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Coroner asks whether speed limits should apply to cyclists after pedestrian stepped into road in front of Derbyshire riderbroken bike.jpg

Coroner asks whether speed limits should apply to cyclists after pedestrian stepped into road in front of Derbyshire rider

British cyclists share no legal obligation to adhere to the same speed limits as motorists
by Alex Bowden
Sat, Dec 21, 2019 11:30
67

A coroner will file a report asking whether speed limits should include pedal cyclists after a pedestrian died as a result of a collision in Derbyshire. A forensic collision investigator said that Craig Bond had been riding at 38mph in a 30mph zone before he hit 79-year-old John Beach when the latter stepped into the road to cross.

Bond and his friend James Holmes were cycling on Nottingham Road in Ripley at around 5pm on April 16 when the collision took place.

Bond said that Beach stepped out in front of him and that he couldn’t have done anything to prevent the collision.

A witness who had been in a parked car said that Beach, “had his head down and at no point did I see him look.”

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire Constabulary, analysed CCTV footage and calculated that Bond had been travelling at an average speed of 38mph on the 30mph road.

At an earlier hearing, Bond disputed this. "I can't believe that – it's got to be incorrect,” he said. "I can't imagine doing 38mph on my push bike."

Bond's wife said Strava indicated his speed 'at the point of impact was 18mph'.

Coroner Sarah Huntbach adjourned the inquest to allow police to carry out further investigations.

The Derbyshire Times reports that data from Bond’s Garmin bike computer confirmed he was travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

Huntbach said Beach’s death was due to ‘a tragic combination of factors’.

“Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it was too late,” she said.

Speed limits on roads only refer to motor vehicles and Huntbach said she would be filing a report asking whether they should cover cyclists as well.

Craig Bond
John Beach
speed limits
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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67 comments

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Awavey replied to TriTaxMan | 5 years ago
4 likes

craigstitt wrote:

I'd like to consider myself a reasonable cyclist, maybe towards the top end of average, but most definitely not good.

In order for met to hit 38 mph generally involves a combination of factors largley - A steep downhill (somewhere in excess of 10% gradient), a tail wind, and a balls to the wall effort..... and that is a peak speed not an average speed.

its difficult to judge theres probably a big difference in effort required to hit 38mph avg vs 36mph avg on the same descent but because the segment distance is so short the error factor is probably easily within +-5mph anyway.

there are couple of hills in Essex, which is hardly known for its steep climbs and descents, and which have been used in Tour of Britain/Womens Tour, but one in particular is 0.36mile segment of 5% average descent,  you dont even make it in the top 2000 riders if you are slower than 30mph, the KOM is 44mph the QOM 37mph, now its NSL so no-one is breaking speed limits here, but the only thing stopping you from going over 30mph even for the average cyclist, is nothing to do with how much power you can put out,how quick you can pedal or how aero you are, its your inner doubt about falling off the bike at the moment with vehicles overtaking you at 60mph isnt going to end well, plus theres a big roundabout at the bottom you probably should stop for.

Ive not ridden on the roads where this accident happened so I dont know how easy or not it is to go "fast" on them, it seems at the top end of the recorded segment data speeds in the area, but there could be a massive error factor in play due to the shortness of segments,different measuring devices/means, subset of riders.

 

for me the take away from this is really in the 3 days since people have debated this, another 15 people will have likely died on the roads, another 40 will likely die before the end of this year in collisions caused entirely by motor vehicles.

Avatar
vonhelmet | 5 years ago
11 likes

Totally unenforceable.

Maybe people should look before stepping into the road.

Avatar
StuInNorway | 5 years ago
9 likes

Our roads authority are piloting a major cycle route here, a fully segregated (no cars or pedestrians near it) route between Stavanger and the next town Sandnes, passing the areas major industrial and commercial hub, following the motorway. Having been asked specifically, it has been confirmed it's being built to allow for continuous travel at 30km/h (so no sharp bends, or steep hills), and will have a theoretical speed limit of 80km/h..... I think I'll be safe from getting a ticket once it opens.

Avatar
Hirsute | 5 years ago
15 likes

So we are all going to have GPS units calibrated yearly as part of an mot?
How about worrying instead about kliier drivers doing 67 in a 40 or the other idiot doing 90 in a 30?

Why is it that a very rare event involving a cycle results in a knee jerk reaction?

Avatar
Cyclolotl replied to Hirsute | 5 years ago
11 likes
hirsute wrote:

So we are all going to have GPS units calibrated yearly as part of an mot?
How about worrying instead about kliier drivers doing 67 in a 40 or the other idiot doing 90 in a 30?

Why is it that a very rare event involving a cycle results in a knee jerk reaction?

Because these events are still a rarity, therefore are news worthy. Death by car is common place, therefore not news worthy, therefore practically accepted.

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to Cyclolotl | 5 years ago
2 likes
Cyclolotl wrote:
hirsute wrote:

So we are all going to have GPS units calibrated yearly as part of an mot?
How about worrying instead about kliier drivers doing 67 in a 40 or the other idiot doing 90 in a 30?

Why is it that a very rare event involving a cycle results in a knee jerk reaction?

Because these events are still a rarity, therefore are news worthy. Death by car is common place, therefore not news worthy, therefore practically accepted.

Wanna be in the papers? Go out and bite a dog!

Avatar
StuInNorway replied to Hirsute | 5 years ago
7 likes

hirsute wrote:

So we are all going to have GPS units calibrated yearly as part of an mot? How about worrying instead about kliier drivers doing 67 in a 40 or the other idiot doing 90 in a 30? Why is it that a very rare event involving a cycle results in a knee jerk reaction?

In Norway speed limits apply to all vehicles, but he local Police have stated they've never actually fined anyone for speed as given a bike has no legal requirement for a speedo, so by the time they allow for that (you have to "feel" the speed), and the normal "safety margin" they remove from readings for any minor calibration errors, the actual chances of stopping a cyclist is pretty rare, and that given in surveys over 50% of drivers admit to "stretching" speed limits, they feel concentrating on that is more important.
 

Given the average speed control here in a 60 zone will generally net at least 1 doing 85+, and in an 80km/h zone will have several over 100, they prioritise. In association with the local council they just made a film to encourage cyclists to give more passing clearance and slow down more when passing people, especially kids, on shared use paths. 

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