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08-20-06, 05:45 PM
Interesting article on a club ride disaster - perhaps we should be pushing Continental attitudes toward civil liability for drivers in the US:
"The Rhyl families' pursuit of compensation may also be difficult. In Holland, Denmark, Belgium, France and Germany, any motorist who injures a cyclist must pay compensation, unless the driver can show that the injured person clearly did something illegal or irresponsible. But in Britain, the cyclist must show the motorist was negligent. Consequently, the Rhyl tragedy may raise the same difficulties presented a year ago by the case of cyclist John Morris, who died in the New Forest after a motorist drove into him. Though the motorist fled the scene, he was sentenced to just 15 months for failing to stop, rather than careless driving, because police could find no witnesses."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1220599.ece
"The Rhyl families' pursuit of compensation may also be difficult. In Holland, Denmark, Belgium, France and Germany, any motorist who injures a cyclist must pay compensation, unless the driver can show that the injured person clearly did something illegal or irresponsible. But in Britain, the cyclist must show the motorist was negligent. Consequently, the Rhyl tragedy may raise the same difficulties presented a year ago by the case of cyclist John Morris, who died in the New Forest after a motorist drove into him. Though the motorist fled the scene, he was sentenced to just 15 months for failing to stop, rather than careless driving, because police could find no witnesses."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1220599.ece