Yoga teacher wins compensation after being hit by cyclist when staring at her phone
 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-new...clist-16536074

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ment-434467365

I mean if it was a car that hit her the driver would have to pay up so in that respect it's fair however the issue is should a driver/cyclist be made to pay compensation when the accident was caused by an idiot

Incredible I read that he will be bankrupted by her compensation claim as well as he had no insurance, so basically if someone steps out in front of me while I am driving, looking at their phone I am to blame?

He also took evasive action so I dont get the judges comment about cyclists needing to be ready to react...

the car driver would at least be covered by insurance though, and he did swerve to avoid her...she just went the same way, surely it was 100 per cent her fault ...

Well there’s my weekend plans sorted

The law is that it's never the pedestrians fault though, which I disagree with, I'm just saying if its the rule for a motorist then it probably should for a cyclist too but yeah I forgot about the insurance situation.

She should've looked where she was going, but he should also have been aware of his surroundings.

If I'm driving and someone steps out in the road in front of me, that's my fault.

Yeah, I've been reading about this on a cycling forum I'm on. I know I'm sort of bias being a cycle commuter myself, but I'm on the side of the cyclist.
With cars you aren't forced to ride directly beside the curb, so you have ample time to break if someone steps out, or you have more than a two foot wide lane to maneuver in to swerve. This guy sounds like he tried breaking but there wasn't enough time, and swerving but there was no place to go... plus she stepped back into where he was trying to go to miss her. If she had been looking up and aware of her surroundings stepping into the street I would be on her side... but it does sound to me like she was the only one not observing the rules of traffic.

he swerved to avoid her.... what else could he physically have done?

I saw a man throw himself in front of a car in slow moving traffic a few years back :skull:

No sympathy for her, wrong judgement imo

If I were a cyclist I would be getting some public liability insurance because this will open up further claims

I'm not sure, I'm not a cyclist.

i'm surprised cyclists don't need insurance. It may have changed, but i believe it isn't/wasnt an offense to be drunk while riding a bike either and as some modern bikes can go at a hell of a speed, thats kind of daft

I do think though people looking at their phone while crossing a road should be written in somewhere as an offence and making driver/cyclist responsibility void, it's a real problem

Erm, I am torn. A driver would likely have to pay, but if she absentmindedly stepped into the road right infront of any vehicle/cyclist..then I don't see how it can be blamed on the driver.

I did this once, a few years back when CARRYING SKYE. My god it could have went so much worse but..it was raining badly and we had been stuck outside as it had been lovely minutes before, had no pram so I was carrying her..and I ran across the road, scanned for cars and there were none, didn't think about bikes and he ploughed into the side of me knocking me flying. Luckily, I managed to kind of twist in the air to make sure Skye did not hit the cement. I ended up doing my back in and having absolutely horrific scrapes and that, its scarred in places, I broke a finger, and dislocated my wrist also. Skye was unharmed, but a bit shaken. I probably could have gone for compensation if i wanted to, as he was going so fast and came from nowhere, it wasn't like I literally stepped right infront of him, but..I am an adult and realise I was at fault as much as him so :shrug:

I agree. Put your phone in your pocket when crossing the road ffs! :fist:

what kind of horrible cow as well claiming compo, she could have killed him,

Its only a matter of time before it is compulsory, some cycle lanes in London are wider than the road now

You said he needed to be aware, if he wasn't aware he wouldn't have swerved

I agree that it’s 50/50. I know she really should’ve been looking where she was going but If I were I cyclist in London approaching a set of lights that are green, I’d still be slowing down and not just honking a little horn expecting people are gonna move out the way straight away.

It amazes though, this thing in central London where people are just constantly on their phones not looking where they’re going. I remember watching a video of a car being sat in traffic in London somewhere but it was on tow. The amount of people tripping over the tow rope was baffling and hilarious at the same time.

It's the same on pavements. People looking at phones walking right into you.
They just dont care

Don't get me started on cyclists on the bloomin' pavement!

When theyre not wearing helmets, don't have a bell, and don't thank you when you let them get past?

GET ON THE ****ING ROAD!!

That's true too.
But phones is a comparatively new thing and needs nipping in the bud. No looking at the screen when walking

How ****ing cheeky to have the audacity to not only cause someone else injury due to your own stupidity but then be so pigheaded to bankrupt them to boot.

Horrible scum.

I've had pedestrians yell at me when I am on the road (which i only am unless it's a shared cycling pedestrian walk way) that I shouldn't be on the road, I should be on the side walk.
People who don't cycle rarely know or understand the rules, and the rules change from city to city on what it is legal for a cyclist to do. Drivers we share the road with don't understand either and it leaves cyclist the most vulnerable.

Do you have to have cyclist insurance in Canada?

No. There are some conversations regarding it going around... but I don't see it happening anytime soon

Its a funny one because if cases like this make a precedent it would be in cyclists interests to have it but it seems to be a unfair

...I’m not sure that it is making a precedent in that the judge ruled that the fault lay 50/50 ....and that would be reflected in the compensation claim...but regardless of any fault/lack of attention which may have been with her..(..and the eyewitnesses weren’t consistent with their reports I believe..)...he was still forced to rule that the cyclist had blame in his attention to pedestrians at the time...

I’m neutral on this as i can’t stand cyclists or idiot pedestrians who just wander into the road.
The amount of students i’ve nearly mowed down either not looking and wearing stupid big headphones or Instatweeting.

My copy of the Highway Code says "give way pedestrians at all times". The Highway Code applies just as much to cyclists to car drivers or motorcyclists. If cyclists had to be insured, his burden wouldn't have been so heavy.

A cyclist versus a yoga teacher?

I think a wasp landed on a stinging nettle too.

Those same people who were moaning about you being on the road when they were driving, would then moan about you using the pavement instead of the road if they happened to be walking somewhere :rolleyes: Cyclists really cannot do right for doing wrong.
Well yes, but its slightly unreasonable to expect drivers/cyclists to see into the future and know that some idiot is about to step literally right infront of them, not giving any time to even attempt to slow down

And yes, I am calling myself an idiot too also, given a similar thing happened to me. :laugh:

I don't think vehicle insurance for cyclists should be compulsory (for example, it would be ridiculous if I had to pay cycling insurance for the 5 minute ride to my daughter's school which is 90% along an off-road cycle track) BUT I think it should be available and highly encouraged for cyclists who are doing a frequent commute primarily on city streets and other areas of busier traffic / pedestrian activity.

Because yes the highway code says to be aware of pedestrians and give way to pedestrians at all times, and cyclists shouldn't be cycling so close to the pedestrian walkway that they don't have time to avoid collision if someone steps onto the road. That they are often forced to by other traffic is somewhat irrelevant... and if you have absolutely no choice but to move in close to the pavement, the appropriate thing to do would be to slow right down to walking pace (4 or 5 mph) to make collisions far less likely and far less serious if they occur, not 10+ mph cycling speeds.

So yeah I'd say the accident was primarily her fault for being distracted and not paying attention, but it's still the cyclists RESPONSIBILITY because cyclists are using a type of vehicle and thus they are the ones who are supposed to be adhering to the highway code. It's a vehicle operator's responsibility to be aware of the fact that pedestrians might do something stupid... in other words... and there are no Jaywalking laws in the UK.

Cyclists should have some kind of licence plate. They're busy filming car drivers... but there's nothing on a bike or a cyclist to show who they are so they can be made responsible for the stupid stuff they do. And the good cyclists are lumped in with the idiots... And definitely insurance... for the cyclist sake as well as their potential victims. You want to use the road, you have to have insurance.

central London. Says it all :/

Tbf cyclists should have the same benefits and obligations as other road users ie insurance, registration etc