Another dead cyclist is let down by the system

Philip Scarff, 37, from Shelland, suffered fatal head injuries in an accident on Old London Road, at Copdock, Ipswich, on August 27 last year.

Adam Clint, the driver of the 4x4 which was involved in the accident was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but no charges were brought

...it was not clear how fast the 4x4 was travelling or where the impact took place.

If the 4X4 had been fitted with a black box data recorder we would have the answer to both those conundrums. But the car lobby have successfully resisted fitting such data recorders on the spurious grounds of cost. Has the cycling lobby, such as it is, ever made this a demand? Or is everyone too busy defending ‘the right to ride’?

Suffolk coroner Dr Peter Dean ruled Mr Scarff’s death as accidental and said that there was nothing Mr Clint could have done to avoid the collision.

Dr Dean’s bland summing up strikes me as being incoherent and contradictory. If we don’t know the circumstances of the crash or the speed of the driver, how can anyone logically conclude that there was nothing the driver could have done to avoid the collision?

And was the cyclist hit from behind? The report doesn’t say.