The killing of a cyclist with three rear lights ‘an accident’

THE death of a Nailsea man, who was ran over and killed by a taxi while cycling to work, has been recorded as an accident after 'a set of unfortunate circumstances' came together.

[The ‘unfortunate circumstances’ being no more than someone cycling on an ‘A’ road with two more rear lights than is required by law and a speeding taxi driver who was going far too fast for the road conditions, indifferent to the possibility that there might be anything other than a motor vehicle in the road ahead.]

Paul Conley, of St Marys Park, was cycling along the A370 Long Aston bypass when he was hit from behind by a car.

Piergiorgio Dell-Occo, who was a taxi driver for the Bristol Airport-based firm Checker Cars at the time, described the accident, which occurred in darkness at about 6.30am.

He said: "I was just getting up to the national speed limit and continuing on my way steadily.

[We have no idea if the driver was telling the truth because the road lobby has always successfully resisted the idea of cheap black box data recorders in cars which would provide a precise record of speed in the period leading up to a crash.]

"All of a sudden I spotted a wheel and some cogs and remember thinking 'what the hell'.

"Before I could do anything I just ran over the person."

During the hearing, collision investigator PC Andrew Hill said that one of Mr Conley's lights had become corroded inside, which could have caused it to become dim.

[But since the cyclist had three rear lights, this is totally irrelevant. Ed.]

He also said that most drivers' visibility would only stretch to 23m in darkness and, when travelling at 50mph, a driver would have just one second to react to avoid a collision.

In other words, the British establishment gives every support and sympathy to motorists who drive at criminally reckless speeds indifferent to the possibility that there might be a cyclist ahead of them.