Racing cyclist killed - A63

[davester65]

I drive that stretch of road daily in a HGV, most drivers who are local to the area know that it is used by cycling clubs as a TT event, both on a weekday evening and on a weekend, usually with ample signs and Marshals present on event days to make drivers aware.

Personally, i would not ride that stretch of road due to the high speeds of the traffic, national speed limits apply to it (70mph) but then i'm not a racer or a tt rider, not many riders use it as a commute route either.

A very sad occurrence, hopefully something that will not happen again. My condolences to the family and friends of the rider.

 

[steve52]

i am a driver and a cyclist and a ped, i want to see a bigger duty or care place on vehical users. a simple list with the most vunerable at the bottom , the princible is simple the bigger and more powerfull you are the more responcible you have to be. if you are in charge of a machine that can kill you owe it to the rest of us? and i know there will be the odd case of a ped being killed by a child on an out of controll rollerskate, or some such, but we really must change our values!

 

[dodgy]

About time TT organisations unburdened themselves from the shackles of the past and put on some events on quiet(er) country lanes/roads. Yes I know they and the competitors want a good time, but they're racing against themselves and to a lesser degree the other riders, so if all the riders are on the same course, does it really have to be an out and back on a dual carriageway with roundabout drag strip?

RIP to the rider.

 

[PK99]

About time TT organisations unburdened themselves from the shackles of the past and put on some events on quiet(er) country lanes/roads. .

our club runs an annual 25 mile 4-up time trial (one of the last...) on a quite country circuit

 

[fossyant]

Not TT'ed on that course but have ridden a TTT on the A1. I've also done a number of TTs on D courses which use some dual carriageway A55 near Chester and Rainford bypass but they are quiet.

Even slower courses have their dangers, many of the Cheshire ones are quite technical and on fast single carriageway roads. Most competitors do run bright rear lights these days as an added safety measure.

Terrible shame, but these accidents are very rare.

 

[Brandane]

i am a driver and a cyclist and a ped, i want to see a bigger duty or care place on vehical users. a simple list with the most vunerable at the bottom , the princible is simple the bigger and more powerfull you are the more responcible you have to be. if you are in charge of a machine that can kill you owe it to the rest of us?

I was under the impression that there already IS a bigger duty of care in place for drivers of larger vehicles. As an HGV licence holder, I know that there is very much a bigger duty of care when I am driving an artic, in comparison to when I am driving a car, riding a motorbike, or cycling.

We don't know any details of what happened to cause this particular accident, so it would be wrong to speculate and automatically blame the driver involved. I know that the chances are stacked in favour of it being the drivers fault, but there is always the off-chance that something happened to cause the accident which was no fault of the driver.

RIP the cyclist involved.

 

[Mr Bunbury]

I was talking to an organiser last night, he said that he thinks that's the first death on the V718 in the 20 years it's existed. As has been stated, it's an extremely popular course, with events maybe every week or two from now until September, 120-150 entrants per event. That's a huge volume of riders who have safely raced there.

I know drivers have a duty of care and all that, but if the A63 is anything like the A64 (and it sounds it from the description), then cycling on it is nuts, and organising a race on it, even more so.

Which bit of the A64? It's not as bad as the York to Leeds bit IMO.

However, I also run my rear light at full brightness with a hi-power strobe, not something you'll see on a race prepped TT bike.

You're talking rubbish. Bright rear lights are extremely popular in TTing. The current favourite is the Exposure Flare, then probably the Lezyne Micro Drive. Browse timetriallingforum.co.uk to see discussion of rear lights passim.

 

[ComedyPilot]

How many people commenting that they wouldn't ride on that road (dual carriageway) would ride on a single carriageway?

 

[dodgy]

Terrible shame, but these accidents are very rare.

Don't know the exact numbers, but there's too many of them. If you look at the population of cyclists, then look at the population of cyclists who TT, it's a reasonaly niche activity. But there's been a few TT related deaths over the last few years. One sticks out is the army Major Gareth Evans (on the A1), I personally know a girl who was badly injured in a TT on a dual carriageway.

I'm actually quite millitant of our rights to ride wherever it is legal, but there's something about TTing on busy dual carriageways that doesn't sit right with me.

 

[dodgy]

our club runs an annual 25 mile 4-up time trial (one of the last...) on a quite country circuit

Of course, there are lots of TTs that are not on dual carriageways.

 

[ComedyPilot]

The bit that doesn't sit right with me is people's attitude to cycling / TT's on dual carriageways.

A dual carriageway by the very virtue of it's name tells me there's NO oncoming traffic AND a WHOLE LANE to move over into to overtake.

Couple that with the legally-required signage to run such an event, and there's ZERO reason IMO for a vehicle driver to not be aware of the presence of cyclists, and ABSOLUTELY ZERO reason to hit and kill one.

Just where the F**K are these people looking when they're driving!!!!!!!

 

[Rob3rt]

Any time you increase the volume of cyclists on a stretch of road for a period of time, you increase the risk of a cyclist being involved in an incident during that period of time. It is a given.

Also, it is not certain who, if anyone was at fault in this instance.

 

[Brandane]

The bit that doesn't sit right with me is people's attitude to cycling / TT's on dual carriageways.

A dual carriageway by the very virtue of it's name tells me there's NO oncoming traffic AND a WHOLE LANE to move over into to overtake.

Not necessarily. You can have dual carriageways with only one lane of traffic running in each direction. Dual carriageway just means that opposing flows of traffic are separated by a physical barrier of some type.

Couple that with the legally-required signage to run such an event, and there's ZERO reason IMO for a vehicle driver to not be aware of the presence of cyclists, and ABSOLUTELY ZERO reason to hit and kill one.

Just where the F**K are these people looking when they're driving!!!!!!!

Well it seems like you've pretty much decided that this unfortunate incident was the drivers fault due to his lack of observation. Chances are you are correct, but like I said in a previous post, we do not know the facts and it is wrong to speculate. There could be any number of reasons why the bike and caravan came together, and some of those possibilities are that the driver was not at fault.

 

[dodgy]

The bit that doesn't sit right with me is people's attitude to cycling / TT's on dual carriageways.

A dual carriageway by the very virtue of it's name tells me there's NO oncoming traffic AND a WHOLE LANE to move over into to overtake.

Couple that with the legally-required signage to run such an event, and there's ZERO reason IMO for a vehicle driver to not be aware of the presence of cyclists, and ABSOLUTELY ZERO reason to hit and kill one.

Just where the F**K are these people looking when they're driving!!!!!!!

I hear you. This is the problem, a driver in a modern car, all the technology - air con, lane assist, cruise control. He's sat there at 70, 80mph with CC on, listening to the stereo, thinking about the pub tonight. Perhaps he sees the cyclist, maybe he doesn't, maybe he'll slow and indicate past, or maybe he'll think "I can squeeze past without going into lane 2 - then I don't have to hold up the guy behind me in lane 2"......

 

[davester65]

How many people commenting that they wouldn't ride on that road (dual carriageway) would ride on a single carriageway?

Me, i ride all over the East Riding of Yorkshire on single carriage A roads, B roads and country lanes.
That particular piece of road is the major route in and out of Hull, its a narrow dual carriageway with lots of slip roads and garages and a VERY large amount of HGV traffic...ie plenty of hazards....as well as plenty of potholes.....and having very detailed knowledge and experience of it......i have to drive it daily...i would never ride it.

Having said that, with the recent upsurge in the popularity of our sport, maybe it's time for the organisers to start lobbying the local councils and police for better safety procedures during the larger events, (according to the local press this was a national/elite event, at least 1 Team GB rider was scheduled to compete), also someone on here said it's a very fast course because of the drafting, so i guess the riders must weigh up the risk factors versus the time gains before entering.