and turned left causing her to be pushed to the ground and killed instantly. He had been looking for some paperwork in his truck… He felt a bump, saw a bike and jumped out to find her.”
….
[Killer] Michael Thorn, 52 of Headley Down, Surrey was fined £300 after admitting careless driving. He was allowed to keep his driver’s licence and was ordered to pay £100 costs.
As I am writing this, I am watching a Channel 4 programme on the treatment of Dalits by upper caste Indians. Same degree of gross injustice, same disgusting disregard of human life.
Ultimately this is an issue of power. It is about time that we decent people say: ‘Enough!: these idiots with wigs, these barbarians in uniforms have no legitimacy. The rules must change: owning a vehicle cannot be a mitigating element in a case of negligent manslaughter’.
Unfortunately, many decent people have been brainwashed by the propaganda subscribed by the motor lobby and have accepted repulsive concepts such as the convenience of motorists being more important than the safety of decent people.
Decent people need to show that they are willing to subvert the power of the killers and their cronies. I suggest a couple of strategies:
- When you go for a walk, take a cricket bat or similar stick with you; when you are crossing a street, you can signal that you will not be bullied by left turning vehicles: just raise the bat and look the driver in the eyes, making him aware that his precious possession is at risk if he advances.
- Invest in a sturdy upright bike (or even better a tricycle), and ride in the middle of the lane; here are a few thought to help you keep your position when faced with aggressive revving and honking:
a. the Chinese guy with the shopping bag halting the tanks in 1988;
b. the red light a few hundred meters in front that will stop the imbecile behind you;
c. bullies crumble when faced with strength;
d. you are taking the safest line, because 1. you are seen, and b. the idiot has slowed down.
UPDATE 3.12.7: The Sunday Times has a good article on the injustice of the justice system.
Picture of Emma Foa’ appeared on Camden New Journal.
Three thoughts on this, (besides being sorry to hear of this woman’ death).
1) I understand that in Europe, typically, when a vulnerable road user is killed or injured by a driver, the latter has to show why he or she was not responsible for the accident, or else they will be prosecuted. This seems to be eminent good sense.
2) I live in the countryside. I regularly ride on a narrow lane – enough room for a car & a bike to pass, safely, if both slow down. I stick to the middle of the lane, except when passing. When I hear someone come up behind me, I look out for a place where I can pull over to let them overtake, & signal to slow down. Recently, a driver came up behind me & aggressively blasted his horn. Before I could do anything about it he started to overtake me. The idiot must have been up on the verge, which is very uneven, so he could easily have been deflected across into me. I can imagine that in the city, there are idiots who would pull out into the next lane, overtake & then swerve into you if they encountered an oncoming vehicle, etc.
3) The law here should be brought into line with that in continental Europe, especially if the government wishes to encourage cycling, which they obviously should for environmental, congestion, & health & fitness benefits.
I’ve just returned from Amsterdam. The law is simple – if there is an accident with a bike the car (etc) driver is assumed guilty – unless it can demonstrated that the cyclist behaved, so irresponsibly, to cause the accident.
It’s a great place to cycle – driving on anything other than dual carriage ways is stressful. As you are forced to recognise the consequences of an “error”!
I can only believe these 5 would still be alive, with a similar rule…
Even slaps of the hand on cars commonly result in them deliberately forcing the cyclist into the curb (this has happened to me frequently).
While support the sentiments of this article facile comments like this are not helpful:
“just raise the bat and look the driver in the eyes, making him aware that his precious possession is at risk if he advances. “
This is shocking and shameful. On my way to work this morning I was nearly hit by a driver who was unhappy with the fact that I was driving in the middle of the road, even though I was being forced to do so by the line of parked cars on the left hand curb. Rather than waiting patiently, he just drove at me, forcing me to jump off my bike to avoid being hit. This occurred less than twenty metres from a junction where he was forced to stop anyway.
The reason I’m even recounting what most readers will recognise as a day-to-day occurrence when cycling in London, is that the driver of the vehicle was an employee of City of Westminster – the vehicle being a City of Westminster passenger van full of pensioners. It seems perverse to me that the government and the London Assembly spend so much money encouraging Londoners to cycle in the city, but do nothing to ensure that drivers view cyclists as road users with the same right to use the road as them. Until cyclists can feel safe in London, there’s no way that Londoners will embrace the bicycle in the way that Ken and others want us to. We’re all doing them a big favour by cycling to work, and its time that we were appreciated and protected.
The temptation to ride with a heavy u-lock around the front handlebars, ready to cause severe damage to a careless drivers side panels is so very tempting…
I have been trying to talk about this case as much as possible socially and on the net so we can raise the collective consciouness about this issue. I agree with the respondent who says the cricket-bat comment is facile, yet I also wholly concur that SOME fight must be shown by anyone NOT choosing to clog London up with their inefficient car-cage for their daily commute and work.
I really like to suggestion of getting a TRIKE! What a wonderful idea, if only I could get one into my hall at home… If we got all the trendy fixed-gear riders who love a wierd new fashion (like me) to swap them for trikes (fixed gear trikes anyone?) we could REALLY reclaim the streets.
The question for us all is how can we actually do something? Should we be writing to, or protesting outside Westminster magistrate’s court about this verdict? Is simply joining Critical Mass once a month enough? What can we do to organise, properly and without factionalism, to gain a much-needed voice? How can we stop alienationg pedestrians and start to make car and lorry drivers the object of everone’s derision (at the moment it seems like EVERYONE hates cyclists, including cyclists!)
Any ideas, you velorutionaries?
Revolutionary idea: morning rush hour Critical Mass.
200 riders starting in S london riding up the A23 into London.
Stop on Whitehall at end of Downing St.
Stop on Partliament square.
Party outside the London Assembly Building.
This should get somones attention
Great idea Simon – especially if it could be synchronised with similar protests throughout the country. Although you may find motorists carrying cricket bats…
It’s a terribly sad case. But can we try not to get ourselves into such situations. I wouldn’t feel happy unless I was a clear 10 foot or so in front of a lorry at lights.
As to hitting cars, good idea, I thought that was why some bikes had easily reachable bike locks so you can catch an idiot motorist at the lights, smash the hell out of his car door and window and cycle away down the pavement. But then you would be fined more than 300 quid for the vandalism, go figure.
two wheels good
four wheels bad
right, napolean…er ben?