Rider hospitalised after Tour of Britain peloton crashes into parked cars

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I'm surprised that one of the NRG weren't instructed to warn the bunch with a flag or something. Howeer that is a very difficult thing to marshall on the fly... where do you put the marshall etc etc. 

I think this year's TOB has been pretty poor. 

Yesterday's disqualifications were a bit much, and the racing has been very 'professional'.

By that, you can see that the big teams are just trundling through. So far they have literally sat in the bunch twiddling their thumbs. At least yeaterday there was a decent bit of action at the start of the day. 

I'm sure I did see a marshal with a warning flag posted just in front of the car when I saw the footage. But this was no use whatsoever. The warning needed to be before the corner so the entry speed could be adjusted.
As an earlier poster said, this is a risk of a rolling road closure. I don't know the details in this case but I could imagine an elderly disabled couple, used to parking anywhere on their blue badge, pulling up outside a shop and completely oblivious to a bike race being on. But you would have thought *someone* would have noticed them and had a word.
But back to my initial point, the fact the break and dozens of bikes and cars had already gone through means there were opportunities to warn the main bunch properly.
I hope the affected riders are ok.

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

I think this is more serious and abysmal management of the route. After the breakaway went past I winced and an accident for the peleton was predictable. 

Grahamd wrote:

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

I think this is more serious and abysmal management of the route. After the breakaway went past I winced and an accident for the peleton was predictable. 

random parked cars have been pretty consistent for the whole tour - earlier on this day there was a marshall waving a flag in front of an open removals van!

I've watched so many tours this year and thought - that looks nice there, nice roads and countryside, and even the people out cheering appear reasonably pleasant and attractive - clearly the idea of promoting tourism is a motivating factor in hosting the tour...

ToB on the other hand seems designed with the message - stay away, it's not nice here and even if you do come, you won't be welcome!

beezus fufoon wrote:

Grahamd wrote:

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

I think this is more serious and abysmal management of the route. After the breakaway went past I winced and an accident for the peleton was predictable. 

random parked cars have been pretty consistent for the whole tour - earlier on this day there was a marshall waving a flag in front of an open removals van!

I've watched so many tours this year and thought - that looks nice there, nice roads and countryside, and even the people out cheering appear reasonably pleasant and attractive - clearly the idea of promoting tourism is a motivating factor in hosting the tour...

ToB on the other hand seems designed with the message - stay away, it's not nice here and even if you do come, you won't be welcome!

They don't have full road closures - only rolling road closures. There's little they can do if a car gets parked somewhere while the road is open. It's deeply unfortunate. THe race would never happen if it required full road closures for the whole route for the whole day

paulrattew wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

Grahamd wrote:

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

I think this is more serious and abysmal management of the route. After the breakaway went past I winced and an accident for the peleton was predictable. 

random parked cars have been pretty consistent for the whole tour - earlier on this day there was a marshall waving a flag in front of an open removals van!

I've watched so many tours this year and thought - that looks nice there, nice roads and countryside, and even the people out cheering appear reasonably pleasant and attractive - clearly the idea of promoting tourism is a motivating factor in hosting the tour...

ToB on the other hand seems designed with the message - stay away, it's not nice here and even if you do come, you won't be welcome!

 

They don't have full road closures - only rolling road closures. There's little they can do if a car gets parked somewhere while the road is open. It's deeply unfortunate. THe race would never happen if it required full road closures for the whole route for the whole day

because...?

also curious if the ToB deliberately avoids so many designated areas of outstanding natural beauty for the same reason that I suspect will be given in the answer to this question.

beezus fufoon wrote:

because...?

because Britain

paulrattew wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

Grahamd wrote:

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

I think this is more serious and abysmal management of the route. After the breakaway went past I winced and an accident for the peleton was predictable. 

random parked cars have been pretty consistent for the whole tour - earlier on this day there was a marshall waving a flag in front of an open removals van!

I've watched so many tours this year and thought - that looks nice there, nice roads and countryside, and even the people out cheering appear reasonably pleasant and attractive - clearly the idea of promoting tourism is a motivating factor in hosting the tour...

ToB on the other hand seems designed with the message - stay away, it's not nice here and even if you do come, you won't be welcome!

 

They don't have full road closures - only rolling road closures. There's little they can do if a car gets parked somewhere while the road is open. It's deeply unfortunate. THe race would never happen if it required full road closures for the whole route for the whole day

Can't speak for anywhere else but in Northumberland the Peloton was preceded by a towtruck and the advance unit with a senior council manager - planned to removed anything perceived as unsafe. Yes, most of the course is on a rolling roadblock but if the risk appraisal demands it harder measures can be put in place like temporary parking restrictions and towaway zones- when I came back from Belford to Blyth one road into Blyth (the one used later- Laverock Hall Road for locals) was already under a full closure, while the one used for the first visit (Cowpen Road) was open. It's about risk management and the local event management team....

paulrattew wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

Grahamd wrote:

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

I think this is more serious and abysmal management of the route. After the breakaway went past I winced and an accident for the peleton was predictable. 

random parked cars have been pretty consistent for the whole tour - earlier on this day there was a marshall waving a flag in front of an open removals van!

I've watched so many tours this year and thought - that looks nice there, nice roads and countryside, and even the people out cheering appear reasonably pleasant and attractive - clearly the idea of promoting tourism is a motivating factor in hosting the tour...

ToB on the other hand seems designed with the message - stay away, it's not nice here and even if you do come, you won't be welcome!

 

They don't have full road closures - only rolling road closures. There's little they can do if a car gets parked somewhere while the road is open. It's deeply unfortunate. THe race would never happen if it required full road closures for the whole route for the whole day

I dont agree there was little they could do about that, the riders are proceeded by what usually around 30 motorbikes ahead of the peloton made up of the police and national escort group riders, all connected with radios, all with the job of creating the "bubble" for the riders. And that ignores all the course cars in the convoy up front who passed it, and I know they have roaming vans/trucks on course as well who primarily collect the signs, but do act as additional blocks on some roads and so are forever jumping ahead of the race and then catching them up afterwards, and not one of them came round that corner and thought ah that could be a potential hazard. better post someone there or just someway in front preferably ahead of the corner to warn the riders ?

Awavey wrote:

paulrattew wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

Grahamd wrote:

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

I think this is more serious and abysmal management of the route. After the breakaway went past I winced and an accident for the peleton was predictable. 

random parked cars have been pretty consistent for the whole tour - earlier on this day there was a marshall waving a flag in front of an open removals van!

I've watched so many tours this year and thought - that looks nice there, nice roads and countryside, and even the people out cheering appear reasonably pleasant and attractive - clearly the idea of promoting tourism is a motivating factor in hosting the tour...

ToB on the other hand seems designed with the message - stay away, it's not nice here and even if you do come, you won't be welcome!

Plus it's not as if temporary parking restrictions are exactly impossible to introduce - areas near football stadiums will have matchday controls, and I can't believe it's beyond the organisers to get some of the yellow police cones to prevent parking wherever it was likely to be on problem.

 

Unless I wasn't paying attention, it wasn't mentioned at all in the highlights, even though it was by far the most notable point of the stage.

 

They don't have full road closures - only rolling road closures. There's little they can do if a car gets parked somewhere while the road is open. It's deeply unfortunate. THe race would never happen if it required full road closures for the whole route for the whole day

I dont agree there was little they could do about that, the riders are proceeded by what usually around 30 motorbikes ahead of the peloton made up of the police and national escort group riders, all connected with radios, all with the job of creating the "bubble" for the riders. And that ignores all the course cars in the convoy up front who passed it, and I know they have roaming vans/trucks on course as well who primarily collect the signs, but do act as additional blocks on some roads and so are forever jumping ahead of the race and then catching them up afterwards, and not one of them came round that corner and thought ah that could be a potential hazard. better post someone there or just someway in front preferably ahead of the corner to warn the riders ?

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

As a BC acreddited marshal, this couldnt be further from the truth.

I cover races in the south east region and we're constantly having to talk to motorisists who decide they want to park on corners, in the most dangerous of places, who then try to blow us off with pithy excuses or just plain, and often rude, dismissal.

The last thing any of us want is for riders, members of the public, or ourselves to be endangered.

All of the courses we run have a risk assessment carried out prior to the race being submitted to the police for approval to run, then on the day when each marshal takes up their position.

If you have a look at any European race you will see the roads clear of vehicles but the UK seems to have major fucking issue with such a shitty car culture that drivers whine like babies if they cant park anywhere they like, and it hasto be for free, otherwise they bleat that they're being set upon worse than those in the Holocaust.

There's only 2 people to blame for this incident and thats the cunts that parked their cars there.

zanf wrote:

rliu wrote:

The local police and marshalls must have thought this was some Eroica style event with middle aged couples pootling past in tweed peddling granny bikes, rather than a pro race where ultra fit athletes are flying round at 50kmph. Rookie error to not keep the usual parking bays clear for just one afternoon.

As a BC acreddited marshal, this couldnt be further from the truth.

I cover races in the south east region and we're constantly having to talk to motorisists who decide they want to park on corners, in the most dangerous of places, who then try to blow us off with pithy excuses or just plain, and often rude, dismissal.

The last thing any of us want is for riders, members of the public, or ourselves to be endangered.

All of the courses we run have a risk assessment carried out prior to the race being submitted to the police for approval to run, then on the day when each marshal takes up their position.

If you have a look at any European race you will see the roads clear of vehicles but the UK seems to have major fucking issue with such a shitty car culture that drivers whine like babies if they cant park anywhere they like, and it hasto be for free, otherwise they bleat that they're being set upon worse than those in the Holocaust.

There's only 2 people to blame for this incident and thats the cunts that parked their cars there.

Was a tongue in cheek comment from me. I'm aware of the levels of idiocy and entitlement.

At least it wasn't as outrageous as this http://road.cc/content/news/225240-essex-motorist-jailed-deliberately-dr...

zanf wrote:

If you have a look at any European race you will see the roads clear of vehicles but the UK seems to have major fucking issue with such a shitty car culture that drivers whine like babies if they cant park anywhere they like, and it hasto be for free, otherwise they bleat that they're being set upon worse than those in the Holocaust.

There's only 2 people to blame for this incident and thats the cunts that parked their cars there.

this is exactly what I thought the answer would be...

I suspect this also has some bearing on the choice of routes in general, resulting in the tour presenting the international community with the delights of Scunthorpe and Clacton rather than our historic cathedral cities - the higher the class, the more indignant, when the truth is they start to suffer withdrawl symptoms when asked to forego the use of their car for a single afternoon.

beezus fufoon wrote:

zanf wrote:

If you have a look at any European race you will see the roads clear of vehicles but the UK seems to have major fucking issue with such a shitty car culture that drivers whine like babies if they cant park anywhere they like, and it hasto be for free, otherwise they bleat that they're being set upon worse than those in the Holocaust.

There's only 2 people to blame for this incident and thats the cunts that parked their cars there.

this is exactly what I thought the answer would be...

I suspect this also has some bearing on the choice of routes in general, resulting in the tour presenting the international community with the delights of Scunthorpe and Clacton rather than our historic cathedral cities - the higher the class, the more indignant, when the truth is they start to suffer withdrawl symptoms when asked to forego the use of their car for a single afternoon.

Ah, the tour goes wherever it is capable of securing funding to go. This does tend to be some of the less desirable parts of the country, as they are more willing to fork out the wonga. 

beezus fufoon wrote:

edit: ...with the exception of the amazing sheep-based installation at 5k to go

That was superb. Must try and mind some footage.

SlowPuncture wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

edit: ...with the exception of the amazing sheep-based installation at 5k to go

That was superb. Must try and mind some footage.

https://twitter.com/BrainOnWheels/status/905432666404782082

RPK wrote:

SlowPuncture wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

edit: ...with the exception of the amazing sheep-based installation at 5k to go

That was superb. Must try and mind some footage.

https://twitter.com/BrainOnWheels/status/905432666404782082

Oh Yes! That was proper genius! (Although stating as much in a loud voice sitting in your office watching said ToB on your iPad doesn't go down all that well )

RPK wrote:

SlowPuncture wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

edit: ...with the exception of the amazing sheep-based installation at 5k to go

That was superb. Must try and mind some footage.

https://twitter.com/BrainOnWheels/status/905432666404782082

Brillian - I assume Baa-rain Merida were involved...