Time Trial Fatality

He was three minutes behind the guy that was killed; the driver involved came past him (my brother) and scared the living daylights out of him, moments later she hit and killed the guy. Now all he can think about is ‘it might have been me’ and he doesn’t ever want to race a time trail again.

Anywhere else in Yerp, and they’d close the road.

This is just stupid. What a totally senseless loss of life. Totally avoidable- all they had to do was close the road.

But no, another cyclist dies, just so car drivers can get about unhindered.

Things need to change.

Confirms my long time decision only to ride seriously off road. Great sympathy and sadness at yet another victim to the car.

Did I read the article correctly? Surely the Time Trial wasn’t on the A1?

I don’t blame him, everytime I see a road cyclist on a busy road I think why? as there are so many muppet drivers who will kill you just because they are smoking/on the phone/checking makeup

tis why i’m getting back to knobbly tyres as well, you couldn’t pay me to ride on the A1

The event was on the A1 – a quiet Sunday morning, someone obviously wanting to get somewhere in a hurry.

Yeah, get offroad!

In a post not so long ago, I relayed my experience of almost being taken out on a lane near me. A twxt passed me at speed only inches away scaring the life out of me. I gave him the bird and he stopped and threatened to knock me off (aside from a tyrade of expletives). All I said to him in a very stern voice was “slow down”! He was showing off to his mates, brave little txssxr!

What dismayed me was that someone told me that it was just a near miss and that I shouldn’t have worried about it! WTF!!

Road riding is just too risky! Messrs Fxxktard and Co. are out in force these days. You have no chance!

That’s very sad but isn’t the A1 almost a motorway?

RIP

What a waste, poor family.

RB – its a race, not a general road use thing. You can’t close main roads regularly just so some cyclists can do a TT – our local TT run takes place every weekend along some of the biggest dual carriageways in the area, big wagon and high traffic route – closing it each weekend would wreak havoc. The problem is a bad driver, not the conditions or lack of road closure.

Lord, they used to timetrial on that stretch when I was a kid – 30 years ago – and I had no idea they still did it with the higher traffic volumes these days.

A terrible tragedy for all involved, and I can understand your brothers concerns. A rider from our village was killed on a dual carriageway timetrial a couple of years ago and although I’ll happily ride most A roads, no way will you get me on a 70mph stretch of dual carriage way.

I’ve had my share of near misses riding on the road, but I’ll never stop doing it just because sometimes I get scared by drivers antics – you just have to manage the risk as best you can (like avoiding 70mph dual carriageways!) and hope that it is not you (and statistically, it is unlikely to be you).

our local TT run takes place every weekend along some of the biggest dual carriageways in the area, big wagon and high traffic route

That just sounds like madness to me. Yes its bad driving that is at fault but still…

very sad

but isn’t the A1 almost a motorway?

yes but isn’t a motorway – the A1 is an extreme example but illustrates increasing trend for Trunk roads and busy commuter roads to be effectively cycle and pedestrian free because they are too dangerous, not the same but i think when a student was killed on the A3(?) near Brighton last year the reaction from many was shouldn’t have been there and wasn’t a guy killed last year measuring up a for a road race near the location of this accident?

Someones died – perhaps not the best time to finger point and discuss blame?

My thoughts are with his family.

The race was on a public road on a Sunday morning, most people with any sense would see the riders and give them a wide berth, it’s not as if the racers blend into the background with those ridiculous helmets they wear!

Hope your brother gets over the experience.

The way the roads are policed things aren’t going to change unless police officers are required to do a years spell on bikes to qualify to join the traffic division (Never going to happen)

I can understand the lure of getting a personal best by choosing your course (I took 8 mins off my personal best during the a London Tri because its the first time I’d read a remotely flat well maintained course) but have never understood why when drafting & pacing is band its acceptable to use the tow of HGVs passing you at 60mph. Alright there is a matter of pride in your personal best time and an element of competition with your closest competitors but for the majority of competitors time trialing is mostly an exercise in competing against yourself (you can tell I’ve never got close to wining one).

RIP

I hope this isn’t considered insensitive, but what were the circumstances that led to the crash? Was she squeezing past in the inside lane, or were the cyclists in both lanes?

RB – its a race, not a general road use thing. You can’t close main roads regularly just so some cyclists can do a TT – our local TT run takes place every weekend along some of the biggest dual carriageways in the area, big wagon and high traffic route – closing it each weekend would wreak havoc.

Why not? They close roads off on’t continent. And I’m sure a compromise situation could be reached; 2-3 hours, ever other Sunday, or something?

Sorry, but it’s our society’s lack of acknowledgment and recognition of cycling as important, and the Car is King culture, that means this kind of tragedy will sadly reoccur. We really do have to get out of the ‘mussunt impede motor traffic movement’ mentality. It’s costing lives. This is far too high a price to pay, just so’s someone can drive wherever and whenever they want to.

Very Sad.

You’d not get me riding a bike on the A1 ever. 80+ mph traffic and bikes does not mix.

Indeed, very sad. I road ride and things like this do make me wonder if it’s worth it for the risks.

I agree on the dual carriageways, madness to even ride on one, they shouldn’t be holding events on them.

80+ mph traffic and bikes does not mix.

+1

Never mind 80, 60mph traffic and bikes does not mix

most people with any sense would see the riders and give them a wide bert

The key word there is most. As we all know, there are far to many fkwits in cars with way more important things to do than look where they’re going.
It does seem strange to me that whilst the nation is in the grip of epimenics of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the government don’t do everything they can to encourage excercise and discourage unnecessary car use. We seriousy should be priortising bikes over cars, for the sake of the nation’s health, to make riding safer and encourage more poeple to ride, as well as to encourage safer driving and encourage the isdiots to look where they’re going. Assumtion of fault by car would be a good start.
But, as things are, like richpips said, you’d not get me on that road with traffic. A couple of years ago, I drove down it and was astonsished to see time trials going on. Surely there are other places to go if the road can’t/won’t be closed. Not only dangerous, it didn’t even look like fun – seriously, how do you enjoy a ride sharing a road with lorries spewing oput diesel fumes and passing within inches of you?

I hope this isn’t considered insensitive, but what were the circumstances that led to the crash? Was she squeezing past in the inside lane, or were the cyclists in both lanes?

Well I only have my brothers account to go on and as with any event like this, memories are far from a perfect retelling of events. As he remembers events, he was passed by the car involved less than a minute before the collision. The driver was driving extremely fast and very erratically, she (the driver) came close enough to him to scare the pants of him. The stretch of road was long and straight so he could see for perhaps a kilometer ahead. He watched the car pass two other riders and then crest a small hump whereupon it hit the rider who was killed. Obviously he didn’t see the collision itself, as it was behind the hump, but he did see the rider fly up into the air and of course he heard the bang.
He couldn’t say where on the road the rider killed had been at the time of the collision, but the driver had apparently hit him directly from behind so it’s possible that the rider had been some way out into the carriage way. Some (likely non-cyclists) will argue that a bike has no right being anywhere but on the far left edge of the road. I am sure all of us here would argue that we have as much right to the road as cars, lorries, motorbikes etc.

Sorry, I didn’t intend to introduce the blame game to this thread. However, having done so the argument is a bit like the “well she asked for it, wearing a short skirt and being drunk” excuse for rapists. No way is it acceptable to kill people, however, I have to say I wouldn’t ride on the A1 at anytime for any price. This incident explains my reasons better than I ever could.

Local to me they used to Time Trial on the A12, I can remember a number of fatalities over the years, and I have to be honest I could never understood why people would want to do it and still don’t.

I’ve done one TT in my life, on a hilly course with windy little roads, blind bends and junctions strewn with gravel. I don’t think that running a time trial on such a course is inherently any safer than on a wide open dual carriageway with clear visibility and easy overtaking.

It’s easy to dismiss this sort of thing as roadie lunacy but there is a big time trial scene at grass roots level and lots of riders participate, knowing and accepting the risks. Cyclists using dual carriageways are doing nothing illegal and motorists should be looking out for them, same as other slower moving vehicles.

It’s easy to dismiss this sort of thing as roadie lunacy but there is a big time trial scene at grass roots level and lots of riders participate, knowing and accepting the risks.

I imagine they’re considering their own personal risk.

What about the risk to other road users? From the report the OP posted, the driver involved was driving erratically, but plenty of calm sensible drivers could round a blind corner in the countryside and find a roadie slogging along and end up ploughing into them through no fault of their own, or swerving to avoid them and end up hitting a lampost/ car coming in the other direction.

It won’t be a popular notion, but I don’t think cyclists belong on roads with 60 or 70mph limits. We restrict certain vehicles from certain classes of road due to their inability to keep up with the flow of traffic. Why are cyclists not included under these restrictions?

Closing roads needs lots of Police hence huge costs to the race organisers which is why it only happens for the biggest of road races.

geetee

hope your brother gives a statement to the investigation team. the standard of driving leading up to the collision is just as important as the collision itself.

BoardinBob – Member

80+ mph traffic and bikes does not mix.

+1

Never mind 80, 60mph traffic and bikes does not mix

Keep going…

but plenty of calm sensible drivers could round a blind corner in the countryside and find a roadie slogging along and end up ploughing into them through no fault of their own

or hopefully a very solid tractor so they only injure themselves – preferably not seriously enough to be a drain on the NHS but enough to take the off the road hopefully for quite some time

Rolymo – he did give a statement but he didn’t witness the actual collision. However there was at least one eye witness to the whole thing. She was first on the scene and was in bits by the time my brother arrived, quite understandably. The woman driver was apparently on her phone screaming to someone that she’d just killed a cyclist, in a state of shock herself.

Why are cyclists not included under these restrictions?

Because it would dramatically limit the number of places cyclists could ride, while preventing just a handful of fatalities a year.

plenty of calm sensible drivers could round a blind corner in the countryside and find a roadie slogging along and end up ploughing into them through no fault of their own

Spot the contradiction in that statement.

what happenned to the age old maxim – always be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear ?

**** terrible loss, i hope the CPS hit the driver with everything possible and the results are reported on in the news. people quite literally get away with murder when cars are involved.

+1 on the riding on fast roads though, always best avoided as you cant avoid a moron.

Spot the contradiction in that statement.

Nope. Coming down a windy, steep country road last week and there’s a roadie grinding his way up in the opposite direction. Cars coming round a corner behind him doing maybe 30mph, which was a perfectly acceptable speed to drive, and having to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.

Boardinbob, read rolymo’s post above. The re-read it just before you jump in your car and drive your flabby arse to a trail centre. 😉

what happenned to the age old maxim – always be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear ?

Should really be half of what you can see as if someone comes round the corner you wont be able to stop before you get to them with closing speeds. if that makes sense?!

Don’t wink at me you sanctimonious banger.

Do you drive everywhere at 5mph in case something jumps out in front of you?

If everyone drove that way you’d never make any progress. There are bends on my way home where it is impossible to see whats round the corner. Am i supposed to stop the car, get out, walk round the corner to take a look then get back in and continue on my way?

No, I ride my bike most of the time, and find your attitude a bit concerning. Sorry for the jibe but it makes me pretty angry that you’re saying that when a cyclist gets run over for doing nothing more than using a road they’re legally entitled to ride on, it’s somehow their fault.

If everyone drove that way you’d never make any progress. There are bends on my way home where it is impossible to see whats round the corner. Am i supposed to stop the car, get out, walk round the corner to take a look then get back in and continue on my way?

No but you need to be able to see as far as your stopping distance. If its a blind corner you need to slow down to whatever speed is safe. If a walker, cyclist, Horse etc is stationary around the bend (bad practice I know) its no good hitting them then saying I was within the speed limit.