Witness appeal after woman cyclist killed during time trial

Quote:

A young driver in his mid twenties driving what sounds like a powerful car.

He is 27, which means he could have been driving for up to 10 years. Also, not all black Audi estates are uber-powerful quattros so please don't jump to conclusions.

We will have to wait and see what they decide to prosecute him with, if anything, and then hope that commonsense and rationality will prevail.

In the meantime, in the spirit of increasing cycling participation and competition, maybe we should petition for a change in the law that allows for the speed limits on roads being legally used for TTs to be temporarily reduced.

A young driver in his mid twenties driving what sounds like a powerful car. Just guessing here, but he may not have ridden a bike for a few years (since passing his driving test) and years of fiddling with buttons on a game console may have blurred his perception of reality - at least as far as the difference in speed between himself and the unfortunate victim.

I regularly ride a TT on a local dual carriageway - in my experience drivers generally have room to overtake safely and do so. The roundabouts on the course I ride are quite "tight", i.e. vehicles slow down to 20 - 25 mph to negociate them and if anything impede the progress of cyclists by doing so.

It's the vehicles entering roundabouts from the side roads which cause the problems ...

This is a sad occurence. But time trials should be held on roads that are more suitable for cyclists. Running these events on roads where there is fast flowing traffic increases the risk that an inattentive driver wil cause a major accident. I feel sorry for the victim's family.

I'd always support a cyclist's right to ride on the road but time trials seem to be about the most dangerous thing you can do on a bike - we frequently lose people on the A1 near where I am. It seems to me that if the b*st*rd drivers can't pay attention and share the road then the road should be closed to motor vehicles while the time trial takes place.

While i agree that personally i wouldnt enter a TT that ran on an A road i do take part in occasiona TT's on dual carridge ways that ring road my town. These are generally quieter roads but you still get idiots not pulling out of the inside lane and nearly taking your elbow off, but lets be honest, the amount bad drivers/overtakes/incidents as a % of the cars on the road is a lot worse on B roads.

All A roads are not the same, there are section i ride on in Northumberland that are perfectly safe, and nearby B roads that are death traps. We cant stop riding on one type of road just because some are risky. If you are organising a TT you make the decision on Start times and route based on road traffic and risk. My club hosts a few races a year and sometimes the road we use is busier than we would like/expect but each competitor makes the choice to go out and we make sure sufficient signage and marshal presence is out there to keep the riders as safe as possible.

In any case i dont imagine this unfortunate accidient was a more 'dangerous situation' then any other time you get out on your bike.

I echo this, however frequently we bang on about having the right to ride on dual carriageways and a - roads etc the truth is that drivers just dont care or just dont look. I would prefer to keep doing the sodbury TT around the lanes of south gloucestershire or the Clevedon TT on the lanes of north somerset rather than try and go on an a road. I used to do a triathlon in cornwall, based at Bodmin. They said it was aimed at beginners but the ride was an out and back along the A30! Terrifying when overtaking slower athletes as we used to compete with trucks, caravans, heavy traffic.

Bad story. I'd like to agree with Gazzaputt on the A road TT thing though. I was driving along the A14 (which is horribly busy) and a TT was being staged along both side. This is a terrible road for accidents as it is, I don't even like driving on it so to stage a TT on it is madness.

I know the road (A46) where this TT was being held and its also very busy.

Thoughts go to family and friends.

I'd like to make what some will read as a contentious post.

Is it the best idea in the world to be running TTs on A roads especially dual carriage ways?

There have been a number of deaths lately on TTs.

The standard of driving and disregard for cyclists has deteriorated to such a level that for me make this a highly dangerous sport to participate in.

they haven't charged him yet, lets not expect anything to come of it.

Tragic incident, my condolences go out to all concerned.

Maybe it is just that more of these incidents are being reported but they do seem to happen all too frequently.

In Shropshire you get away with a 200 hours unpaid work and an 18 month ban for killing a cyclist if you claim a "momentary lapse of attention".

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2010/08/03/shropshire-lorry-driver-se...

You'd probably get worse for cycling on the pavement or spitting in the street... but then this is the county where the wigs considered that road cyclist Daniel Cadden was a menace to society (although sense prevailed eventually).

Thank God they arrested the driver. Too often these incidents are described as "an accident". Drivers need to be made aware that if you kill or injure a cyclist, there is payback.