Maybe the Magistrate was a member of Cycling UK, which wants any bicycle/car collision to be judged to be the fault of the driver.
Yes, the driver should have slowed down or stopped, which would have been the polite thing to do, but I feel the judgement and verdict left plenty of room for an appeal.
I live in an area of France where we get loads of cycling Dutch people, who are supposed to have cycling in their blood. I have spent many afternoons outside the bistro watching cyclists ride past a clearly signposted no-entry sign, often cutting the blind corner, oblivious of any car which may be travelling towards them in the correct direction. A lot of them even have small children on handlebar seats - no wonder I mistrust cyclists on principle!
Another favourite stunt is for a group to ride in a line, leaving no space for overtaking, and so tempting the more impatient drivers to attemp an overtake in one mammoth move - even when approaching a blind bend . . . I often wonder if they think that the rules of the road, common sense, or self-preservation do not apply to them! Perhaps they have a death wish.
I sometimes even find cyclists riding through my garden as a short cut back to the road, because they are too lazy to retrace their path along the river bank. Their usual excuse is 'Oh, I did not know it was your garden.' Perhaps they are blind and stupid as well as ill-mannered.
The sooner cyclists have to pass a test, and carry registration plates the better - perhaps they would then accquire a sense of responsibility.
Yes, the driver should have slowed down or stopped, which would have been the polite thing to do, but I feel the judgement and verdict left plenty of room for an appeal.
I live in an area of France where we get loads of cycling Dutch people, who are supposed to have cycling in their blood. I have spent many afternoons outside the bistro watching cyclists ride past a clearly signposted no-entry sign, often cutting the blind corner, oblivious of any car which may be travelling towards them in the correct direction. A lot of them even have small children on handlebar seats - no wonder I mistrust cyclists on principle!
Another favourite stunt is for a group to ride in a line, leaving no space for overtaking, and so tempting the more impatient drivers to attemp an overtake in one mammoth move - even when approaching a blind bend . . . I often wonder if they think that the rules of the road, common sense, or self-preservation do not apply to them! Perhaps they have a death wish.
I sometimes even find cyclists riding through my garden as a short cut back to the road, because they are too lazy to retrace their path along the river bank. Their usual excuse is 'Oh, I did not know it was your garden.' Perhaps they are blind and stupid as well as ill-mannered.
The sooner cyclists have to pass a test, and carry registration plates the better - perhaps they would then accquire a sense of responsibility.
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