znomit wrote:More from the Herald:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10782941

Judge Gittos said the police had failed to prove that Mr Becker was at fault when he parked and got out of his car to go fishing.

"He did all he could do in the circumstances, short of getting out on the passenger side.''

Judge Gittos said Mr Becker took the "proper steps'' of looking behind him and Ms Bishop could have been hidden by other parked cars or the the large tip truck which eventually ran over her.

He said Ms Bishop may also have not seen Mr Becker.

"Essentially, her action of applying the brakes suddenly caused her to lose control and fall with such tragic consequences.''

He said cyclists were subject to the same road rules as cars and should not overtake cars on the left, although it was common.
"The practice presents hazards to cyclists and persons getting in and out of vehicles.''

He said Mr Becker was aware of potential hazards and that could be seen by the way he opened his door only part of the way and slid out of his car.


From Stuff:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/6 ... death-case
The judge said the police's expert witness had told the court Becker should only have got out of the car if he was continually checking behind him.

"With all respect to the officer I do not see how it is possible for him to have done that given he was in the driver's seat looking forward," he said.

That is something we all do without even realising we are breaking the law. Before we get too critical we need to look at ourselves I am thinking.

As Barbara Cuthbert said on tele last night there are no winners in this case, but what pisses me off is clowns like Ken Baguley coming out with comments like this. Yet another typical lame@rse bureaucratical copout. They seem to be, all care and no responsibility, except they don't seem to care until someone dies.

The council's transport chairman at the time, Ken Baguley, said last night: "In hindsight, maybe something could have been done, but that particular point was one of a number of narrow points on Tamaki Drive and seeing the court case, it looks like the accident could have occurred elsewhere along the road as well."

RussS wrote:He said cyclists were subject to the same road rules as cars and should not overtake cars on the left, although it was common.
"The practice presents hazards to cyclists and persons getting in and out of vehicles.''

That is something we all do without even realising we are breaking the law. Before we get too critical we need to look at ourselves I am thinking.

I agree don't pass on the left, but when I first read the article, and now, I don't see why they have included this as the cyclist was passing on the right. It is irrelevant in the context of the article?

Passing on teh right of the parked car, but overtaking on teh left the tip truck that was moving and killed her.
If the tip truck was stationary and she was overtaking on the left, hit the door, sprawled on the ground, hopefully get up in time aided by the driver, before the truck moved off again.

I thought there were a couple of odd statements by the judge; 1. passing on the left, and 2. not understanding how the driver can look behind him ("With all respect to the officer I do not see how it is possible for him to have done that given he was in the driver's seat looking forward," he (the judge) said.)

Was he referring to the bike overtaking the truck on the left? I don't see how overtaking traffic on the left "presents hazards to cyclists and persons getting in and out of vehicles." The car was parked and she was passing on the right of that vehicle. Cars shouldn't be unloading passengers on their left while on the road even if in traffic, they should pull over to a correct stop.

He also appears to be saying drivers cannot look behind them before leaving their vehicle (as required by the law). Obviously they can.

But as this is all reported it is likely that context is missing.

As for passing on the left, it is an almost inevitable part of cycling. It is rather unfair to expect cycles to get the heck out of the way and not hold up traffic and then sit there waiting when the traffic grinds to an inevitable halt. Maybe if there WERE decent cycle lanes...

Difficult situation for all concerned - but if the council had listned to the advice they had been given four years previously and removed those parking spots this almost certainly wouldnt have happened. Not the first time bad decisions taken against advice have resulted in someone dying, wont be the last either unfortunately

Having ridden Tamaki Drive a few times personally I think the best (and cheapest) solution would be to remove all the parking on at least the seawards side and ideally both sides, at least during daylight hours. Something similar was proposed for Dominion Road which would have made that a far safer ride, but unfortunately local businesses overturned it

Regards
Peter J

It is so sad for every one..... but Tamaki drive is too dangerous for cyclists and should be avoided at all cost.

The road is poorly designed in every way imaginable.... it needs a proper cycle lane in both directions please.

Very sad case, but I think the judge made the right decision. The key aspect for me is that the driver was already out of the car, that swings the responsibility back a little bit towards the cyclist, but with everything it is likely that all parties could have done a bit more to avoid it.

Drivers opening doors is a major issue, I've had it happen on numerous occasions. I learnt very quickly to watch out for the warning signs, but sometimes you just can't tell. I remember clearly one occasion when I was passing a car that looked empty, when suddenly the driver popped up from fossicking around the passenger footwell, and opened the door in one fluid movement. Fortunately there was no traffic behind me, and I had decided to give the car a wide berth. I would have hit them otherwise, as they timed it perfectly. Unfortunately, it's just not safe to do that to every parked car, you simply can't ride in the middle of the lane when the traffic is moving faster than you.

In this case the cyclist was passing on the left, the reports state that she was going about 20km/h and the truck moving at walking pace. However the space available is exactly the same as if the truck driver was going faster than the cyclist, the only possible influence is that the slow traffic might make the driver alighting the park car feel a little safer, and thus less cautious. Pays to be very careful when zipping through traffic, pedestrians can also pop out at you unexpectedly!

The only hope with this is that the publicity makes the public more aware, otherwise there can be no winners, and one very definite loser, which as usual is the cyclist. Be careful guys.

I have rode Tamaki drive many times with few problems ,the corner at Kelly Tarlton's where the accident happened there is a raised medium in the centre of the road ,car's cannot move to the other lane if shit happens .I always take the lane to stop any car passing me on that corner ,I move left after the corner and wave thanks to the car that I held up .There are on road cycle lanes on Tamaki drive which help keep the car's at bay ,but there no law against idiots driving late last year a cyclist was riding in the bike lane and a car passed him and pulled into the bike lane,stopped to take a call on the cell phone bike crashed in the back of the car .
Yes the road has design faults which most are down to road marking ,but as for Tamaki drive is too dangerous for cyclists and should be avoided at all cost that's total BS hundred's commute down there every day (most used commuter route in Auckland) and hundred's do there morning training there before the traffic builds up .When the traffic has built up theres a long traffic jam and bikes are the only traffic moving ,it is no more dangerous than and other road with cars on it .Auckland Transport have been and still are working on Tamaki drive to make it safe for all road users but this takes time and money . Shit happens on all roads ,and its sad that people die .

Fatal bike-crash driver talks
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10783346

The whole thing about cyclists not passing traffic on the left is just ridiculous! If we can't pass them on the left then maybe they shouldn't pass us at all, they should just follow us at whatever speed we are doing. I mean... in peak hour traffic in Auckland, if a cyclist followed the road rules they would have to weave to the right side of traffic when it slows down and pass on the right and then when the traffic speeds up again they would have to weave across now MOVING traffic to the left. Not to mention all the traffic islands in the centre of busy roads like Tamaki Drive which means you would have great difficulty passing on the right.

Technically you aren't allowed to pass people on the RIGHT when they're passing other traffic (including cyclists/others 'passing' parked cars). Judge neglected to mention that.

znomit wrote:Fatal bike-crash driver talks
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10783346

15 months waiting for a verdict! That is cruel. Best wishes to the driver & family.