55 year old cyclist killed this weekend

[Peanut Butter]

Anybody have any details about this. Just saw this on Beeld's website.

 

http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Dit-mag-nie-verniet-wees-20130106

 

Also a lot of info about the Burry Stander death.

[fanievb]

Anybody have any details about this. Just saw this on Beeld's website.

 

http://www.beeld.com...t-wees-20130106

 

Also a lot of info about the Burry Stander death.

 

drunk driver

 

http://www.dispatch.co.za/murder-charge-after-cyclist-struck/

[Let's Ride]

Sending my condolences to the family. Terrible news.

 

Sending shivers down my spine as I type this.

[Delilah]

I believe there were 4 instances of cyclists being hit by motor vehicles over the weekend. Some killed and some seriously injured. Terrible and so unnecessary.

 

Condolences to all who have lost loved ones and our thoughts also go out to those fighting for their lives.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Delilah

[gogo@]

Thanks for this update. Drunk and apparently unlicensed. Were there proper policing, this might not have happened. I have a special beef with SAPS because of personal experience that they do nothing about drunk drivers.

 

From the Dispatch:

 

 

A 55-YEAR-OLD East London cyclist was killed in a collision with a vehicle allegedly driven by an unlicensed and visibly drunken driver.

The unidentified cyclist died on the scene in Jan Smuts Avenue near Greenfields on Saturday afternoon.

Police arrested the 41-year-old driver at the scene. He has been charged with murder. The suspect is due to appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court this morning.

East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana said the incident happened just after 1pm.

He said at the time of the accident the deceased and two other cyclists had been on a training session.

“The driver of an Opel Cadet vehicle is alleged to have struck the deceased head-on,” he said.

Tana said when police asked the driver to produce a driver’s licence the evidently intoxicated driver failed to do so. He said police were still establishing whether the cyclist was a recreational or a professional cyclist.

It has been a bad week for cycling in South Africa following the death of Olympic mountainbiker Burry Stander in KwaZulu-Natal last week.

A 22-year-old female cyclist was also reported to be in a critical condition after being struck by a vehicle in Richard’s Bay yesterday morning.

Paramedics in the area are reported to have said the woman was riding with other cyclists when the accident occurred.

She was found several metres away from the point of impact . The driver of the vehicle was taken in for questioning by police.

East Cape Cycling president Antoinette Harding said the provincial roads were unfortunately not cyclist friendly.

“It is tragic to hear of more accidents in which cyclists are involved. As a cyclist myself I know most of us who go out onto the roads try and be as careful as humanly possible,” Harding said.

She said at times motorists failed to realise they had to be on the lookout for runners, pedestrians and cyclists.

“I have often seen motorists talking on their cellphones. A driver cannot fiddle with a radio or anything else while driving as this distracts them and they don’t drive in a straight line,” she said.

While the Eastern Cape province is expected to release its official festive season fatality figures this week, the latest death tolls on the nation’s roads stands at 1300.

Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesman Ashref Ismail said at the moment 40 people were dying on South African roads a day.

Excessive speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and drunk pedestrians were being blamed for these alarming figures.

The accidents were costing the economy R300-billion a year, Ismail said. —zwangam@dispatch.co.za

Edited January 7, 2013 by gogo@

[Mojoman]

Terrible, lets hope our courts start to wake up and throw the book at these people.

[Let's Ride]

I am a roadie but after all of these accidents I am seriously considering getting a mtb.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Let's Ride

[gogo@]

Terrible, lets hope our courts start to wake up and throw the book at these people.

I think they're trying, but why not do something about it before someone's life is put at risk?? Like getting off your fat butts and confronting drunk drivers? Court is too late, this is traffic police and SAPS.

I've never seen as much drunk driving and J(& B )-walking as I have this Christmas.

Edited January 7, 2013 by gogo@

[mrbaker]

My condolences to the family.

These words are being said to often here on the hub - sad sad sad

[gogo@]

1300 people killed on the roads in December.

40 people killed every day.

If this were a disease (it isn't??) then people would be pressuring government to start a national treatment programme.

Why isn't that happening?

[Stretch]

Condolences to the Family.

 

reading through the article the following: " He said police were still establishing whether the cyclist was a recreational or a professional cyclist." seems absolutely irrelevant

[Peanut Butter]

I dont have the SA stats but seems like this is a huge problem all over the world. Here is some stats from The Times about Britain's cycling deaths last year.

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3313260.ece

[Vetseun]

RIP

[slowpoke]

RIP and condolences to his family and friends.

 

How anyone can still choose to drive drunk and cause a senseless death like this is beyond me. Society should start comdemning people who break the law instead of excusing it when it suits them.

[Wil6]

Reading stuff like this makes my skin crawl and makes me want my wife to convert to mtb as soon as possible.Absolute tragedy and condolences to the victims family and friends.

[awesme]

I'd start with a 2 year driver license revocation when caught driving drunk, first time, 2nd time life ban. (of course this is just caught driving, if this was caught/discovered while injuring someone or any type of accident then the 2yr is forfeited and life ban is to be imposed immediately).

 

nice and simple.

 

G

 

RIP and condolences to his family and friends.

 

How anyone can still choose to drive drunk and cause a senseless death like this is beyond me. Society should start comdemning people who break the law instead of excusing it when it suits them.