Feb 27 '06 - 731 W - Vote Good + 6 :: Bad - 10 Scottish Paper Gets Report on Bush Bicycle Crash That Injured Constable
Published February 26, 2006 by Editor & Publisher
NEW YORK It
may not have been as serious as Vice President Dick Cheney shooting a
friend in the face, but new details that have emerged about President
George W. Bush's bicycle accident in Scotland last July show that he,
too, might have caused serious damage.
The
Scotsman, a leading newspaper in Scotland, reported Sunday that it had
obtained a police report on the early July accident when the president
crashed into a Scottish police constable while cycling in the grounds
of Gleneagles Hotel during the G8 summit.
At
the time, the focus of U.S. press reports was on the president's
injuries--a few abrasions--while noting that that the constable had
suffered a "very minor" ankle injury. The fact that Bush was wearing a
helmet seemed to be the main accident detail, and that he had called
the constable to check on his well-being.
According
to the newspaper, however, the police officer (known in the report only
as "Constable X") ended up on crutches and was off work for more than
three months.
Bush had jumped on his
bike for an early-evening jaunt at last year's G8 at the Perthshire
resort. He ended up in a police report described as a "moving/falling
object."
The report, according to The
Scotsman, describes a detachment of constables covering a road junction
where the president would pass through. The report goes on: "[At] about
1800 hours the President approached the junction at speed on the
bicycle. The road was damp at the time. As the President passed the
junction at speed he raised his left arm from the handlebars to wave to
the police officers present while shouting 'thanks, you guys, for
comin.'
"As he did this he lost
control of the cycle, falling to the ground, causing both himself and
his bicycle to strike [the officer] on the lower legs. [The officer]
fell to the ground, striking his head. The President continued along
the ground for approximately five metres, causing himself a number of
abrasions. The officers... then assisted both injured parties....
"At
hospital, a doctor examined the constable and diagnosed damage to his
ankle ligaments and issued him with crutches. The cause was officially
recorded as: 'Hit by moving/falling object'."
At the time, the newspaper noted, Bush laughed off the incident, saying he should start "acting his age".
The
Scotsman observed: "Details of precisely how the crash unfolded have
until now been kept under wraps for fear of embarrassing both Bush and
the injured constable. But the new disclosures are certain to raise
eyebrows on Washington's Capitol Hill....
"In
Scotland, an accident such as the one at Gleneagles could have led to
police action. Earlier this year, Strathclyde Police issued three fixed
penalty notices to errant cyclists as part of a crack-down on rogue
riders. Legal experts also suggested lesser mortals could have ended up
with a fixed penalty fine, prosecution, or at least a good ticking-off
from officers."
John Scott, a human
rights lawyer, said: "There's certainly enough in this account for a
charge of careless driving. Anyone else would have been warned for
dangerous driving.
"I have had
clients who have been charged with assaulting a police officer for less
than this. The issue of how long the police officer was out of action
for is also important. He was away from work for 14 weeks, and that
would normally be very significant in a case like this."
According
to day-after press reports on July 7th, Bush blamed wet pavement and
high speed for the fall. "We were flying,'' Bush said at a press
conference in Gleneagles.
He added:
"When you ride hard on a mountain bike, sometimes you fall, otherwise
you're not riding hard. At the end of a good hour ride, the pavement
was slick and the bike came out from underneath me, just like that
person on the Tour de France the other day.''
None
of the coverage at the time suggested the constable was hurt beyond the
"minor" injury, and the incident was soon forgotten.
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Come on. The guy was ridding a bike. The last time I looked you were tring to promote that. I can see laying into him if he ran over some one in a Hummer. There are a lot of other things to rag on him about, but not this one.
MATT J (Email) - February 27 '06 - 13:17
The jerk in the White House can’t do any better riding a bicycle than he does managing the country. His disfunctional bicycle riding can be handled by making him use a tricycle. Unfortunately there is no such easy fix for his incompetence as president. The ‘06 congressional elections can help the country to some extent, but getting him out of the White House apparently must wait until January ‘09. What a shame!f.flaherty (Email) - February 27 '06 - 13:47