CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Hit And Run Craiglockhart Road, Edinburgh

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  1. johnnyboy
    Member

    I was cycling to work down Craiglockhart Road on Thursday and at the junction with Craiglockhart Park I noticed a woman fiddling with her bike and then pushing it up the road. I have a multi-tool I carry so I stopped and offered to help in case it was a minor repair I could help with.

    As I approached I could see she was quite upset. She told me she'd just been knocked off her bike by and old guy in a car who just drove on. Fortunately she was ok but very upset and shocked. The driver had cut the corner and hit the bike but just kept going. I didn't probe too much, just wanted to make sure she was ok. Fortunately she didn't have far to go from where we were so she said she'd be ok getting there.

    There was damage to the bike, snapped gear cable and possibly gear damage as well but the main thing was she was ok. She had a child seat on the back of the bike so I'm guessing she's a regular cyclist and it sounded like she'd done nothing wrong other than be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    What kind of person hits someone and leaves them? I can only assume they were unaware of their actions.

    So much for Road Safety Week.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. Tulyar
    Member

    Driver has committed an offence as defined by Section 170 RTA 1988 (itself a carry through from s.22 RTA 1930 and MCA 1903)

    By causing damage or injury through the presence of his motor vehicle, and not providing details at the scene to any person reasonably requiring them (s.170.2) and presumably not later (within 24 hours) providing details to a Police Station (s.170.3) his has committed an offence as defined by s.170.4.

    Hitting a cyclist with a car, even slightly will leave marks on the car, and often paint from the car on the bike, which makes the crash traceable. This needs to be reported by the person hit by the driver.

    If the driver failed to stop because he was unaware of the crash this is of particular concern, as a driver with that lack of awareness needs to be checked out for the competence to continue driving.

    Perhaps a tweet campaign or @johnnyboy gets to the junction at a time slightly earlier on the same day, and checks out passing cyclists and cars, as most drivers and cyclists are creatures of habit. For many hit & run events, simply turning up at the same place and times will deliver the perpetrator making that daily journey to work or a similar trip.

    Best way to put this about? Make the person aware of what remedy is available to sort out her damaged bike and any other effects of the crash.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. johnnyboy
    Member

    I cycle that way most mornings, +/- 10 minutes but there's quite a few cars that have just turned off the main road so would be difficult so see a particular car as they tend to still be pretty fast.

    I didn't see the woman yesterday, I looked out for her but the usual high number of bikes and kids cycling on the pavement going the opposite way from me.

    I'll look out for her, I actually have my conversation with her recorded as my GoPro was on and saved in case I do see her and she or the police needs it.

    Oddly enough your creature of habit bit is very true. Last week I was cycling to work when I had a very close pass at high speed - more the speed than the closeness. I saw the driver the next day at the junction before where it happened, pointed to him and my camera and mouthed I'd recorded him. He stayed behind me the whole way up the same road, despite there being two lanes and only us being on the road. (contains swearing: https://youtu.be/k4FIxfWo48M)

    Anyway, I hope the lady concerned has reported him and despite tweeting to Police Scotland, they didn't get back to me.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. SRD
    Moderator

    All sounds pretty grim. Glad you were there to help/support her.

    Posted 9 years ago #

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