Cyclist killed on dual carriageway

[Pale Rider]

A cyclist has been killed after he was apparently hit by a car on the A19 in Sunderland.

The pic on the BBC website has simply been ripped from Google Maps, but I believe it shows the exact site.

Cyclists don't routinely use that stretch of the A19, and cycling is formally banned on it closer to Teesside.

However, over the rail to the right there is a high drop down to the River Wear.

The road is a bridge over the Wear at that point, and does have some use for cyclists who know their routes.

There are pedestrian steps leading down to the river on both sides, meaning it's possible to ascend one set of steps and use the narrow footpath before descending the other set, thereby crossing the river.

Cyclists, including me, occasionally bump their bikes up and down the steps to achieve the same river crossing.

There are not so many bridges over the Wear, so it's a valid option to avoid needless extra miles - a handful of what I take to be commuter cyclists do it.

It could be this cyclist was on such a journey.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engla...d after,North Hylton, Northumbria Police said.

 

[Joffey]

Very sad. I wonder if the report has the rigHt time? It says 1.35am?

 

[classic33]

Very sad. I wonder if the report has the rigHt time? It says 1.35am?

I've cycled home from work at 2am, having started at 6pm the day before.

 

[mjr]

A travesty.

Awful reporting by the BBC there too: no driver mentioned at all. www.rc-rg.com

 

[Arrowfoot]

There is very little in terms of difference between dual carriageways and motorways for many drivers. They don't expect to see bikes. Except for road designations with the letter M for motorways, most look the same.

Frankly I would avoid them even for commutes and find an alternative way or means to commute.

 

[Pale Rider]

Very sad. I wonder if the report has the rigHt time? It says 1.35am?

Apparently so, which led me to speculate the guy might have been a commuter, on night/late shift obviously.

Nissan is within easy cycling distance.

People come and go from there at all hours, particularly if the car making job is going well.

 

[Pale Rider]

frankly I would avoid them even for commutes and find an alternative way or means to commute.

Me too, but just to be clear the 'use' in my example is using the pavement adjacent to the railing to cross the river.

It's not very wide, so I walk the bike with me against the railing in the hope if some dummy driver does swerve there's a chance he would wipe out the bike but leave me relatively unscathed.

 

[PK99]

Me too, but just to be clear the 'use' in my example is using the pavement adjacent to the railing to cross the river.

It's not very wide, so I walk the bike with me against the railing in the hope if some dummy driver does swerve there's a chance he would wipe out the bike but leave me relatively unscathed.

On a couple of occasions I've got lost or take a wrong turn and found myself on a road such as that. On one occasion I lifted the bike over the Armco and pushed it a couple of miles through the long grass.

 

[Arrowfoot]

On a couple of occasions I've got lost or take a wrong turn and found myself on a road such as that. On one occasion I lifted the bike over the Armco and pushed it a couple of miles through the long grass.

Good move, worth the slog. Would have done the same.

 

[Pale Rider]

I've ridden short stretches of dual carriageway, but you need to pick your road.

General traffic volumes in the North East are still relatively low compared to the rest of the country.

Some dual carriageways make reasonable cycling because the traffic passing in ones can use lane two, leaving the cyclist reasonably safe in lane one.

The A19 is an exception, it operates above its design capacity for most of the time, although I would expect it to be fairly quiet at 1.35am.

 

[davidphilips]

Very sad and sincere condolences to all his family and friends.

 

[DRM]

I've ridden short stretches of dual carriageway, but you need to pick your road.

General traffic volumes in the North East are still relatively low compared to the rest of the country.

Some dual carriageways make reasonable cycling because the traffic passing in ones can use lane two, leaving the cyclist reasonably safe in lane one.

The A19 is an exception, it operates above its design capacity for most of the time, although I would expect it to be fairly quiet at 1.35am.

I wouldn’t want to ride a bike on any part of the A19, it’s a motorway in all but name, as you said cycling is specifically banned, from Stockton on Tees iirc, it’s full of HGV’s heading to and from the Eastern side of South Tyneside/Sunderland/Middlesbrough, right down to North Yorkshire, I regularly get overtaken by vans doing well in excess of the 70 mph car limit, and when they should be doing 60 mph, as for cars, some of the speeds they go at is terrifying, it’s just too busy, there’s the Nissan factory, and all the businesses that supply them on the same estate, as well as the various industrial estates around the Washington area and Port of Tyne, as well as traffic heading for the tunnel, it’s even dangerous down by Thirsk towards York, but RIP to the poor cyclist, but I don’t think anyone would expect to see a cyclist on there at 1:35 am, even though when driving you really should expect the unexpected and drive accordingly

 

[Solocle]

I wouldn’t want to ride a bike on any part of the A19, it’s a motorway in all but name, as you said cycling is specifically banned, from Stockton on Tees iirc, it’s full of HGV’s heading to and from the Eastern side of South Tyneside/Sunderland/Middlesbrough, right down to North Yorkshire, I regularly get overtaken by vans doing well in excess of the 70 mph car limit, and when they should be doing 60 mph, as for cars, some of the speeds they go at is terrifying, it’s just too busy, there’s the Nissan factory, and all the businesses that supply them on the same estate, as well as the various industrial estates around the Washington area and Port of Tyne, as well as traffic heading for the tunnel, it’s even dangerous down by Thirsk towards York, but RIP to the poor cyclist, but I don’t think anyone would expect to see a cyclist on there at 1:35 am, even though when driving you really should expect the unexpected and drive accordingly

Late at night you don't generally need the drivers to expect to see a cyclist on a DC. A blinky back light that can be seen a mile off, will generally be seen a mile off, due to the road geometries that go with supporting high speeds.

Now, if a driver is drunk or has fallen asleep, that's not necessarily going to help, but that's not simply "not expecting".

 

[toffee]

A cyclist has been killed after he was apparently hit by a car on the A19 in Sunderland.

The pic on the BBC website has simply been ripped from Google Maps, but I believe it shows the exact site.

Cyclists don't routinely use that stretch of the A19, and cycling is formally banned on it closer to Teesside.

However, over the rail to the right there is a high drop down to the River Wear.

The road is a bridge over the Wear at that point, and does have some use for cyclists who know their routes.

There are pedestrian steps leading down to the river on both sides, meaning it's possible to ascend one set of steps and use the narrow footpath before descending the other set, thereby crossing the river.

Cyclists, including me, occasionally bump their bikes up and down the steps to achieve the same river crossing.

There are not so many bridges over the Wear, so it's a valid option to avoid needless extra miles - a handful of what I take to be commuter cyclists do it.

It could be this cyclist was on such a journey.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-57098376#:~:text=A cyclist has died after,North Hylton, Northumbria Police said.

So sad.

I rode my cycle down that stretch of the A19 a few times in the early eighties. I wouldn't go any where near it now.

 

[Pale Rider]

So sad.

I rode my cycle down that stretch of the A19 a few times in the early eighties. I wouldn't go any where near it now.

I have an approved route from Sunderland to York involving a mixture of cycle tracks and minor roads, and lots of turns.

The owner of my local bike shop told me his first big ride was to York.

I asked him what route he took.

"Straight down the A19, how else would you do it?"

Times, as you say, change.