Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Traumatic road traffic accident

I stood as a witness today at the inquest for the motorcyclist that I saw die in late August. It was a very strange experience all in all, I'm not going to go in to all the details, but needless to say just as we thought at the time the set of circumstances that led to his death were a trillion to one shot and it really was a case of wrong place at the wrong time for the poor guy who died. No one did anything that isn't executed a million times a day on Britain's roads, no one was speeding (or anywhere close to it), no one had been drinking, no one saw the bike until the very last minute all in all it was a tragedy.

Having said all that I may yet have to attend court again this time magistrates as the taxi we were in could be prosecuted for leaving the scene of an accident. It was very odd having to sit in the same room as him knowing that he'd initially denied that he'd been there at all, a stance he changed when they produced CCTV evidence.

We'll just have to wait and see.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember that from your blog at the time Six. Poor bugger.

Bit thick of the cabbie to deny being there - what with the witnesses and everything.

Name Witheld said...

I, too, can remember how shocked you were at the time. It's a long time to wait for an inquest for a road traffic accident, isn't it?

raisins said...

Oh Six, I really feel for you. First of all I want to say thank you for going to the inquest. It must have been very hard for you.

My brother was killed in a motorbike accident. He was 31 and on his way to work. He was a very proficient rider, having been a motor cycle courier in London and was not reckless.

Well I am bound to say that aren't I.

At the inquest the witnesses all, apart from one said that Joe wasn't speeding but the bike was out of control. The traffic police (who were terrific) confirmed that and concluded that something must have run out in front of the bike and my brother swerved to try and avoid it and then lost control. We will never know exactly what happened.

The one witness who gave evidence that differed from the rest was a van driver who had seen my brother a few minutes before the accident. His version of events conflicted entirely with everyone elses. It was obviously apparent to me and my family that he had a problem with motorbikes and their riders and was not going to let an oath in court get in the way of his story.

As a family we were naturally devastated at my little brothers death but we were relieved that no one else was injured. We did feel terrible about the profound shock that his death had on the immediate witnesses and the people who tried in vain to save his life.

Thank you for going to the inquest. It must have been harrowing for you and Nic.

If it is any help to you, please feel free to PM me over at Gavs place.

Best wishes

Curmy said...

Six, what a horrible experience. You'd have thought the cabbie would have had more sense.

Lucy said...

It must have been a horrible day for you Six.
Its interesting how cctv evidence is influencing life nowadays. I guess it must be tempting for some to lie in such circumstances.

Jason said...

I KNOW YOU!

I have been looking on and off again for the past few years for you and Nic . . . low and behold I finialy found you . . . on a blog! Ha! It was good to read your blog. Glad to hear about the kids and that you are keeping up your alchohol intake. I knew you were into cycling, but is the cricket facination new – in the last ten years or so anyway?

I would love it if you and Nic would drop me an email. I would also like to get Lisa Chawner's (Chessy Lawnmower) email if you have it, even though I am pretty sure she changed her sur-name. Yes?

-Jason
(Nic's old roommate at Nottingham from the U.S.)
jklein@madison.com

PS: Too bad about the motorcycle accident. If I remember, there was a motorcyle accident we got interviewed over by the police back in 1997? after coming out of that pub in Clapham I think? Strange.

Lucy said...

Thought I'd add a real comment in here...[!]
Which way did you decide to move,
N S E or West?

Crispin Heath said...

South we're moving to Surrey on June 29th

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