Lands End - John O'Groats cyclists killed in Cornwall.
Discussion
Happened this morning near one of outer work sites.
Very sad indeed
Seemed like the apt place to put it due to them being on a cycling marathon.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-231433...
Very sad indeed
Seemed like the apt place to put it due to them being on a cycling marathon.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-231433...
So sad, my respects go out to the family
I use the A30 quite a bit and have always been a bit shocked how many of the Lejog routes suggest using it, its quite nasty in places, I for one hate using dual carriageways (I appreciate the A30 isn't dual all the way)
Yesterday a Sprinter brushed past me on an A road, makes your hair stand on end...
I use the A30 quite a bit and have always been a bit shocked how many of the Lejog routes suggest using it, its quite nasty in places, I for one hate using dual carriageways (I appreciate the A30 isn't dual all the way)
Yesterday a Sprinter brushed past me on an A road, makes your hair stand on end...
I'm going to be quite careful about what I say here, but I was there and the first person to reach one of the riders. It was a brutal scene which I initially thought was a tyre blowout on the lorry involved. When I glimpsed a high viz in the corner of my eye, I felt the need to stop and try and assist.
The emergency services fought so hard to reveive one of the riders. The other simply had no chance. It was a shocking scene. My thoughts go out to all those involved.
The emergency services fought so hard to reveive one of the riders. The other simply had no chance. It was a shocking scene. My thoughts go out to all those involved.
marshall100 said:
I'm going to be quite careful about what I say here, but I was there and the first person to reach one of the riders. It was a brutal scene which I initially thought was a tyre blowout on the lorry involved. When I glimpsed a high viz in the corner of my eye, I felt the need to stop and try and assist.
The emergency services fought so hard to reveive one of the riders. The other simply had no chance. It was a shocking scene. My thoughts go out to all those involved.
Hope you are OK and not too traumatized , such horrible news The emergency services fought so hard to reveive one of the riders. The other simply had no chance. It was a shocking scene. My thoughts go out to all those involved.
marshall100 said:
I'm going to be quite careful about what I say here, but I was there and the first person to reach one of the riders. It was a brutal scene which I initially thought was a tyre blowout on the lorry involved. When I glimpsed a high viz in the corner of my eye, I felt the need to stop and try and assist.
The emergency services fought so hard to reveive one of the riders. The other simply had no chance. It was a shocking scene. My thoughts go out to all those involved.
Blimey The emergency services fought so hard to reveive one of the riders. The other simply had no chance. It was a shocking scene. My thoughts go out to all those involved.
Hope you're ok fella, one of my colleagues passed them on the A30 a few minutes before it happened.
Arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Bloody right. This is the stretch of road immediately before the collision site. http://goo.gl/maps/D990T
It's a long straight section of dual carriageway, and was deemed safe, by the design authority, to place a lay-by just after the site of the collision. Surely the very sight of that
is enough to perk up your senses, and to put you on alert for something potentially rejoining the carriageway ahead of you?
Now, in comparison with some stretches of road in that part of the world, the design of this one is pretty good, and you have to factor in the fact that the lorry driver has an advantage over most traffic in that he can see more of the road ahead from his elevated position, and (if he's obeying the law) he has more time, as a result of his lower closing speed, to plan his reaction to the potential hazards he, as a 'professional' driver should identify better anyway. If he was paying any attention whatsoever to the process of driving, then he must surely have seen, and avoided these poor cyclists.
Only explanations I can see are either 1) He wasn't paying proper attention to the road ahead, or 2) He was slipstreaming (or more accurately, tailgating) a truck ahead of him which reduced his forward visibility, and therefore his 'planning' space, to virtually nothing.
As for the comments that the A30 is 'too busy to be safe for cyclists', I'd probably agree, but the fact is that no road upon which cycling is legally permitted should be too dangerous to cycle on. It's a failure in road design coupled with an absolutely appalling attitude to cyclists from some drivers which makes roads unsafe. How busy they are shouldn't be that much of a factor, but unfortunately it is. Unfortunately, if you are on a cross country journey there are few obvious alternatives to the A30, unless you are prepared to add a significant number of miles to your trip.
Without wanting to appear unfeeling, I do wonder if the cyclists' experience and road behaviour will be found to have any bearing on the outcome of this investigation. Just because the driver has been arrested, doesn't mean he will be either charged or convicted of any offence. I just hope that any friends and family they have left behind can find some peace from the time they spent together in life.
Horrible news, and a reminder to us all of our own mortality. RIP
It's a long straight section of dual carriageway, and was deemed safe, by the design authority, to place a lay-by just after the site of the collision. Surely the very sight of that
is enough to perk up your senses, and to put you on alert for something potentially rejoining the carriageway ahead of you?Now, in comparison with some stretches of road in that part of the world, the design of this one is pretty good, and you have to factor in the fact that the lorry driver has an advantage over most traffic in that he can see more of the road ahead from his elevated position, and (if he's obeying the law) he has more time, as a result of his lower closing speed, to plan his reaction to the potential hazards he, as a 'professional' driver should identify better anyway. If he was paying any attention whatsoever to the process of driving, then he must surely have seen, and avoided these poor cyclists.
Only explanations I can see are either 1) He wasn't paying proper attention to the road ahead, or 2) He was slipstreaming (or more accurately, tailgating) a truck ahead of him which reduced his forward visibility, and therefore his 'planning' space, to virtually nothing.
As for the comments that the A30 is 'too busy to be safe for cyclists', I'd probably agree, but the fact is that no road upon which cycling is legally permitted should be too dangerous to cycle on. It's a failure in road design coupled with an absolutely appalling attitude to cyclists from some drivers which makes roads unsafe. How busy they are shouldn't be that much of a factor, but unfortunately it is. Unfortunately, if you are on a cross country journey there are few obvious alternatives to the A30, unless you are prepared to add a significant number of miles to your trip.
Without wanting to appear unfeeling, I do wonder if the cyclists' experience and road behaviour will be found to have any bearing on the outcome of this investigation. Just because the driver has been arrested, doesn't mean he will be either charged or convicted of any offence. I just hope that any friends and family they have left behind can find some peace from the time they spent together in life.
Horrible news, and a reminder to us all of our own mortality. RIP
marshall100 said:
As I said in the statement I gave to the police, visibility was absolutely NOT an issue.
I'll take the drivers reponse to finding the other rider under his vehicle with me to the grave.
I'll take the drivers reponse to finding the other rider under his vehicle with me to the grave.
Sounds horrific Get some professional help if you have the slightest feeling that you might need it!A few years ago I cycled from Harwich to Oxford. As I come from the Netherlands, I am used to cyclepaths. Upon departure from Harwich I took the A120 that became increasingly busier. At some point I just stopped to ask whether I was allowed to cycle there. For example this point http://goo.gl/maps/8l9wT, we call this a highway that is absolutely not permitted for cyclists.
I think I'll be ok. It's best to talk about it, it's quite surreal at times and I wonder if what happened realy took place.
Such a waste, those guys were clearly decent human beings doing what they were doing. You can debate till the oxygen is exhausted out of the air about whether they should have been there or not. You don't just batter into a pair of cyclists like that.
There's things I remember with absolute clarity, like setting the cruise control in my Prius at a 70mph, but I can't for the life of me recall what lane I was in when it all started to unfold.
RIP guys
Such a waste, those guys were clearly decent human beings doing what they were doing. You can debate till the oxygen is exhausted out of the air about whether they should have been there or not. You don't just batter into a pair of cyclists like that.
There's things I remember with absolute clarity, like setting the cruise control in my Prius at a 70mph, but I can't for the life of me recall what lane I was in when it all started to unfold.
RIP guys
I was first on scene at an accident about 20 years ago where an artic turned left and the trailer wheels ran over a cyclist, I was following the truck in a van and watched the whole thing unfold - nothing I could do, no amount of blowing of the horn and flashing of lights could stop it.
The truck driver was absolutely devastated, the cyclist had pulled up alongside him after he had stopped at a set of lights and he simply could not see her in his mirrors when he went to pull away from the lights. Very sad and horrific scene - it was evident that there was nothing that either of us could do for the lady, but the wait for the ambulance and police seemed to take hours, in truth it was probably no more than 10 mins max.
The odd thing was that despite the fact I provided a statement etc I never heard anything and was never asked to attend court.
I had completely forgotten about it until reading your last post but do remember feeling 'teary' and helpless for a while afterwards, I think it helps to talk but everyone deals with shock differently.
The truck driver was absolutely devastated, the cyclist had pulled up alongside him after he had stopped at a set of lights and he simply could not see her in his mirrors when he went to pull away from the lights. Very sad and horrific scene - it was evident that there was nothing that either of us could do for the lady, but the wait for the ambulance and police seemed to take hours, in truth it was probably no more than 10 mins max.
The odd thing was that despite the fact I provided a statement etc I never heard anything and was never asked to attend court.
I had completely forgotten about it until reading your last post but do remember feeling 'teary' and helpless for a while afterwards, I think it helps to talk but everyone deals with shock differently.
Me and a few lads did the LEJOG bike ride end of May, it was an amazing experience, and we were so happy to see so many other people on their bikes doing the same. But I can remember the A30 well, probably the worst/most dangerous bit of road of the whole trip.
When I first saw the headlines I thought for sure it had to be due the lorry not seeing the bikes due to merging lanes/joining the road, but on a straight bit of road in broad day light!!
It's horrendous for everyone involved and a total tragedy. Life is awful sometimes, had the lorry been delayed by a traffic light, or if riders had decided to have a stop earlier....
This is for the guys that didn't make it the end, almost makes me want to do it all again.
When I first saw the headlines I thought for sure it had to be due the lorry not seeing the bikes due to merging lanes/joining the road, but on a straight bit of road in broad day light!!
It's horrendous for everyone involved and a total tragedy. Life is awful sometimes, had the lorry been delayed by a traffic light, or if riders had decided to have a stop earlier....
This is for the guys that didn't make it the end, almost makes me want to do it all again.
...and for those who think its some how the fault of the cyclists for been on the road, tomorrow instead of driving to work go and get on your bike and cycle to work, the weather is good, its better for the environment etc so why not... your quickly learn regardless of the road conditions there will always be cars/vans/lorries that seem to forget you exist.
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