Motorist goes on trial over sofa biker death
Peterborough Crown Court hears how motorcyclist died after swerving to avoid sofa lying in road
A MOTORIST has gone on trial accused of causing the death of a biker after a sofa fell off the back of his pick-up truck and led to a collision.
Last year Visordown reported the news (see link at bottom of page) about a motorcyclist that was killed while avoiding a sofa lying in the road.
Peterborough Crown Court heard that Anthony Barnes (34) was driving along the A1139 Fletton Parkway in Peterborough when the piece of furniture he was transporting toppled into the road.
Shortly after motorcyclist Darren Wildman smashed into the back of Barnes' vehicle after swerving to avoid the sofa lying in the dual carriageway. He died as a result of his injuries
Yesterday, the Court heard allegations Barnes was responsible for the 37-year-old's death because his failure to properly secure the load amounted to dangerous driving
Barnes, of Danegeld Place, Stamford, denies the charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
The trial continues.
Discuss this story
what a way to go  death by sofa. the carelessness of some people never ceases to amaze
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 13:34
I know the other road user is automaticall at fault for a biker having an accident, and obviously the pick up driver was probably careless. But surely the rider is supposed to be able to stop in the road that he can see to be clear. Not enough info in the story TBH.
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 13:57
Did a sofa fall off - yes, because it wasn't secured properly - therefore the man has already committed an offence because he had an insecure load. Was someone's death directly related to a sofa being in the road - Yes. The bike's brakes may have failed, the biker may not have seen the sofa until someone swerved out of it's way on a wet road... you're right, the biker may have some culpability but if the sofa had been secured properly, then none of that would have happened. Negligence is obvious - manslaughter isn't.
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 14:07
Like I said. Not enough info. It may have been dark, the pick up and the sofa may have been travelling in the opposite direction to the rider, the sofa still moving. Don't know enough to make any form of judgement.
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 14:16
I think at the beginning of last week I went for a short ride down the A20. At one point there was some large white object in the road. It was right at a junction. It wasn't busy but the cars were all swerving around it. As it was safe to do so, I stopped parked my bike and went and removed it. It turned out it was one of those large building bags, empty, but still it could have caused an accident, but no other bugger bothered. In my time I've stopped and removed all sorts of shit out of the roads, mostly building materials and waste. Scaffold boards, scaffold poles, lumps of wood, bricks, dust covers, brooms, buckets, all sorts. Who's responsible for all that?
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 14:43
Yes, it's negligent. Some people are lazy like that.
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 15:15
whilst I did not know the rider personnaly, he was a friend of a friend. She told me that he was riding out with some friends and they were following the pick up truck when the sofa came of it. The rider managed to avoid it and his second reaction was to look over his shoulder to check if his mates were ok... and thats when he hit the back of the pick up which had stopped on the road. This is what she told me at the time, I dont how accurate it is.
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 15:24
Last year here in Lancashire someone deliberately put a sofa on a main biking road on wednesday'bike' night. Up near Knott End across the river Wyre from Fleetwood. It appeared at last light on a country lane prob hoping to catch a biker leaving the meet at Knott End. Luckily a car driver was first on it on a blind corner in the dark, not negligence to me, attempted GBH at minimum. Lets face it, some people hate bikers enough to do these things.
Posted: 08/07/2008 at 19:52
yes there are some sick wierdos about. Many years ago now there was a pathway that the bikers used as a shortcut. Some fatherless person decided to rig up a taut line of wire, a fellow was nearly decapitated there. Think the culprit was "fined"???????????????? 
Posted: 09/07/2008 at 02:24
I know the other road user is automaticall at fault for a biker having an accident, and obviously the pick up driver was probably careless. But surely the rider is supposed to be able to stop in the road that he can see to be clear. Not enough info in the story TBH.
Seeing as you decided to make a comment anyway despite admitting not enough info, perhaps he panicked, how do you know how you going to react, its lucky he managed to avoid it. The bottom line is the Sofa was not secured enough and it came off causing the rider to have an accident...simple. Lets be honest its not hard to secure something and if you cant then you hire a van, they dont cost the earth to hire for one day.
Posted: 09/07/2008 at 06:33
yes there are some sick wierdos about. Many years ago now there was a pathway that the bikers used as a shortcut. Some fatherless person decided to rig up a taut line of wire, a fellow was nearly decapitated there. Think the culprit was "fined"????????????????
Posted: 09/07/2008 at 07:43
You Guys need to back off with the opinions and wait until all the info comes out. To clear just clear a few points tho, I have a few of the facts as the biker in question and the other guys out with him that day were all friends of mine. Yes the sofa fell off because it wasn't secured, yes The biker managed to avoid it. The pick up was doing approx 70mph in the outside lane of a dual carriageway, as the sofa fell out he panicked and did an emergency stop, coming quickly to a halt still in the outside lane. A new ish heavy 4 x 4 possibly with ABS doing an emergency stop in the wrong place at the wrong time versus a motorbike who's trying to ride around a sofa thats bouncing infront of his wheels. The outcome was pretty obvious, as is the cause. Manslaughter should be the absolute minimum. Plus a ban, huge fine and compensation. The Bikers family have lost a huge part of their world that won't ever come back. The car driver should also be made to suffer a huge loss, mainly his liberty
Posted: 09/07/2008 at 09:48
Just look at any lorry driver before he/she sets off after loading. They walk around their truck to check all ropes / ratchet straps are tight and secure. They have a responsibility to others to ensure their load is secure. To simply load a sofa on to a pick-up truck and drive off is irresponsible. The pick-up driver is definitely guilty of negligence and manslaughter.
Posted: 09/07/2008 at 10:19
Ive worked HGVs for years on and off, if you fuck up like that you go to prison. Being treated as a professional driver you get harsher sentancing. So why do courts let off idiots who DO know better lightly??? ie Mr Pickup driver. Cos Magistrates, are civies just like us/them and have prob done the same things but got away with it/nothing went wrong. For me, a slow burning caustic enema would be a let off for Mr Pickup Driver.
Posted: 10/07/2008 at 20:14
I apologise for my first post. It wasn't appropriate. Unfortunately my mind leads me to question everything I read.
Posted: 10/07/2008 at 21:35
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