UKC

Seeing reports that Brad Wiggins is in hospital after a collision with a van. Suspected broken ribs.

ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber: White Astra, according to the BBC. Best wait for confirmed details. If it's only broken ribs then maybe not too bad but still not at all good.

In reply to Martin W:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/olympian-wiggins-hurt-in-co...

In reply to Martin W:

I think this may have a knock-on effect on his training schedule for the Giro. Go for the Tour instead? Perhaps we'll see him at the there helping Froome in the same way Hinault helped Lemond to his first Tour victory...

In reply to a lakeland climber: Damn.. That sucks. Of course we want to know:

Was he wearing a helmet?
Did he have lights/refectors?
Was he using at the time...

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I know the road well -- Brad will have just turned off the main road onto the secondary road, and the exit from the filling station where the van pulled out is about 50 metres from the junction. Whilst it was 6pm - and after dark - visibility was not bad (last night there was some very light drizzle), and the road has excellent street lighting at that point.

I've had near misses at that filling station exit in broad daylight -- and I travel at probably half of Brad's speed. It only takes a split second of inattention for a driver 'not to see' a cyclist coming round that corner even though there are no 'obstructions' to a clear line of sight.

Hopefully Brad will recover very soon -- reports on the radio this morning say nothing broken - just minor injuries. Like most roadies he's as tough as old boots anyway!

In reply to Lord of Starkness: just said on the news 'bradley wiggins collided with a car' not a car pulled out on him.im sure cyclist dont go around choosing to run into cars.

In reply to mark s:

New thread:

'Nearly hit a cyclist last night' - Trangia

Hmmmmmmm........

In reply to mark s:

Knowing the junction and filling station exit, if the motorist pulled out without looking or misjudged Brad's approach speed, it's entirely possible that Brad was unable to avoid colliding with the van. It's also possible that Brad assumed the driver would not pull out in front of him so was not in a position to take evasive action.

I had an incident earlier in the year when a milk tanker pulled out of a side road taking up the full width of the road I was descending (at a pretty rapid rate), where the only way to avoid a collision was to 'bale out' onto a grassy verge.

It's dangerous out there on them roads - and cyclists are more vunerable than most other road users.

In reply to Andy Say: It was a female driver...

In reply to a lakeland climber: The best bit about this BBC reports is that he says he goes on practice rides in the area.

I can just see him leaving the house and shouting back 'I'm just going out to practice riding my bike'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20246940

In reply to Lord of Starkness:

This I would think most likely. I nearly got T-boned on my way the wall on Tuesday because Mr Volvo thought he had loads of time, and believe me I am *not* cycling like Wiggo.

In reply to Lord of Starkness:


women tend to crash at junctions have a look at the evidence 28:40 into this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01nt3ys/How_Safe_are_Britains_Roads_E...

that was aired last night...

In reply to zoobizooretta:

I never said anything about women drivers in relation to the Wiggo incident.

It does not mean to say I've never uttered anything derogatory about particular women drivers when they've deserved it - but on balance I've probably called more male drives f*ckwitts - simply because there are more male drivers on the road.

The women drivers that tend to scare me most are the ones who drive horsebox type trucks, or worse still tow horse boxes behind their fancy 4WD's. Most seem to have no concept as to how wide their vehicle is resulting in them either passing too close to cyclists when overtaking, or taking up the whole of the road because they do not know how close they can drive to the verge, leaving approaching cyclists no room either!

In reply to IainRUK:

....and she reads the DM...

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I know that its heresy to utter the words, but...it could have been the Mr Wiggins fault, not the fault of the other driver.

Have no axe to grind either way, not a car or cycle user.

Pete

In reply to Pete Ford: Apparently the police came back to the driver and said "do you realise who you've hit?". Even if the driver wasn't at fault, knocking the most high profile and popular sportsman in the country off his bike is not something you are going to want on your CV

In reply to toad:
knocking the most high profile and popular sportsman in the country

I think the prima donna in the Premier league claim this honour

In reply to a lakeland climber:

Latest news is Shane Sutton has had an accident and is also in hospital. Sounds like someone is after Team Sky...

In reply to goldmember:
He said popular, footballers are a bunch of c*nts!

In reply to link:

Just heard that on the radio too, quite a nasty one by the sound of it - head injuries and bleeding on the brain... fingers crossed he's ok...

In reply to ripper:

Here's the Reference to it From Manchester Evening News...

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1593305_shane-sutton-gb-...

In reply to link: Maybe the french are taking the "specially round wheels" joke a little too seriously...

In reply to a lakeland climber: maybe it was cav in a wig

In reply to tim000: more likely to be Sean Yates...

In reply to fxceltic:

He'll be too busy 'spending more time with his family'.

In reply to link:

Is Lance Armstrong in the UK at the moment?

In reply to a lakeland climber: according to reports he was on his mountain bike being followed by his wife in the car!

In reply to sleavesley:

I did wonder about parts of the report: "His wife [tried to] hug him and he said: 'Don't, my ribs'." and wondered how she'd managed to get to the site of the incident so quickly.

ALC

In reply to FreshSlate:

Was he wearing the standard cyclist kit of black or grey clothing ?
Perhaps there is a flaw in the ninja cyclist theory that if the car drivers can't see you, they won't try to knock you over.

In reply to a lakeland climber:

his wife was in a car behind him i think.

In reply to tim000:

What I'd heard. Reeks of a JCT style investigation is needed here.

In reply to a lakeland climber:

The BBC article says "The village of Wrightington is around three miles from Wiggins's family home in Eccleston"

In reply to SP: he was lit up like a Xmas tree, or at least his bike was according to the attendant who came out to him.

Unfortunately if you look at some cycling clothing manufacturers the availability of colours other than black is zero for their winter ranges! (Dhb in particular)
He may have been wearing yellow though?

In reply to sleavesley:

Last time I was in Decathlon, they sold bright yellow cycling tops with reflective strips for about £4. Cyclists have the option to take personal responsibility for their own safety on the road, but most choose not to.

In reply to SP:

"Most"? What particular statistically robust survey do you base this on? And what would "taking personal responsibility for their own safety" look like to you? Wearing a yellow jumper?

In reply to SP: thanks but I do fine personally on the being seen front.
Whilst not entirely in agreement there are people that ride bikes that do not help themselves, be it through visibility or behaviour that is of detriment to cyclists.

I also see a large number of car/van/lorry/bus drivers whom do the same or worse. Some I have seetn drive with no lights at night. A large proportion speed well above the legal limit, there are a lot that use their mobiles whilst driving.
Some do not know their own speed limit for the vehicle they drive (how many transits do 60mph on a dual carriage way and 50 on an A road?).

It seems there are a lot of people that fail to take responsibility to themselves and other road users that they have a duty of care to by abiding by the laws of this country!

In reply to sleavesley:

Looks like the Daily Mail readership have taken over at the BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20256047 - some of the comments would be hilarious if they didn't indicate a severe lack of respect for others.

ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber: unfortunately it seems that no one can listen to reasoned arguments and it becomes a slanging match.
I think there is something inherently wrong with people in this country that feel the need to get from A-B as if they are on a race track, regardless of transport.
I could wager a bet that everyone who drives has seen someone do a risky overtaking manoeuvre and then 10 miles down the road has seen them filling their vehicle up or is just a car or two ahead of themselves.

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/campaigning/article/Campaigning---Get-Invo...

I for one will be writing to my local MP to encourage discussion on the above issues, I have had to deal with 3 hit and runs in the last year in the hospital I work in. Whilst not completely addressing the issue, I think greater reprisal for the perpetrator with regard to custodial sentence may help, with sentencing guidelines treating hit and runs in particular similar to manslaughter, whilst taking into account those that stop and reporting the issue where found at fault with a reduced or suspended sentence or fine.

In reply to SP:

do you think women should wear longer skirts?

In reply to SP:

There is a school of thought, actually well supported by research that says dark clothing creates a profile while light / day glo is lost in clutter. That's why sailing gear is black and not day glo like it used to be.

Of course, if people did not drive like kunts, cyclists would not need to wear a the Bass Rock lighthouse on their head and fanny day glo over suit.

Christ you're a tiresome fud.

In reply to a lakeland climber:
Some wazzock in a van failed to stop at a green light this evening and nearly took me out as I went sailing across the junction. Vanker.

In reply to birdie num num:

did you have your bell ringing?

you need to get a better patrol car than that Wolelesly

In reply to John Rushby:
Num Num never clutters his handlebars with such frivolities as bells.

In reply to John Rushby:

Cyclists are less likely to be seen by motorists if they wear black. This in no way excuses the carelessness of some drivers.

Women are (probably/arguably) more likely to get raped if they they wear skimpy skirts. This in no way excuses rape.

In an ideal world, cyclists could wear black and women could wear skimpy skirts without putting themselves in increased danger. It is not an ideal world.

In reply to SP:

I've got a mate who's a motorbike plod, he wears dayglo everything on duty and when on duty rides a motorbike covered in dayglo colours, lights permanently on and he's been knocked off his bike 12 times by sorry I didn't see you's.

Bright colours do nothing if car drivers don't look at you, the only thing you can do is ride defensively, assume every car will pull out in front of you at junctions and that there is a fair percentage who are intending to kill you by any means.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Aside from the fact that you live in world were we still rule India, :P it has been pretty well documented that "colour" even at night, can be lost, whereas black is weirdly more visible.

Insults aside, the idea is that lights should be sufficient, otherwise we would all drive bright green cars wouldn't we ?

In reply to Robert Durran:
Research is inconclusive whether this is true, the most effective in terms of being seen by motorists seems to be reflective strips on moving parts such as knees and feet.

In reply to Mooncat:

True - CONTRASTS work over colour.

hence my nice black Musto oilskin with 3m strips, over my old day glo thing which when we did MOB practice was harder to spot

In reply to John Rushby:

I would be genuinely interested to know why you say that and (for clarity) what you mean (metaphorically) by it.


I'll take your word for it. OK, if black is safer, exchange the word "black" in my post for "bright colours". My point is still the same; there are certain steps people can, unfortunately but pragmatically, choose to make for their own safety, which, in an ideal world, would not add to their safety.

Yes, I would have thought clothing colour would be a greater consideration in daylight.

In reply to John Rushby:

No, I think long skirts would get tangled in the wheels.

I'll remember to wear black next time I'm cycling among the speedboats down the middle of the Thames. But when I'm going down a road on a with my back to a long line of motor vehicles, a grey road in front of me, trees and dark (black) shadows to the side, with a tiny flickering back light, I'll remember that the sooner the drivers become aware of me, the more seconds they have to think about manoevering around me and the less likely I am to be the cause of an accident in which I will probably suffer the most. Personal responsibility as well as respect for others.

In reply to SP: Brad had just shaved off his 'lucky' sideburns and they burnt an effigy of him on the bonfire in Lewes on Monday. It was only a matter of time before something was going to happen......

In reply to Martin W:
Conspiracy theory No 1: It was the french. They're still smarting from the tour.

Conspiracy theory No 2: It was the italians, reason they're italians