UKC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24923713

Killed by a hit and run lorry driver. Although inexcusable I can't understand why people cycle along the A530. This stretch is statistically the fifth most dangerous bit of road in the country. You can avoid it by cycling along quiet country lanes which run parallel either side of it.

Traffic is travelling a 50-60 and despite being an A road parts of it are quite narrow. Given the number of non cycling accidents (I have seen two in the last week), I would never cycle along it.

In reply to wilkesley: good for you, how smart you are! Do you think this is a good time to start a discussion about how daft the poor man was for cycling that road?

In reply to climbercool: I think it's a perfectly good time to talk about this. I drive around Manchester day in, day out (in an ambulance) and I loose count of the number of times I see cyclists out in poor vis wearing dark clothing with either no lights or no effective lights. On the A6 at rush hour, the East Lancs FFS and all major arterial roads. Well lit cyclists on major roads are not all that common in my very current experience. We pick up cyclists on a weekly basis with terrible and not so terrible injuries who thought their £2 light would be enough. If I was a police officer I would be ticketing these idiots as a matter of course...it would save many lives.

In reply to Frank the Husky:

+1 . from a keen cyclist . you can get some very good bike light off e-bay for under £20 per set . if you are cycling during rush hour in winter it`s a no brainer .

In reply to Frank the Husky:

The police have no right to ticket someone if they are using BS or other EU approved lights, however crap they are.

Those standards could do with improvement, however.

Neil

In reply to wilkesley: very sad to hear that... I hope they catch the bar steward.

In reply to Removed Userlfenbo:

As far as I know the accident was in daytime. I travel along this road at least twice a day in the car. I have cycled along it in the past. However, I wouldn't cycle along it unless there was no alternative.

There are certain roads where, whatever the rights and wrongs, it isn't sensible to cycle if you want to avoid being hit by a vehicle. I don't know the exact details of this accident. It might have been someone who lived on the main road, or a non local who wasn't aware of the roads reputation.

In reply to wilkesley:

It looks as though they have caught the driver: http://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/crewe-south-cheshire-news/nantwich-cyc...

In reply to wilkesley:

Was it particularly bad weather yesterday? only this happenned at lunch time, not rush hour, and not at night.

Given the position of it (and not knowing him or where he was going) it is a bit of a leap to think he is aware of the small lanes near by - which looking at the map here (is this the right spot - it's not even a dual carriage way?) http://goo.gl/maps/eIrFk don't appear to be remotely parallel to the main road. Or does it mean this road: http://goo.gl/maps/gkv4Q a bit further along (noting the reference to Whitchurch in the article), where it's not even marked as a main road on the map

In fact I have riden very similar roads in that area when doing LEJOG (although I don't think that one). If you are out of area, you are unlikely to know that a road has high accident rates or that there may be a better alternative.

I hope they catch the lorry driver

In reply to wilkesley:

Good stuff

In reply to balmybaldwin:

I'm about 20 or so miles north of there and I'd estimate that around midday yesterday there was a howling gale and torrential rain and hail showers.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

The two news reports are at odds about the exact location. I would expect the Nantwich Chronicle probably is more likely to be correct. It was probably near to where the A530 leaves Nantwich near to what is marked as Baddington Lane. I cycle to Nantwich regularly (I live nearer to Whitchurch). For my journeys I would either use Coole Lane, or Marsh Lane (zoom in towards Nantwich Lake). This slightly further than using the main road, but a pleasant ride on a minor country lane.

As you approach Whitchurch the A530 is particularly dangerous for cyclists. The road runs between high hedges with several bends. It's only just wide enough for two HGV's which will be doing 50mph, which means if you are in front of one and the other one comes round the bend you will get squashed.

In reply to tim000:

Yes, when you think about it, it seems remarkable that bikes can be sold without lights. Selling cars without lights would be unimaginable.