Police kill cyclist

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
snip
Whether he was hit from behind as Police sped towards motorway or
whether he was hit head-on as they sped away is open to conjecture...
/snip

Sorry to delurk like this, but I cannot for the life of me (even with my
cynics glasses on) see any reference to the speed of either party in this
tragedy. Perhaps we ought to wait for further details before leaping to
conclusions?

--
Patrick Mullin,

Email first name at AuroraDigitalis dot com

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 19:39:28 +0100, Trevor Barton wrote:



Only if the reporter has the same amount of information as you or I.
I'm supposing that isn't the case.

However, common usage of the word accident doesn't imply guilt on any
party, and although you might justifiably argue that most road accidents
are not accidents,
This point has been made quite often in this group - that's why I quoted
the word "accident".


your posting seemed to assume that the car drivers
were responsible in your opinion. This is both unfair and unjustified
given the information you have.
That's true.
All I'm saying is that the wording of the article is slanted.
Someone has dies here, in an awful accident. Why even COMMENT thet the
drivers have received 'minor injuries and shock' - most probably meaning a
cup of tea.

in message 7tlucc.887.ln@ahahahooey, Trevor Barton
') wrote:

However, common usage of the word accident doesn't imply guilt on any
party, and although you might justifiably argue that most road
accidents are not accidents, your posting seemed to assume that the
car drivers
were responsible in your opinion. This is both unfair and unjustified
given the information you have.

In most car/bike impacts the car driver is indeed primarily at fault.
Whether it is reasonable to induce the fact that the police driver was
at fault in this in this incident is another matter.

Oh, and, AI .sig generator's picked a good one.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

my other car is #Subr-Car: #5d480
;; This joke is not funny in emacs.

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 07:51:13 GMT, MSeries
wrote:

Story on the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...re/3884467.stm

This report supplies some additional details:

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3189113

Cyclist Killed

By Rod Minchin, PA News

A cyclist was killed today in a collision with a police patrol car.

The crash happened shortly after midnight at Rotherham Road, Maltby,
South Yorkshire.

The cyclist, who police are attempting to identify, was pronounced
dead on arrival at Rotherham District General Hospital.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the
circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.

The man was riding his bike towards Hellaby when he collided head-on
with a police car.

The two male officers suffered minor injuries and shock, a South
Yorkshire Police spokesman said.

"We are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information about the
incident to come forward," he said.

"We also need help to identify the cyclist. He is a white man, in his
early 40s, of medium build, with brown hair and had tattoos on both
arms.

"He was wearing a black leather waistcoat, dark trousers, and dark
shoes."

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 23:24:51 +0100, Marc Brett wrote:



The two male officers suffered minor injuries and shock, a South
Yorkshire Police spokesman said.


snipped

"We also need help to identify the cyclist.

snipped

"He was wearing a black leather waistcoat, dark trousers, and dark
shoes."

Note the cynical attempt to place the blame on the cyclist because he was
wearing dark clothing.
--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's
nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 07:22:15 +0100, Michael MacClancy wrote:



Note the cynical attempt to place the blame on the cyclist because he was
wearing dark clothing.
And why not:
"The police car was travelling in the direction of ??? when
it collided head on with a bicycle"

Michael MacClancy wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 23:24:51 +0100, Marc Brett wrote:



The two male officers suffered minor injuries and shock, a South
Yorkshire Police spokesman said.


snipped

"We also need help to identify the cyclist.

snipped

"He was wearing a black leather waistcoat, dark trousers, and dark
shoes."

Note the cynical attempt to place the blame on the cyclist because he
was wearing dark clothing.

Un-snipped:

"We also need help to identify the cyclist. He is a white man, in his
early 40s, of medium build, with brown hair and had tattoos on both
arms.

"He was wearing a black leather waistcoat, dark trousers, and dark
shoes."

Note your rampant paranoia. The detail is part of the identifcation.

pk

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 07:44:16 +0000 (UTC), PK wrote:

Michael MacClancy wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 23:24:51 +0100, Marc Brett wrote:



The two male officers suffered minor injuries and shock, a South
Yorkshire Police spokesman said.


snipped

"We also need help to identify the cyclist.

snipped

"He was wearing a black leather waistcoat, dark trousers, and dark
shoes."

Note the cynical attempt to place the blame on the cyclist because he
was wearing dark clothing.

Un-snipped:

"We also need help to identify the cyclist. He is a white man, in his
early 40s, of medium build, with brown hair and had tattoos on both
arms.

"He was wearing a black leather waistcoat, dark trousers, and dark
shoes."

Note your rampant paranoia. The detail is part of the identifcation.

pk

Um, if you don't mind you 'unsnipped' something I hadn't snipped. i.e.

We also need help to identify the cyclist

Yes, what he was wearing is relevant to his identification. And it may be
unfair to suggest that the police were trying to place the blame on the
cyclist when they gave such prominence to his dark clothing. On the other
hand it may not be unfair. We don't know, do we? I know quite a lot about
presentation and I don't think it was an accident that the description of
the clothing was placed at the end of the police statement, a very
prominent position.

How many people read the article and were left thinking, "Stupid bugger
wearing dark clothing on a bike at night, he had it coming"?

I hope I'm wrong about their motives.

One thing I know for certain though. I'm not paranoid.
--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter
saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Gonzalez typed

"Two officers inside the car were treated for shock and minor
injuries."

I doubt the officers suffered any injury at all. I expect they were
carted off to hospital to be examined as a matter of routine, and a
senior policeman told the press it was for "shock and minor
injuries".

I'd like to know a lot more detail about this incident.

Just looking at AutoRoute and adding details given on website:

Road is A631, east of Junction with M18(J1). There's a Little Chef
and a couple of petrol stations (oldish AutoRoute so might not still
be) on the roundabout of the junction. If details given in report
are correct, cyclist would have been going west.

Ah. Minor injuries plus proximity of Little Chef equals spilt tea equals
minor scalding ;-)

Not that Plod would /ever/ consider driving while consuming tea, Coke,
water, burgers or Chocolate Hob-Nobs, because that's /illegal/ and we can
and will nick you for it. Signed: Plod's Mgt.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
================================================== =========
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
================================================== =========

It's a wonder nobody has suggested that the cyclist had no lights ?? Just
to throw something else into the works !! It is impossible to come to a
conclusion unless you were a witness or you visited the scene and noted
things just as the police accident investigator would have done. This would
include damage to the vehicle and the cycle, the positions of the vehicles
on the road and any skid marks left, not to mention where debris might have
ended up. It's all very high tec this accident investigation and speeds can
be calculated from marks left in the carriageway. I suggest everyone 'watch
this space' instead of accumulating a load of wild guesses.

Andy Howes
"Dave Larrington" wrote in message
...
Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Gonzalez typed

"Two officers inside the car were treated for shock and minor
injuries."

I doubt the officers suffered any injury at all. I expect they were
carted off to hospital to be examined as a matter of routine, and a
senior policeman told the press it was for "shock and minor
injuries".

I'd like to know a lot more detail about this incident.

Just looking at AutoRoute and adding details given on website:

Road is A631, east of Junction with M18(J1). There's a Little Chef
and a couple of petrol stations (oldish AutoRoute so might not still
be) on the roundabout of the junction. If details given in report
are correct, cyclist would have been going west.

Ah. Minor injuries plus proximity of Little Chef equals spilt tea equals
minor scalding ;-)

Not that Plod would /ever/ consider driving while consuming tea, Coke,
water, burgers or Chocolate Hob-Nobs, because that's /illegal/ and we can
and will nick you for it. Signed: Plod's Mgt.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
================================================== =========
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
================================================== =========