Safety In numbers

In 2010, 117 cyclists were killed on roads in Great Britain, an increased of 7%
from 2009, while cycle traffic increased by 1%.

The number of seriously injured cyclists also rose by 2% from 2,606 in 2009 to
2,660 in 2010.

http://www.boltburdonkemp.co.uk/

Glad to see the postie back in action and the coward who hit him and
drove off jailed.

QUOTE-

A Surrey motorist has been jailed for 14 months in connection with an
incident in Leatherhead last December in which a postman was knocked
off his bike, suffering injuries including a fractured skull. The
imposition of a custodial sentence reflects the specific charges the
driver faced, rather than being related to the nature of the injuries
suffered by the victim.

Shane Seamore, aged 32, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on
April 20 after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicle taking,
perverting the course of justice, failing to stop after an accident
and driving with no insurance or licence, reports This Is Surrey.

The court had heard how postman Steve Burden had suffered heavy
bruising and a split eyebrow as well as a fractured skull in the hit-
and-run incident.

Police discovered the car involved, a Vauxhall Corsa, later that day
with a broken windscreen and damage to its bonnet. The vehicle
belonged to Seamore’s girlfriend, but he told police that it had been
stolen.

His 14 month jail sentence will be reduced by 53 days due to time he
had earlier served on remand, and Seamore has also been banned from
driving for two years and will also have to take an extended retest
before getting his driving licence back.

The custodial sentence imposed in connection with the criminal charges
that Seamore faced contrasts with what many cyclists view as more
lenient sentencing in cases where a rider as been killed as a result
of careless driving, as highlighted by several cases reported here in
on road.cc in recent months.

Talking to This Is Surrey about the hit-and-run incident and its
aftermath, Mr Burden said: "If the person stays and reports it, the
person injured has a much better chance of surviving so I think he
deserves what he got.

"In many ways it was lucky it was me and it wasn't an old person or an
ill child because he would have killed them.

"I had a massive headache for three or four weeks,” he continued. “It
was almost like having a steel bar around my head.

"I couldn't sleep very well because whichever way I lay it was too
sore."

According to Mr Burden, his enforced absence from work in the three
weeks leading up to Christmas meant that he missed out on between
£1,200 and £1,500 in tips that he would have received from customers
had he been able to carry out his rounds.

After working on light duties for some months, he is now delivering
the mail again. "I wasn't going to let it take over my life, I won't
stop doing things just because something like that happens," he
explained.

"I have tried not to let it affect me. The first day I actually got
back I had to talk myself into not only cycling out but making sure I
did exactly the same thing and cycled the same way.

"It was his fault not mine, so why should I do anything different? I
have to mentally push myself through," he concluded.

http://road.cc/content/news/57779-su...-cracked-skull

--
Simon Mason

On 05/05/2012 12:44, wrote:


Glad to see the postie back in action and the coward who hit him and
drove off jailed.

QUOTE:
....aggravated vehicle taking,
....perverting the course of justice,
....failing to stop after an accident and
....driving with no insurance
....or licence...
ENDQUOTE

Yes, there should definitely be laws against all those things.

It's surprising that he wasn't also facing dangerous driving charges,
wouldn't you say?

wrote in message
...

Glad to see the postie back in action and the coward who hit him and
drove off jailed.
=============================================

I agree with you. 100%.

On May 5, 12:44*pm, wrote:


"I have tried not to let it affect me. The first day I actually got
back I had to talk myself into not only cycling out but making sure I
did exactly the same thing and cycled the same way.

"It was his fault not mine, so why should I do anything different? I
have to mentally push myself through," he concluded.

QUOTE:
Phil our postie tells me that he is to lose his bicycle shortly and be
stuck in a van in future as partnof an 'efficiency' review - so by the
time Seamore slithers out of jail there won't be any posties on bikes
left.

@ mercury, the Royal Mail has been trying to do this for years. Here's
a link going back to 2010 from the Guardian
http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfre...ervice-cycling...
going off tangent a bit here. What happens to the posties who do not
have a driving license once their bicycles are written off?

Back on tangent, I may have read the article wrong, but nowhere does
it mention that Seamore was charged for careless/dangerous driving
maaybe the local bill decided that they were throwing enough at him.
Let's hope that the sentence and ban run back to back and not at the
same time.

--

Simon Mason

On 05/05/2012 12:44, wrote:
Glad to see the postie back in action and the coward who hit him and
drove off jailed.

QUOTE-

A Surrey motorist has been jailed for 14 months in connection with an
incident in Leatherhead last December in which a postman was knocked
off his bike, suffering injuries including a fractured skull. The
imposition of a custodial sentence reflects the specific charges the
driver faced, rather than being related to the nature of the injuries
suffered by the victim.

Shane Seamore, aged 32, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on
April 20 after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicle taking,
perverting the course of justice, failing to stop after an accident
and driving with no insurance or licence, reports This Is Surrey.

The court had heard how postman Steve Burden had suffered heavy
bruising and a split eyebrow as well as a fractured skull in the hit-
and-run incident.

Police discovered the car involved, a Vauxhall Corsa, later that day
with a broken windscreen and damage to its bonnet. The vehicle
belonged to Seamore’s girlfriend, but he told police that it had been
stolen.

His 14 month jail sentence will be reduced by 53 days due to time he
had earlier served on remand, and Seamore has also been banned from
driving for two years and will also have to take an extended retest
before getting his driving licence back.

The custodial sentence imposed in connection with the criminal charges
that Seamore faced contrasts with what many cyclists view as more
lenient sentencing in cases where a rider as been killed as a result
of careless driving, as highlighted by several cases reported here in
on road.cc in recent months.

Talking to This Is Surrey about the hit-and-run incident and its
aftermath, Mr Burden said: "If the person stays and reports it, the
person injured has a much better chance of surviving so I think he
deserves what he got.

"In many ways it was lucky it was me and it wasn't an old person or an
ill child because he would have killed them.

"I had a massive headache for three or four weeks,” he continued. “It
was almost like having a steel bar around my head.

"I couldn't sleep very well because whichever way I lay it was too
sore."

According to Mr Burden, his enforced absence from work in the three
weeks leading up to Christmas meant that he missed out on between
£1,200 and £1,500 in tips that he would have received from customers
had he been able to carry out his rounds.

After working on light duties for some months, he is now delivering
the mail again. "I wasn't going to let it take over my life, I won't
stop doing things just because something like that happens," he
explained.

"I have tried not to let it affect me. The first day I actually got
back I had to talk myself into not only cycling out but making sure I
did exactly the same thing and cycled the same way.

"It was his fault not mine, so why should I do anything different? I
have to mentally push myself through," he concluded.

http://road.cc/content/news/57779-su...-cracked-skull

--
Simon Mason


--
Dave - Cyclists VOR. "Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a
legitimate mode of transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange," Dave Horton - Lancaster
University

On May 5, 12:44*pm, wrote:


"I have tried not to let it affect me. The first day I actually got
back I had to talk myself into not only cycling out but making sure I
did exactly the same thing and cycled the same way.

"It was his fault not mine, so why should I do anything different? I
have to mentally push myself through," he concluded.

Good man - I did exactly the same after I was knocked off.
It is the best way I find - getting back in the saddle has passed into
common parlance.

--
Simon Mason

On 06/05/2012 11:36, wrote:
On May 5, 12:44 pm, wrote:


"I have tried not to let it affect me. The first day I actually got
back I had to talk myself into not only cycling out but making sure I
did exactly the same thing and cycled the same way.

"It was his fault not mine, so why should I do anything different? I
have to mentally push myself through," he concluded.

Good man - I did exactly the same after I was knocked off.
It is the best way I find - getting back in the saddle has passed into
common parlance...

.... in reference to horse riding.

On May 6, 11:36*am, wrote:
On May 5, 12:44*pm, wrote:



"I have tried not to let it affect me. The first day I actually got
back I had to talk myself into not only cycling out but making sure I
did exactly the same thing and cycled the same way.

"It was his fault not mine, so why should I do anything different? I
have to mentally push myself through," he concluded.

Good man - I did exactly the same after I was knocked off.
It is the best way I find - getting back in the saddle has passed into
common parlance.

Although I find that I still avoid that stretch of road at peak times
and go another way, so I cannot claim that the "fear" has completely
left me.

--
Simon Mason

On 06/05/2012 11:36, wrote:
On May 5, 12:44 pm, wrote:


"I have tried not to let it affect me. The first day I actually got
back I had to talk myself into not only cycling out but making sure I
did exactly the same thing and cycled the same way.

"It was his fault not mine, so why should I do anything different? I
have to mentally push myself through," he concluded.

Good man - I did exactly the same after I was knocked off.
It is the best way I find - getting back in the saddle has passed into
common parlance.

--
Simon Mason


--
Dave - Cyclists VOR. "Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a
legitimate mode of transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange," Dave Horton - Lancaster
University