Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon settles action against SUV driver who knocked him from bike | Irish Independent

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/fine-gael-td-ciaran-cannon-settles-action-against-suv-driver-who-knocked-him-from-bike/a1700376876.html

Posted by micar11

13 Comments

  1. From looking at the CCTV as someone who is both a driver and cyclist, why did the cyclist not stop when it was very clear the cars moving in the same direction were giving way?

    The driver should have seen midway through as well as the cyclist but driving into an urban T junction like that you also need to focus on oblivious pedestrians as well as cyclists not paying attention evidently.

    Cyclist and Driver could both have done better here but the cyclist had much more visibility here from the CCTV perspective to avoid a serious collision.

    It’s a no wonder insurance premiums are so high when you could in theory take this as an example to cycle around like you own the road and hit into a turning car claiming the driver is completely at fault.

    I’ll probably get downvoted by the cyclists for this opinion but they need to realize you are personally responsible for your safety, assume no one sees you and factor this in when approaching situations like the video with a road junction.

  2. idontcarejustlogmein on

    It looks like a driving without due care and attention charge at best. Don’t know anything about the case except the footage so there may have been extenuating circumstances why that was not pursued but it doesn’t look enough for dangerous driving

  3. I cycle in Dublin a lot.

    While Cannon was definitely in the right, the reality is this happens a lot, and I’d rather be alive and walking than in the right. I never cycle at speed in slow moving traffic. Never know who’ll walk out in front of you or make a last minute turn.

    It also helps that I’m now a lot less fit than a decade ago.

  4. We need to take a higher level view here.

    Whether or not he’s wrong by the rules of the road doesn’t really matter. What matters is, is it obvious a cyclist could appear for someone who doesn’t regularly drive along this street? Evidently from other commenters it seems a regular problem. The cars blocked line of sight, so I can *easily* see how this accident happens.

    I know cyclists is a controversial thing but from a motorcyclists POV this is an obvious, you’ve fucked yourself. Cause something similar can happen while filtering, cars don’t randomly come to a stop, you gotta be cautious when they do because travelling at a different speed to the traffic beside you is very dangerous.

    Is the range rover at fault? Absolutely. But angrily shaking your fist at drivers is a terrible solution to something that can easily happen.

  5. The roads are lethal, no two ways about it, I drive and cycle myself and I try and take my bike to work instead of the car as often as I can, I’m lucky that my route isn’t the most dangerous but I still have had my fair share of close calls, all completely unnecessary as it was pure driver impatience and nothing else, I’m not sure if I’d cycle to work if I was living in Dublin or Cork city tbh, it seems to be very dangerous, and the attitudes of drivers is disgraceful.

  6. RandomUsername600 on

    Good for him. I know people complain about claim culture, but he was dead right here and we should be penalising dangerous drivers financially too

  7. Gobshites in SUVs. A tale as old as the first gigantic car. I always try to make eye contact with them as I cycle up to an intersection because you just cannot trust them.