Cyclists - not all are 'victims' it seems...
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-13647541
A cyclist from Brighton who punched a man in the face after he opened a car door in his path has been jailed for 18 months.

Paul Lambeth, 36, of Stafford Road, was jailed at Hove Crown Court for killing Tony Magdi, 52, in an assault on 7 November last year.

Nice, well balanced individual, apparently off his meds so i am sure it was not his fault...it never is...

18 months for a life OMFG thats wrong. What are the courts thinking. :mad:

18 months though for assulating the guy who died in hospital from the injuries? Not exactly a fair outcome is it?

Quite, the punishment hardly fits the crime and one of many examples of this these days.

The court heard Lambeth and the other cyclists fled the scene after the attack. Lambeth only gave himself up after he had been identified as a suspect.


The judge may aswell of not even give him a prison sentence,18 months plus the fact he fled after hitting the guy..

Sounds like a right arse, the idea when cycling is to avoid the "door zone" when passing parked cars so if someone does open a door on you, you don't hit it, not always possible and some car drivers get upset when you don't skirt right alongside, some seem to expect you stop behind a parked car.

Most people don't want 250 pounds of cyclist, bike, laptop and stuff joining them in their car so are fairly careful about opening doors but I have had a few incidences of doors being flung open, one being a builder in an Escort van, initially hostile when I asked him why he didn't look he did admit he made a mistake and that he would be more careful, sometimes shock and bravado take over and given a chance people will realise whether they were in the wrong or not, I try to not be aggressive but when someone carelessly flings a door open into your path, that can kill you it does annoy you, potentially they got into a verbal slanging match and the cyclist lashed out, or possibly defended himself, one punch can be enough to kill someone, probably not the intended outcome but you punch someone its always a possibility, however provoked you are.

It usually goes the other way, I did read of one cyclist that lay in the road unable to breathe as his windpipe was crushed by the corner of a car, took a few minutes to die, also opening a door like that can cause something like this,

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...105556718.html

Must admit I imagined you'd have to be a big black dude to kill someone with one punch. :D More seriously, obviously anything can happen if you hit the pavement.

Nutters can choose any form of transport. In this particular case, the cyclist should have been locked up for a good deal longer.

18 months for a life: the same as Elliot Morley got for knicking £32,000 of taxpayer's money, and 6 months longer than that guy got for speeding at over 120mph last year.........

Our "justice" system is fekked.............cheers Labour.

No doubt it wasn't murder, but manslaughter or something else.

Just 'cos you punch someone doesn't mean you want to kill them.

Guy might have just given him a love tap but he fell over bangs his head and dies.

I digress, but are "torques" the same as old school "foot pounds"?

Agree, a punch isn't the same as the intent to kill...

Sad outcome.

dunx

I agree that you should certainly be aware that a car door could well be opened in front of you. It is one of the things I am pretty careful about when I am passing in my car.

By the same token, I think that the person opening the door is wholly responsible for not opening it into passing traffic. Particularly nasty if you are riding a bike and someone does that to you.

Les