bikeman66
Senior Member
Hi all,
Thought I should draw your attention to an incident that happened to my son last night as we cycled home.
Down here on the Isle of Wight there is an extensive road repair and maintenance programme going on (although you'd never believe it, looking at all the potholes around). Part of this programme includes renewing the yellow lines and other road markings.
Apparently the line marking contractors are using a new kind of product (a thermo-plastic paint I am led to believe) which is sprayed on to the surface. As my son discovered last night, this paint is perilously slippery when still wet. Although there were absolutely no road signs to inform us of line marking works being in progress, and not really considering this was likely to be being carried out at 8.45pm on a Tuesday evening. My son swerved towards the kerb to avoid a speed hump, and in the blink of an eye he was down. Couple of nasty grazes, but nothing broken thankfully.
Upon inspection of his bike, we noticed the front tyre was completely covered in thick yellow line paint. He had obviously just had the bad luck to ride on to the (unbeknown to him) recently painted line and that was it! His front wheel just flew from under him. His Lycra leggings now have a hole in them and splatters off the yellow paint on them. His right side brake/gear lever has some nasty scratches, and the bar tape is scuffed through. Both tyres will need replacing, and I have had to get the T-cut out to remove small splatters of paint from his frame.
After speaking to the contractors, it appears that they are going to reimburse us for any damage, and they seemed genuinely concerned about their lack of efficiency in displaying adequate signs warning of the works. Luckily my son was not seriously injured and the bike will be relatively cheap to put right. However, my main aim in writing this post is to highlight the potential danger to fellow cyclists if you happen to be riding where there appear to be new or recently applied road markings.
Stay safe folks!
Thought I should draw your attention to an incident that happened to my son last night as we cycled home.
Down here on the Isle of Wight there is an extensive road repair and maintenance programme going on (although you'd never believe it, looking at all the potholes around). Part of this programme includes renewing the yellow lines and other road markings.
Apparently the line marking contractors are using a new kind of product (a thermo-plastic paint I am led to believe) which is sprayed on to the surface. As my son discovered last night, this paint is perilously slippery when still wet. Although there were absolutely no road signs to inform us of line marking works being in progress, and not really considering this was likely to be being carried out at 8.45pm on a Tuesday evening. My son swerved towards the kerb to avoid a speed hump, and in the blink of an eye he was down. Couple of nasty grazes, but nothing broken thankfully.
Upon inspection of his bike, we noticed the front tyre was completely covered in thick yellow line paint. He had obviously just had the bad luck to ride on to the (unbeknown to him) recently painted line and that was it! His front wheel just flew from under him. His Lycra leggings now have a hole in them and splatters off the yellow paint on them. His right side brake/gear lever has some nasty scratches, and the bar tape is scuffed through. Both tyres will need replacing, and I have had to get the T-cut out to remove small splatters of paint from his frame.
After speaking to the contractors, it appears that they are going to reimburse us for any damage, and they seemed genuinely concerned about their lack of efficiency in displaying adequate signs warning of the works. Luckily my son was not seriously injured and the bike will be relatively cheap to put right. However, my main aim in writing this post is to highlight the potential danger to fellow cyclists if you happen to be riding where there appear to be new or recently applied road markings.
Stay safe folks!
