Cyclist killed this morning on A19

porlyworly

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/lo ... _1_4170059

Lots of updates on my facebook saying a19 was at a standstill all morning so googled and came up with this

teulk

Its always sad when a cyclist dies, anyone for that matter - I travel to work along the A19 and have seen several cyclists riding on it and i find it absolutely crazy, i have also driven the part where the cyclist died and again absolute madness to be on that road. I cycle and i would never in a million years ride on the A19.

Condolences to the family.

mickymanta

I drive along that section of road every weekday morning. I am also a keen cyclist and during the summer months often ride to Teesside from Durham. Many years ago I would ride down the section of A19 from Wolviston to Portrack and there is a strip of road to the left of the solid white line which marks the edge of the carrieageway and I always felt reasonably safe riding here - it was the danger of crossing the interchanges at Norton which made me search out alternative routes. We do not know the circumstances which led to this cyclist being on the A19 nor those of the collision. However, I note that the driver of the lorry has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving - which suggests that the police believe that he is the person responsible for this tragic death and not the cyclist. Whilst agreeing that riding down the A19 in the dark (it was 7:10am) at the start of rush hour isn't something to be advised if it can be avoided, the same could be said of most busy roads at that time of the day. My heart goes out to the family of this poor man and hope that any suggestions that he 'brought this upon himself" are not brought to their attention.

HebdenBiker

teulk wrote:

I travel to work along the A19 and have seen several cyclists riding on it and i find it absolutely crazy

Why? Should cyclists keep off roads that are heavy with motorised traffic?

I join you in your condolences to the family.

sfichele

Very sad, condolences to the family also!

HebdenBiker wrote:

Why? Should cyclists keep off roads that are heavy with motorised traffic?

In general I don't think bikes should ever be segregated from cars in cities etc. But this road was a major 70 mph dual carriage way. I wouldn't want to use that stretch of road!

tomb353

like a lot of roads in the UK, the only reason the A19 is not motorway is that the highways agency does not want to spend the money creating an alternative route for bicycles, tractors etc.

I'm not sure that the human brain is really capable of dealing with mixed moving objects on the same carriageway with 50-60mph speed difference. A similar fatality occurred on the A189 spine road (another motorway in all but name) recently which is north of the A19, one half of that road has a good quality tarmac cycle track running alongside it, the other half doesn't.

They say that once you stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway you have a life expectancy of half an hour. Roads like the A19 are blackspots for bicycle fatalities for exactly the same reason.

meanredspider

tomb353 wrote:

They say that once you stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway you have a life expectancy of half an hour. Roads like the A19 are blackspots for bicycle fatalities for exactly the same reason.

yup - a traffic cop friend is absolutely adamant that, if you stop on the hard shoulder, you should get away from the car as fast as you can.

Whilst I accept that cyclists shouldn't be discouraged from cycling on roads like that, you won't find me doing the same - I don't have that much faith in my fellow road-users. Very sorry to hear about this death.

porlyworly

Being a north east lad I used to drive 30 miles up and down the A19 every morning for 5 years with work and there's absolutely no way I'd cycle on it but then I am new to this game.

Completely agree with the points above re. cyclists having just as much right to be on there as car drivers but seeing some of the crazy maneuvers on there over the years it's just not worth the risk.

murphsa

First of all I'd like to express my condolences to Chris' wife and family. I drive north up the A19 every day between Middlesbrough and Sunderland and had seen a cyclist whom I presume to be Chris coming south at the same time and at about the same place every morning. As a serious cyclist myself for over 20 years I feared for his safety. Everybody who uses the A19 regularly knows that it is a very dangerous and chaotic road to drive on particularly in the dark at rush hour. Some of the driving is crazy and this was a tragedy waiting to happen. I have been concerned for sometime by the lack of policing on that stretch of road. Whilst accepting that it is not illegal to cycle on the A19 surely the police have a duty to to take preventitive action if possible including discouraging cyclists from using it especially at that time of day.

dilemna

RIP the dead man.

I drive the A14 daily into Cambridge. Occasionally I see cyclists at Bar Hill riding along the edge of the carriageway just to the left of the nearside white line. This has got to be the most dangerous road in the UK. It should be a motorway but isn't. It carries shed loads of trucks many whose drivers don't give a crap and wouldn't even know if they had squished a cyclist. I sometimes think about pulling over and forcing these cyclists to get a lift with me with their bike so they can get off the road asap, but stopping would put me in mortal danger from being flattened by a 44tonne truck. Absolute madness cycling along this road. To assert one's right to cycle along a road just because you can is insane in my books. Some roads and the volume or speed of traffic make it an extremely hazardous or lethal place for cyclists to be. Common sense tells you this.

meanredspider

The A14 is an insane road along that stretch and certainly used to be dangerous enough in a car let alone a bicycle. That said, I used to cycle from the Huntingdon Rd to the fruit farm at Bar Hill as a kid - but, thinking about it, that was 30 years ago!

Mayhemwmb

tomb353 wrote:

like a lot of roads in the UK, the only reason the A19 is not motorway is that the highways agency does not want to spend the money creating an alternative route for bicycles, tractors etc.

I'm not sure that the human brain is really capable of dealing with mixed moving objects on the same carriageway with 50-60mph speed difference. A similar fatality occurred on the A189 spine road (another motorway in all but name) recently which is north of the A19, one half of that road has a good quality tarmac cycle track running alongside it, the other half doesn't.

The accident on the spine road was in broad daylight with perfect visibility on a straight piece of road & the driver was convicted of the unlawful killing of the cyclist (iirc it was death by careless driving),

The A19 dual carraigeway at approx 7am is a different ball game, as cyclists unfortunately it doesn't matter how correct we are, there is no getting away from the fact we are the most vulnerable group of road users. In light of this we should make our decisions accordingly as we'll generally always come off second best.

It is always sad when someone is killed, pedestrian, cyclist or driver, there will be a family who have lost someone special and my thoughts go to the cyclists family and friends on this occasion.