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news
Bob Donaldson and his broken SL7 TarmacPro cyclist says bright clothing "doesn't matter to some drivers" after being left with broken back and snapped bike
While we've reported on numerous instances of cyclists being asked to wear high-vis by various authorities in the past, clothing choice is sometimes shown to be futile when it comes to some drivers – and now, a pro cyclist representing Great Britain has told of how he suffered a broken back after being hit by a speeding driver, despite donning an outfit that could barely be any brighter.
Bob Donaldson was on a training ride in Whaley Bridge in the Peak District and was on his way home. As he was heading down a hill, a driver was pulling into his driveway and, being in a car, wrongly assumed that he would make it quicker than the cyclist, and continued to drive. Unfortunately Bob had nowhere to go, crashing right into the bonnet, and was thrown across the car on the road.
“It was a straight hill, the driver could’ve seen me… should’ve seen me. He thought that he could beat me to the drive and pulled right across my path. I had nowhere to go,” Bob told road.cc.
The 20-year old, who rides for the Trinity Racing team, was on his Specialized Tarmac SL7, which also snapped by the head tube. Fortunately, there were four training police officers across the road who helped him up and called an ambulance.
After a CT scan at the hospital, he found out that he had a broken transverse process on four lumbar vertebrae, delegating him to six weeks of bed rest.
This comes at a time when the pro cycling season has already started, with Bob’s first race coming up halfway through March in Portugal, which he won’t be able to participate in anymore.
“It’s so depressing to have such an important period off the bike really,” said Bob. “I don’t see the point, you can wear whatever you want, some people are going to drive stupidly anyway.”
The outfit that Bob was wearing is the UK-based Trinity Racing’s kit for 2023, the team that has produced elite riders like Tom Pidcock and Ben Turner. The kit has been touted as bold and wild; surely bright enough to stand out on the road. However, the notion that cyclists wearing hi-visibility clothing are more likely to be seen and avoid getting hit by drivers has been called into question several times in academic studies.
Even though the UK’s Highway Code suggests that cyclists “should” wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing, a study at Bath and Brunel University showed that such practices have little or no effect on pedestrians’ or cyclists' safety, or on the behaviour of people driving.
Recently, pedestrians in Scotland were asked to wear hi-vis by the police after six people were killed after being hit on the road within just 13 days. Even a recent pro cyclist-led campaign of asking cyclists to use a light was criticised by the chair of Road Danger Reduction Forum for feeding into a culture of "victim blaming".
In 2020, the Metropolitan Police denied that an operation handing out hi-vis vests to cyclists in the London constituted victim-blaming. Meanwhile in November 2021 Northern Ireland's road policing unit said that "nobody wants to play spot the cyclist" and recommended hi-vis clothing, prompting Surrey's police force to reply denouncing the advice on social media.
Chris Boardman, the Commissioner for Active Travel England, has also lamented that cyclists have to take precautionary measures just to ride safely on roads.
Bob Donaldson, frustrated with this culture, posted a photo of his broken bike and his bright kit, with the text: “Can stand out as much as you want, doesn’t matter to some drivers”.
Thanks for the messages, broken transverse process on 4 lumbar vertebrae
basically broken my back - could’ve been worse!
— Bob Donaldson (@bobdonaldsonn) February 18, 2023
He said that luckily, the crash happened right by the driver’s house, so there was nowhere they could go: “The police are involved, I’m sure in due course we’ll get something sorted,” he said. Bob is at home right now, although with little to no movement possible.
The pro cyclist broke through on the competitive road cycling in 2019, and 2022 was a quite successful year for Bob, ranking fourth in the general classification of Tour d’Eure-et-Loir. Here’s to wishing him a speedy recovery and hoping we see him get back on track (and the road) soon.
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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34 comments
I wear a rear daytime light. The cateye viz 450. It has a daytime hyperflash mode of 450 lumens. It's an extra 67 grams. But I wouldn't leave home without it. I'm told that the hyperflash adds caution to the driver's decision making process. Entirely subjective. I've had plenty of close passes but I ALWAYS wear black threads only.
What. Say something!
I'm also well aware that any cretin might end it all for me in a heartbeat. Oh. And I wear go pros front n back. With a 200 lumen front hyperflash. Probably an extra 500 grams of kit.
I wish Bob well in his recovery and hope his lawyer successfully rinses the insurer for appropriate compensation.
There should be a public awareness campaign on the MGIF idiots. Any seasoned cyclist on here has had an MGIF twat turn left on them. This has got to be the number one fault of all motorists. To think they can always beat a cyclist in a short distance race. Ignorance is not bliss for the vulnerable road user...
I wear quite bright outfits and ride with a rear daytime light. It doesn't stop close (& very close) passes every single ride in Surrey.
I suppose that all we can do is reduce the probability odds of getting squashed like s bug.
MOTORISTS. STOP TURNING LEFT IN FRONT OF CYCLISTS!!!
1.5m of white plastic pipe 15 or 22mm secured to the seat post perpendicular to the top tube provides the spacially inept with a strong hint of how wide to pass.
Simple, cheap and effective..
The two car-related issues I encounter are 1. the aforementioned urge to beat the cyclist before turning left and 2. cars squeezing past on a narrow road when there is an oncoming car. Both indicate an unwillingness, or inability, on the part of the car driver to slow down. Maybe a campaign to re-acquaint drivers with their brake pedal is required. You never know, it might help.
1.5m of white plastic pipe 15 or 22mm secured to the seat post perpendicular to the top tube provides the spacially inept with a strong hint of how wide to pass.
Simple, cheap and effective..
Re-reading the article, it sounds more like the driver did see Bob, but mis-judged how fast he was coming down the hill, so possibly has nothing to do with how visible he was but more do with the driver making a seriously bad and rushed error in pulling across his path.
Exactly. Emphasising hi-viz doesn't address the bigger issue of poor driving standards.
Maybe we should reframe this? How about all roads are painted as shown below and pedestrians / cyclists / cars have to be black? Local authorities should love it - they're always keen on a "paint it better" solution.
Bonus - you always know where the road edges are. (Question on colour-blindness but I think that still works in this case). Works under snow and ice too because black will show up well against said snow and ice.
https://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2018/08/building-legal-rainbow-cro...
Update - found a longer one:
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2021/06/16/the-worlds-longest-rainbow...
I agree with regards to this story, my assumption in this instance is that the driver has mis-judged what speed Bob was coming towards him which has resulted in this catastrophic collision. If the driver had paused for a few seconds before crossing over the road he would have been able to gauge the speed Bob was going and held back his manoeuvre.
In regards to how the story has been reported on here I feel it should have been reported firstly as a tragic collision that's put a temporary halt to a young man's pro career , with the details of what had happened, how serious it was etc and then reference Bob's tweet and highlight his concerns about visibility, instead of the emphasis straight away being about how visible cyclists are to motorists, basically re stoking what's left of the reactions from the previous two articles about lights and hi vis.
Just my personal opinion, not after reactions myself.
Happens a lot, that...
Assumption is the mother of all f+ck ups
But was he running daytime lights?
...
I'm only going to laugh if you're not one of those anti-cyclists type?!?
Certainly not... Commute on bike weekdays, recreational weekends, weather and wife permitting.
Very glad to read it!
I'd have added a snapshot from the scene where Phil and the Groundhog head for the cliff edge. Seems appropriate for the terrible injuries sustained by poor Bob.
Motorists who turn left on cyclists should be pistol whipped with the groundhog. Or die of gonorrhoea and go to hell. Laces out!!!!
Yes. It's my number one cycling hate.
I've never had it done to me from a dangerous point of view, just more of the pointless ones who have overtook and pulled in left 50-100 metres down the road when they could have waited 10 seconds.
Who actually thought that high-visibility clothing worked 100% of the time or that it guaranteed a rider wouldn't be hit? That's not how it works. Hi-viz clothing does increase the probability that you won't be hit. It's that simple.
Lots of victim-blamers believe it helps 100% of the time and it's always the fault of the cyclist rather than the driver who quite obviously caused the collision by not using their eyes or brains.
If you don't look for cyclists you will not see them, doesn't matter what they wear.
Whilst I agree hi viz did not help in this case it may well help other times. It is not 'victim blaming' to recommend wearing hi visibility clothing or using lights.
I'd say if you were a police force in Scotland faced with a spate of pedestrians dying after drivers hit them, which occurred equally in daylight and dark, in a range of quite different circumstances ... you're getting pretty close.
https://road.cc/content/news/now-police-ask-pedestrians-wear-hi-vis-299283
Does GB CX National Champion and regular World Cup top 10 finisher Cameron Mason not get a mention? 😉
.
Whaley is currently cut in two due to a bridge repair closing the main road. There is a small residential street called old road which is "access only", where it looks like this incident occured. Wonder if general impatience from having to deal with other driver's using it as a cut through and not following the much longer diversion may have contributed. It's the kind of road that only a single car can pass through with cars parked up in one of the lanes. Get well soon Bob
It was on Macclesfield Road, coming down past Kettleshulme.
Ah, his ride abruptly ended on Old Road on Strava. That makes more sense. Quite a fast road
Well, the road isn't fast...
Just being pedantic! The downhill Strava segment is called 'Watch for car doors' or something... it's not a particularly nice descent.
Always used to be a lot of parked cars on that section (including on the pavement) which made it especially dodgy when I used to commute down it in the 80's.
Can't help but wonder if the reason the bike broke like that is because it's a SL7 with the known fault in the steerer tube...
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