Bad road surfaces and tragedies

[thirdcrank]

....

Some years ago there were road races held in this area and it was a necessary added skill to both warn followers of such fissured road space coming up and to adopt the best line one could for others to follow to avoid the tyre-grabbing tarmac grins. Crashes occurred nevertheless.

....

FWIW, this aspect of road racing was the subject of a legal decision which was the subject of comment in Martin Porter's Cycling Lawyer blog several years ago.

IIRC, the decided point was that closely following a wheel in a race did not relieve a rider of their own duty of care to keep a good lookout where they were going. MP was unhappy that the judge didn't take into account why riders rode like that

[Cugel]

....

Some years ago there were road races held in this area and it was a necessary added skill to both warn followers of such fissured road space coming up and to adopt the best line one could for others to follow to avoid the tyre-grabbing tarmac grins. Crashes occurred nevertheless.

....

FWIW, this aspect of road racing was the subject of a legal decision which was the subject of comment in Martin Porter's Cycling Lawyer blog several years ago.

IIRC, the decided point was that closely following a wheel in a race did not relieve a rider of their own duty of care to keep a good lookout where they were going. MP was unhappy that the judge didn't take into account why riders rode like that

In a road race there are "rules" about behaviours in various circumstances that can't be found in the official rule book. These rules only have force via the various acts and attitudes of disapproval applied by one's peers subsequent to the breaking of such informal rules. Such penalties can be devastating, though, to those who have centred their lives in such a group of others. An offender may be merely laughed or sneered at but also ostracised or even physically excluded from the group by force!

Pointing out hazards to those on one's wheel is one such rule, in both races and on club runs. Failure to practice the requirements of the rule can result in some significant informal "punishments" if the consequences of the failure is seriously damaging to one who should have been warned but wasn't and suffered a serious injury as a result. Some offenders have been made pariahs no longer welcome in a club, especially if they're repeat offenders.

Nevertheless, in the final analysis, any road racer knows they must look after themselves when circumstances become difficult. Personally I stopped entering road races on The Fylde after the first four I took part in because it was impossible to ensure avoidance of the road-crack dangers if in the middle of the bunch (i.e. not at the front or enough off the back to see road space ahead for at least 5 yards).

Cugel, allergic to pains and injuries.

[thirdcrank]

I've trawled back to the item in MP's blog.

It dates from 2013 which is my excuse for getting a detail wrong: the incident occurred during a club run, not a road race.

https://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.com/201 ... -case.html

[mattheus]

Speaking generally, this is a reminder to report road defects and ensure the report is properly logged. Highway authority budgets are squeezed and raided from all sides, but they cannot be aware of everything no matter how good their inspection regime. Once alerted of a defect, they cannot ignore it.

Seconded.
In case folks are unawares, the CTC Fill That Hole website was (IIRC!) the pioneer on this, and is still going stroong. There is a slightly flashier competitor out there now getting a bit more traffic. I think both get the message thru to the relevant authoritay.

[scragend]

My boss told me yesterday that he'd read about this tragic incident, and said he'd immediately thought of me.

I came a cropper in similar circumstances five years ago (almost to the day, actually). I don't have any recollection of the accident itself, even now, but from piecing things together, what I think happened was that I was riding along the road at night when I became aware of an ambulance approaching behind me on blues. I was riding a fair way out into the road (there was no other traffic around) so I moved across to the left to let the ambulance pass. It seems that my front wheel dropped into a gap between the tarmac and a manhole cover and jammed, throwing me off, and I landed face first in the gutter.

Fortunately my injuries were relatively minor; I suffered a fractured cheekbone and eye socket but apart from a couple of small scars I made a full recovery. Fortunately the ambulance crew witnessed the accident, passed its call on to another crew and stopped to attend to me. The paramedics said I'd given them my details and my dad's phone number, who came to the scene. I don't remember any of that, just waking up in hospital. I wasn't carrying any ID on me; since then I've bought an ID wristband which I now always wear when I'm on the bike.

I never pursued it with the council; in my mind I was only able to piece together and surmise what had happened so I had no proof as such of what caused it, and I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of making a claim.

The offending piece of road has since been resurfaced - but not because of me. In hindsight maybe I should have reported it.

[mig]

Speaking generally, this is a reminder to report road defects and ensure the report is properly logged. Highway authority budgets are squeezed and raided from all sides, but they cannot be aware of everything no matter how good their inspection regime. Once alerted of a defect, they cannot ignore it.

Seconded.
In case folks are unawares, the CTC Fill That Hole website was (IIRC!) the pioneer on this, and is still going stroong. There is a slightly flashier competitor out there now getting a bit more traffic. I think both get the message thru to the relevant authoritay.

so sorry to read of the tragedy in the OP.

fill that hole type websites are good for reporting these issues but my local authority are terrible at taking them up! a local road on my commute floods after even medium levels of rain from water draining into the low spot from surrounding land. inevitably potholes appear quickly. nothing has been done to the surface (it's an unlit stretch too) and their new idea is simply to place two "flood" signs on the pavements either side and everyone take their own chances.

[PT1029]

Highway authorities seem to vary with Fix my street etc.
Oxfordshire has a link on their website to an Oxfordshire Fix my street page. If you sign into updates, you receive an update* on progress.
Havering (east London, mother in law lives there) explicitly says they do not accept reports from Fix my street (so had to open an "account" to report overhanging vegetation on a pavement).

*Oxfordshire "updates" refer to Oxfordshire resposibilities. If I report say a faulty BT manhole cover, you get an "investigating" reply, then another update saying not our responsibility, been passed on to BT, investigation complete/closed (as Oxforshire's duty has now been done). Although complete/closed, it does not mean BT has repaired the fault in question. BT it just an example, Thames Water is another (far worse) example.
The Oxfordshire Fix my street is on the whole good, if I report a faulty roadside drainage gully, all the gullies are shown with a green dot for you to choose from. There is also a report this (even if not a fault) if it is is a suggestion to improve life for cyclists.

[Valbrona]

There are such a lot of very expensive cars on the road in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

There are such a lot of poorly maintained roads in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

Something ain't adding up.

[Chris Jeggo]

There are such a lot of very expensive cars on the road in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

There are such a lot of poorly maintained roads in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

Something ain't adding up.

Expensive cars have soft springs and fat tyres. Their drivers are more aware of tax than potholes.

[Cugel]

There are such a lot of very expensive cars on the road in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

There are such a lot of poorly maintained roads in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

Something ain't adding up.

Too much of the individualistic-selfish and private; not enough of the communitarian and public.

Cugel

[thirdcrank]

There are such a lot of very expensive cars on the road in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

There are such a lot of poorly maintained roads in this country ... more so than in other European countries I've visited.

Something ain't adding up.

Expensive cars have soft springs and fat tyres. Their drivers are more aware of tax than potholes.

I do not think it is factually correct to imply that expensive cars typically have fat tyres. On the contrary. the trend seems to be towards
lower profile tyres especially on posh cars. Even transit-sized delivery vans often have vulnerable alloy wheels these days. ie the very opposite to what's ideal on bad roads or for mounting kerbs

[eileithyia]

Thanks for the comments, don't know if family will be suing authorities, seems a little insensitive to enquire at the moment. Interestingly some tarmac has already been thrown at the fissures in the immediate area of the tragedy.

[Paulatic]

Very recent report from Roadcc is wife voices concerns over inadequate roads. https://road.cc/content/news/call-repai ... ath-298461

[Valbrona]

Everything ancillary to the road network is good, like the lighting, signage, road markings ... except the roads themselves.

If I was Transport Minister on my first day I would stipulate that all motorways and A roads be asphalt-only; then after that all the B roads to be asphalt-only.

[fastpedaller]

A tragic (and unnecessary) loss of life caused by lack of concern on the part of the local highways department. Poor maintenance is happening all over the Country - I was in Cambridge recently and their roads are absolutely appalling. It's the 'legal go-out' that seems to be the issue - Councils just state 'we have a regular check schedule' and they absolve themselves of their duty of care and responsibility. The thing is that the state of the roads causing injury is proof that their checking is either not frequent enough, diligent enough, or indeed both!
When 'bumpy road' signs are put up (sometimes for years) surely that is proof enough that they aren't doing their job - If the road is likely to cause injury or loss then it should be fixed or closed.