Safe Speed Forums

From the Belfast Telegraph-

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 64382.html

14 October 2014

The widow of a cyclist knocked down and killed three years ago has wept as details of his death were revealed to a coroner's court.

Michael Caulfield, 56, from Saintfield Road in Belfast, died almost instantly after being hit by a lorry on April 15 2011.

The father-of-four, who worked as a Winemark general manager, suffered catastrophic injuries to his neck, head and abdomen in the accident on the Ormeau Embankment, one of Belfast's main arterial routes.

His widow, Bernadette Caulfield, told an inquest he had always been a keen cyclist and went for an early morning bike ride almost every day.

She said: "He was not a cyclist racer. He cycled for pleasure. That was his wake-up - he cycled every morning to get him ready for the day."

The court heard how Mr Caulfield routinely set his alarm clock for 6.15am and, although his wife did not know his exact route, he was out for about 45 minutes and was regularly observed on the Ormeau and Ravenhill roads in south Belfast.

Choking back tears, Mrs Caulfield recalled how, on his return home, her husband always set the breakfast table before waking her with a cup of tea around 7am and getting the rest of the family up.

She realised something was wrong when a neighbour told her there had been an accident on the Ormeau Road.

"I knew immediately something was wrong," she said in a statement. "I had my neighbour contact police to report Michael missing."

Mrs Caulfield, who was supported in court by family members, said the couple would have celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in September 2011. She described her husband as meticulous, honest and hard working.

The hearing at Mays Chambers in Belfast was told Mr Caulfield had been wearing a cycle helmet. However, his bespoke blue cycling top was not totally "high-viz" although it did have reflectors. He was also wearing cycling gloves and dark-coloured leggings.

It is thought he fell off the silver-coloured Giant road bike when it was hit by the front wheel of the lorry and went into the path of the vehicle's rear wheels.

A post-mortem examination concluded Mr Caulfield's death had been "rapid".

State pathologist Professor Jack Crane said Mr Caulfield suffered fractures to his skull, eyes, nose, jaws, neck and spine. His spinal cord was severed and all his ribs were broken, causing lacerations to his heart and lungs.

Also giving evidence at the inquest was delivery driver James Thompson, who was acquitted of causing Mr Caulfield's death after the Public Prosecution Service offered no evidence against him.

Mr Thompson insisted he had checked his mirrors and used his indicators to let other road users know of his intention to turn left at the junction traffic lights.

He said: "I did not see any movement at all behind me. I am sure I checked the mirrors.

"While I was turning I checked my mirrors for safety and clearance. I was clear of the kerb and everything was clear behind me."

Mr Thompson, who had 20 years experience, told the court he did not normally make deliveries into Belfast city centre on Fridays but had to do "extra drops" because of promotions.

He said he did not know he had hit anything but pulled over because he thought there was a mechanical problem with the vehicle.

"I was not sure what it was," said Mr Thompson.

"I felt there was a bump. I thought I experienced a problem, that's why I pulled over. There was still no visible sign of anything behind me."

Questions were raised over whether Mr Caulfield had been using the cycle lane as he approached the lorry.

Van driver Terence Irwin told the court he had seen a cyclist riding up the middle of the road swerving as though they were unsure which direction to turn.

Mr Irwin said: "I actually thought it was a drunk man."

In her findings, Coroner Suzanne Anderson said a "considerable amount of evidence" had been put before the court, "much of which touched on issues of liability".

The coroner explained that the purpose of an inquest was not to establish blame but to determine who the subject was and how, when and where they died.

She concluded that Mr Caulfield's death was from multiple injuries sustained during a collision on the Ormeau Bridge on the morning of April 15 2011.

Ms Anderson said: "I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to Mrs Caulfield and the rest of the family."

Mrs Caulfield was too distressed to speak outside the court.

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

What is your motivation for posting this?

With no comment either.

Serious question!

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

Asking a genuine question is not trolling.

In fact, if anybody is displaying trolling behavior here it's you, unsolicited post, no comment or opinion, reading between the lines it's a "cyclists should stay off the road" type post, in a cycling sub forum.

Now that's trolling!

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

Is that for me or you?

Old saying " when caught in open , be careful who you upset, as the stream under your bridge might end up being diverted to the hole you are digging and without water wings that trike & you will founder.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Why do you think CJG put this post up with no comment botach?

Perhaps enough said. You're attitude seems to be that apportioning blame will make things right. I always take the view that whether on foot, on my scooter or in a car, I have responsibility for my own safety, and those around me . I used to apply this in my cycling days also. I'd say CJG posted this as a bit of info ,not as a red rag to WEEPY, but somehow or another you see it as this way.
I'd further suggest that if you are REALLY concerned about road safety, then you look at ways ALL road users can co operate to use the road space ,rather than the way you go about spouting your vitriol about 2 wheels good , any more bad.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that myself.




That's only happening in your imagination botach.

Very sad

My point, or rather thoughts on the matter, are that the HGVs you see are way too big for our roads. I haven’t been to Belfast but, speaking for Birmingham, these things do not belong on anything other than a motorway IMO or, better still, banned from our roads!

There’s a small village, if I can call it that, which I sometimes travel through and you can often see it gridlocked because two ‘elephants’ are trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle; made all the worse because it’s on a bus route. No one is looking at the impact on our environment, the ramifications of using these giants or danger they present to us all.

There was a terrible fatal accident which a friend of mine had to appear as a witness to after she’d seen this from afar. That street is another example and place of being so congested you can often walk from the top to bottom quicker than in a vehicle. It would frighten me to death to have to cycle along there, because of the sheer volume and size of traffic.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Yes. Are those HGV's too big for our roads or do our roads lack proper infrastructure to accommodate cyclists? Only recently, another cyclist has been killed on the A1, a dual carriageway. He died in a collision with an HGV.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 40962.html

There's nothing in law that says a cyclist cannot ride on a dual carriageway. I begin to wonder if it's worth the risk, with so much fast-moving traffic around. And those who won't hesitate to break speed limits. That's the third cyclist killed on that A1 road this year. It's really sad.

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

You sure about this? I think he probably died after being run over by an HGV.

You make it sound like he rode into it.

You know what, the "it should be legal to break the speed limit" lot often assert that the "people shouldn't break speed limits" lot want to see people in cars have to have a man with a red flag walking in front of them.

Of course, they don't, that's just silly.

But, the case of HGVs driving through our towns and cities... hmmm...

Great idea, but if man with red flag walked on pavement in our town, he'd end up flat on face with mountain bike tracks down his back, or perhaps a small wheeled stunt cycle parked in his butt.
SO before the cycling fraternity starting throwing bricks from within their glass houses, then perhaps a biblical saying about casting out motes might be appropriate. We have a pedestrian zone in our town centre, which is open to certain classes of drivers after 1600 hrs. I've been there as a driver legally permitted to enter after the barriers are dropped, and as a mobility scooter driver when access to cars is prohibited. Same problem- not cars driving wrong way , but cyclists, in the main ,who have problems understanding the one way system ,and also who cycle to fast for the conditions prevailing( i.e quantity of pedestrians).

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

No, Weepy, I did not. You did! The accident is being investigated by the police an as such I will not speculate as it's true cause.

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

You write "the cyclist died in a collision with an HGV".

If I die in collision with something it means it was me that collided with it, with the implication it was me that was the careless one right?

It would appear that a collision did indeed happen.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

I'm not sure if that's praise or condemnation of my feeling about it weepej...

All I'm saying is if you have a mix of mice and elephants you will inevitably have mice as the more vulnerable unless there is complete separation.

I love my cat but, to date: I've booted her, stepped on her, and my lodger has almost chopped her in half closing the back sliding door.

None of it was intended, to state the obvious. But to live together in harmony and safely maybe I should walk slower and make my cat wear a Hi-Viz jacket. Oh and I should wear heavily padded Ugg Boots around the house.

The flip side of this is I nearly went arse over tit when she ran under my feet on two occasions and I stubbed my toe on the floor on the second occasion to avoid hurting her.

Yeah, many would think it funny but whack your little pinkie with a toffee hammer and see how it hurts and affects your walking for the next few days. Not 'appy....

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Hmm.

Cyclists collides with vehicle

Vehicle collides with cyclist.

The order implies who collided with who to me!