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Cyclist killed on Oxfordshire road where campaigners have battled for years to have a safe cycle path (+ video)Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)

Cyclist killed on Oxfordshire road where campaigners have battled for years to have a safe cycle path (+ video)

"For so long we feared the worst would happen on the B4044 - and now it has"...
by Simon_MacMichael
Sun, Nov 03, 2019 13:14
8

A cyclist has died from injuries sustained in a collision involving a van on a road near Oxford where campaigners have fought for years to have safe cycling infrastructure installed, so far without success, with Oxfordshire County Council's cycling champion saying on Twitter: "For so long we feared the worst would happen on the B4044 - and now it has."

The fatal crash happened just after 6.30pm on Monday 28 October on  Oxford Road in Farmoor, with the victim a 58-year-old man living locally.

He was treated at the scene before being taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where he subsequently died as a result of a serious head injury.

Following the crash on Monday, Thames Valley Police arrested a 42-year-old man from Stonesfield at the scene on suspicion of driving a motor vehicle while unfit through drugs and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was subsequently released under investigation.

Investigating officer Sergeant Beth Walton of the Joint Operations Unit for Roads Policing, based at Bicester, said: “Tragically, the cyclist in this collision suffered fatal injuries.

“The collision occurred in the early evening, and I believe there would have been lots of vehicles in the area.

“I am appealing to anybody who saw the vehicle or pedal cyclist involved prior to the collision, or who may have dash-cam footage of the incident to please check this and make contact with police.

“You can call the 24-hour non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 43190336357 or make a report online.

“Alternatively, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

“Our thoughts remain with the family of the man who has died at this very difficult time.”

For a number of years campaign group Bike Safe has been calling for a safe cycle route to be put in place on the B4044 from Eynsham to Oxford, and in 2011 produced a video highlighting the dangers faced on the road.

In the video, which also puts the case for an off-road shared use path to be built on the existing grass verge, one local asks, “Does somebody have to die before they do that?”

Oxfordshire County Council has repeatedly said there is no money available for the infrastructure although today it’s own cycling champion, Dr Suzanne Bartington, took to Twitter on Friday, saying “For so long we feared the worst would happen on the B4044 – and now it has.”

Last week, Councillor Bartington also highlighted the lack of cycle provision in the £102 million project to turn the A40 between Eynsham and Witney into a dual carriageway.

B4044
Farmoor
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

Avatar
danhopgood | 4 years ago
0 likes

Tragic - and so avoidable.   Somehow this country needs to find the money for decent cycling infrastructure.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to danhopgood | 4 years ago
2 likes
danhopgood wrote:

Tragic - and so avoidable.   Somehow this country needs to find the money for decent cycling infrastructure.

There's plenty of money, we just choose to spend it on roads instead.

Avatar
Argos74 | 4 years ago
0 likes

That used to be my commute about back in the mid 90s. In the daytime, it was a bit nervy. Very quick, poor sightlines, lots of close passes. At nighttime, or even worse, in the dark and wet, it's a deathtrap.

Avatar
bikeman01 | 4 years ago
2 likes

I'm not familiar with this road but I did work in Oxford for many years and used the varius park and rides from which I cycled to my office. I was always struck by the lack of cycle infrastructure in central Oxford and that the biggest employer in Oxford, the university, did absolutely nothing to lobby Oxford city council despite it's thousands of employees and students favouring this mode of transport. In fact I have no doubt that Oxford University actively lobbied against limiting city centre vehicle movements because it's many city centre buildings have large amounts of parking provision for it's senior staff. 

Avatar
Nemesis | 4 years ago
4 likes

Methinks there is a civil negligence claim sitting here....

"The defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff under the circumstances;
The defendant breached that legal duty by acting or failing to act in a certain way;

It was the defendant's actions (or inaction) that actually caused the plaintiff's injury;
The plaintiff was harmed or injured as a result of the defendant's actions."

 

Avatar
burtthebike replied to Nemesis | 4 years ago
2 likes
Nemesis wrote:

Methinks there is a civil negligence claim sitting here....

"The defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff under the circumstances;
The defendant breached that legal duty by acting or failing to act in a certain way;

It was the defendant's actions (or inaction) that actually caused the plaintiff's injury;
The plaintiff was harmed or injured as a result of the defendant's actions."

Well, you could try, but the council will inevitably claim that either: there is no collision record at this site, or that their safety audit showed no problems.

I think it's Holland where they don't wait for collisions to happen before doing something, they analyse the road for dangers first, while in the UK, someone has to die before they do anything, and obviously, cyclists are curmudgeons who are never happy, no matter how much paint you put on the road.

Avatar
burtthebike | 4 years ago
6 likes

Why does this keep happening?  And it isn't just limited to Oxford, it's everywhere.  There's always money to "improve" roads by making them safer for drivers, but cyclists don't count.  I've warned my ex-local authority that their plans were making things more dangerous for cyclists, and have been proved right on more than one occasion unfortunately, but the only response I got was to be called a trouble-maker.

The new dual carriageway without apparently a footpath or cycle path is frankly disgusting and disturbing in this day and age.  Such facilities might have added 1% to the cost, if designed in from the start, but trying to add them later, as they inevitably will, is going to cost at least twice as much and be less satisfactory.

This government seems to be announcing money for just about everything, they must have discovered the magic money tree, so I look forward to the announcement about how many billions they plan to spend on active travel in the next five years.  Could there possibly be an election coming?  I hope cyclists are too intelligent to believe it.

Avatar
Edgeley replied to burtthebike | 4 years ago
0 likes
burtthebike wrote:

Why does this keep happening?  And it isn't just limited to Oxford, it's everywhere.  There's always money to "improve" roads by making them safer for drivers, but cyclists don't count.  I've warned my ex-local authority that their plans were making things more dangerous for cyclists, and have been proved right on more than one occasion unfortunately, but the only response I got was to be called a trouble-maker.

The new dual carriageway without apparently a footpath or cycle path is frankly disgusting and disturbing in this day and age.  Such facilities might have added 1% to the cost, if designed in from the start, but trying to add them later, as they inevitably will, is going to cost at least twice as much and be less satisfactory.

This government seems to be announcing money for just about everything, they must have discovered the magic money tree, so I look forward to the announcement about how many billions they plan to spend on active travel in the next five years.  Could there possibly be an election coming?  I hope cyclists are too intelligent to believe it.

 

The new dual carriageway will have cycle facilities.  Replacing the ones already there (which are a bit rubbish).    Cllr Bartington was pointing out that money should be found for a cycle route from the new town being built at the end of the dual carriageway to the station which is about 2 miles away, which is reached via a road which is even scarier than the one on which the cyclist was tragically killed.  

We can find £150m for a bit of dual carriageway and a probably useless Park and Ride, but not 1% of that for cycle facilities. 

 

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