http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14561147

I’ve ridden past the spot many times. The A48 is always a “heart in mouth road” Nothing you can do just trust motorists to watch out for you. Seems the trust was broken this time 🙁 Hoping that Simon makes a full recovery.

hit and run

bastard

Someone will know who it is. Shocking how can anyone live with themselves knowing they’ve done that?

“It’s only a cyclist, nothing important !”

Noticed two other cars were in a collision afterwards. One driven by a 74 year old. The cynical may speculate that someone stopped to assist and were rear-ended ?

Either that, or one of them swerved to avoid the cyclist in the road and hit an oncoming car?

Hope they catch the SoB! Speedy recovery to the cyclist.

Sadly just another example of poor driving :'(

Some 59 year old bloke has been arrested. Second time this cyclist has been knocked off and badly hurt 🙁

Fingers crossed for a full and speedy recovery.
Throw the book at the driver. Make an example of him. This is happening too often

Throw the book at the driver.

He drove off. He deserves everything he gets.

Update.
Healing vibes being sent, hope they get the twunt and set make an example of them.

59yr old man arrested.

Hope he makes a full recovery.

To my surprise, the BBC even covered this on their Radio 4 News this am. Little consolation to the injured rider and his family, but something needs to be done to get the bloody awful drivers out there to wake up 👿

Second time this cyclist has been knocked off and badly hurt

They implied on R4 this morning that the first time he was knocked off is how he turned out to be a paralympian, rather than an olympian…?

The A48 is always a “heart in mouth road”

It’s on my commute (don’t tell the gf about this!)! To be honest I think it’s not bad as main A-roads go – at least it’s wide but single carriageway a lot of the time meaning motorists usually have room to pass without squeezing you to the curb. Althogh I notice the beed are reporting this happened on Crack Hill, which I always think is a dangerous spot.

Poor guy – hope he’s fighting fit again for 2012.

Unfortunately, I think we all have a pretty good idea what will happen if the driver is found guilty. I really don’t understand what it is about driving and the lack of responsibility and consideration in this country. Another example of the ‘me first’ mentality?

Diawl, do you mean if found guilty he get a fine and some points but no ban and maybe 6 mths?
Just hope he was stupid enough to post of face book about and then he can get upto 4 years!

I used to be simons GP in porthcawl and he really is an incredible guy. He was taken out 10 years ago on his bike and suffered awaful injuries. He has been an inspiration to us all as he picked himself up again and competed at the highest level despite his disability. I was truely saddenned to hear that he has been injured again in another RTA today. His family are going through hell again and I hear he has multiple spinal fractures as well as a pelvic fracture. In my work I get sick of people whingeing about how a minor ailment has ruined their life so to have a patient like simon who fought on through all adversity and showed real courage and guts to get on with his life was like a breath of fresh air. And now some numpty who wasnt even man enough to stay and tend to his victim has almost certainly robbed simon of his chance to compete in 2012 and possibly ruined his and his family’s lives.

So best wishes to you simon and truely hope to see you back out on the roads again and dropping me! Al H-G.

Have seen him out on the roads around Cardiff, usually passing me, at some speed! Nice bloke…..awful to happen the once but twice is taking the p1ss! Hope they get the runt and nail him, what a pr1ck!

and i know exactly where on the a48 it happenned and i always avoid it thanks to being buzzed at 100mph by a pratt in a cayenne a couple of years ago.

Seems like a few ex mtb-wales folks on here…

Gerwyn Owen, of Disability Sport Wales, said the incident highlighted the need for everybody to look after cyclists on the road and for cyclists to take care themselves.

FFS. “need for cyclists to take care themselves”. He was hit by something travelling in the same direction which suggests either –
– failure to see him.
– failure to leave sufficient space when passing.

“This happens very often in cycling,” he said.

Well, no it doesn’t actually – cycling is pretty safe – and when it does happen it’s unacceptable and motorists are not properly penalised.

What Simon said. It seems to be ok to make legal examples of people nicking bottles of water because they don’t give a toss about social cohesion, it’s about effing time we started making examples of people who maim and kill and shatter lives because they don’t give a toss about anyone or anything beyond the accelerator pedal. Every time we ride we play this lottery. It might be rare, it is rare, but we all know any day this could be us, and we can do nothing about it. And the law does precious little about it.

I rode to Paris last weekend in memory of a mate who suffered a similar hit-and-run, the driver in that case was never charged; it’s depressing to be reminded so soon that we’ve apparently come nowhere in preventing it happening. Let’s hope we’ve at least made some progress in sentencing.

Having it happen twice is just beyond comprehension. Incredible.

Col – Keith rode with the guy Sunday. Top fella so I hear.
Hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Apparently, he was clocking some amazing times. And had hopes of another Olympic place.

Oh, and in response to the thread title. Without being overly preachy, this was not an accident. As someone posted on another forum today –

There are no ‘accidents’ involving motor vehicles.

All could be avoided if the driver was concentrating fully on the road and driving slowly enough to allow sufficient time to accommodate people walking and cycling.

When a driver hits a cyclist or pedestrian or another car it is a crash or a collision.

The word accident implies that the driver is somehow not to blame.

Driving a car is the equivalent of carrying a loaded gun.

In this country we give people lengthy prison sentences for just carrying a loaded gun…

The word accident implies that the driver is somehow not to blame.

No it doesn’t.

A road collision is called a collision not because accident implies no fault, but because accident implies it was not intentional.
A non-intentional collision is an accident, whether there is fault or not.

Driving a car is the equivalent of carrying a loaded gun.

No, it isn’t.

Best wishes with this guy and his family. And I hope they throw the book at the perpetrator, hit and run is a shitty thing to do.

Driving a car is the equivalent of carrying a loaded gun.

In this country we give people lengthy prison sentences for just carrying a loaded gun…

Fairly sure that’d stretch our prison services a bit, 20-odd million in prison is a bit much.

The word accident implies that the driver is somehow not to blame.

No it doesn’t.
A road collision is called a collision not because accident implies no fault, but because accident implies it was not intentional.
A non-intentional collision is an accident, whether there is fault or not.

You sir, are incorrect. Language moves on. From Wikipedia:
Experts in the field of injury prevention avoid use of the term ‘accident’ to describe events that cause injury in an attempt to highlight the predictable and preventable nature of most injuries. Such incidents are viewed from the perspective of epidemiology – predictable and preventable. Preferred words are more descriptive of the event itself, rather than of its unintended nature (e.g., collision, drowning, fall, etc.)

and the Police now refer to “collisions” http://www.met.police.uk/traffic/forms.htm

This driver was either – distracted or driving too fast to react to a cyclist in his lane. There is no way that an incident such as this was ‘unavoidable’

Driving a car is the equivalent of carrying a loaded gun.
No, it isn’t.

As I said, I was quoting someone else and that statement is more than a little inflammatory. However, I can’t think of any other object I’m allowed to use that I could so easily kill so many people with. If I had a shotgun licence and thought it might be a laugh to fire a few shots over peoples heads you can be sure I’d never be allowed to touch one again. Drive a car as someone, or even mow someone down, and you’re unlucky if you’re not handed your keys straight back.

What a nightmare 🙁 Hope the guy heals quickly. These threads pop up all too often.

Totally agree with Bez. Cyclists need more protection from dickheads in cars.*

Healing vibes to the guy.
.
.
.
.
*I am not a militant cyclist. I drive a car. It’s a Volvo.

I sustained similar injuries 7 weeks ago. I wish the chap best of luck with recovery. It’s a difficult recovery.

anto164 – Member

I sustained similar injuries 7 weeks ago. I wish the chap best of luck with recovery. It’s a difficult recovery.

Surprised your typing if you did, no offence, but think you’re being a bit economical with the truth.

anyway, hope all heal as quick as possible

I sustained concussion, a few cracked ribs, a fractured pelvis and multiple spinal fractures. Sure, i got away lightly compared, but the two weeks in hospital not able to move made it a bit shit.

I have age on my side, and i’m normally a fast healer. The only thing i’m still suffering with is the spinal injuries.

Still, it doesn’t detract from the chap who got injured originally, and it’s a mighty horrible place to be at.

WE have an extensive cycle path network that run alongside many of the roads that serious incidents have taken place on. They were built for cyclists, they go in the same direction, and compared to riding on the road, they are safe.
Why are they not used?

These paths are designed to minimise the conflict between motorists and cyclists, and millions of tax payers money is put into these facilities for cyclists every year.
Why are they not used by cyclists for training?
Why risk your life on a training ride?
Especially when there are drivers out there that’ll leave you for dead if you do have a collision.
When i commute I use the pavement. It’s illegal, but it’s safer for me.
It means i get to see my children when I get home from work.

And I don’t care what you say. I’m doing what i need to do to survive out there on my bike.

WE have an extensive cycle path network that run alongside many of the roads that serious incidents have taken place on. They were built for cyclists, they go in the same direction, and compared to riding on the road, they are safe.

Do we? Those I see are poorly maintained, give priority to cars at every side road and disappear at major junctions where they are needed most. They’re completely unsuited for training.

Maybe you live in Holland or Germany?

Why are they not used?

Are they subject to a speed limit? Which would of course limit any training.
I have seen some red sections in towns which I thought were cycle paths but apparently they are, in fact, reserved parking places.

@skyline-GTR, I’m sure that Simon and his family will be touched by your words during this difficult time. 🙄

Are we about to get someone on a cycling forum say that as a driver he pays for the roads and that cyclists shouldn’t be on them?

I have seen some red sections in towns which I thought were cycle paths but apparently they are, in fact, reserved parking places.

We have the same issue here in Longridge a stones throw from the police station too! Even upto junctions and roundabouts they are parked on, pretty pointless to be fair. On a recent trip to Scotland I was surprised to see the size of the cyle lanes between Oban and Fort William (I think) an extensive route that was wide and tarmacced, yet for some strange reason cyclists were using the road? They weren’t going at pace and were laden with gear so I can’t see training as being an excuse for using the road. Anyway hope he gets better soon.

“Why are they not used by cyclists for training?“

Because:
– they are often poorly surfaced compared to roads
– they often have frequent “give way” lines meaning you can’t make good progress
– they’re often littered with broken glass etc
– anyone doing training will be the fastest person there and will have to dodge/buzz/slow for other cyclists

They’re totally unsuitable for training.

Personally, other than the ones alongside fast dual carriageways (which is the only type of road I won’t ride on these days – they’re inherently dangerous for cyclists IMO), they’re not even suitable for anything other than pootling round to do the shopping or give the kids a ride, for all the above reasons. They serve splendidly to give cars the luxury of fewer bicycles on the road but they also serve splendidly to make cycling a thoroughly tedious and unenjoyable experience. If you want to go at a decent speed (ie anything above jogging pace), and you don’t want to stop at every single side road, nearly all cycle paths are completely and utterly unfit for purpose. They’re ghettoisation, pure and simple. “Get off my road, second class citizen, have this bit of ropey old subsiding concrete with ill-considered white lines and endless give-way junctions where you have to wait for lovely shiny cars to turn corners, beep beep, OI! and wear a helmet so I don’t feel guilty when I mow you down, you piss-poor hippy who can’t even afford a hippy’s car let alone a proper one that towers over the other traffic, go on, **** off to your muddy little path where you belong.”

No. I’m not having it. It’s time we all stopped having it. All we need is people to have the patience to wait a few seconds – really, it’s mostly a few seconds and if it’s much more than that I’ll pull in and let you pass, and let’s face it you’ll get stuck behind a car in a moment either way – to find a safe passing point. Nothing more than that. Just a little bit, an tiny bit, of time and space. Just the time for a single thought.

Instead, as you say, we spend millions of taxpayers’ pounds on appalling pieces of box-ticking tarmac that please no-one and make no-one safer, just to satisfy people’s urges to never lose momentum. Crazy, no?

Are we about to get someone on a cycling forum say that as a driver he pays for the roads and that cyclists shouldn’t be on them?

I know – we’re sooo close but it is someone who choose the name of a japanese “super” car as their identity on a cycle forum.

Bez. 8/10. Pretty good rant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14575975

From todays wales BBC site.

I worked at the UHW ICU Unit, he’s in very good hands.