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news
Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Coroner orders council to mend road defects after cyclist’s death
A coroner has ordered a council has been ordered to review its procedures for mending road defects after a cyclist was killed when she crashed after hitting a pothole.
Jennifer Dyer, aged 36, was killed when she was thrown into the path of a van on the B2188 near Groombridge after she hit the pothole on 29 March 2021, reports The Argus.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths report – compiled by coroners and sent to the relevant authorities so they can take steps to improve safety following a fatality, whether in the workplace, on the public highway or in some other scenario, that they believe need not have happened – assistant coroner James Healy-Pratt said that Ms Dyer’s death “was avoidable.”
According to the assistant coroner’s report, the pothole measured 45cm by 80cm at its widest and broadest points, and had a maximum depth of 5.8cm.
He said that research into the defect had “evidenced a history of failed repairs since late 2019, with numerous concerns being raised about the continuing danger that it posed to road users, especially motorbikes and bicycles.”
In his report, he wrote that East Sussex County Council, which had categorised the pothole as a low priority in terms of needing repair, needed to review its policy regarding fixing road defects.
“This young lady and mother lost her life due to a collision between her bicycle and a van,” he said.
“That collision was solely and proximately caused by a defective pothole, 58mm deep, in the road surface of the B2188, Cherry, Gardens Hill, Groombridge. Her death was avoidable.”
“Clearly, this pothole was the proximate cause of the death of a young woman, and the categorisation of potholes in East Sussex requires significant review, to prevent future avoidable deaths within the county,” he added.
A separate report by Sussex Police found that it was “highly likely” that the pothole had been the cause of the fatal crash.
A spokesperson for the county council said that the pothole was repaired on the same day as the crash that claimed Ms Dyer’s life, and that the council had revised its road safety inspection procedures to allow for “a more flexible approach to determining risk for all road users and defect response times.”
A spokesperson for the council said: “Whilst this process was not in place at the time the pothole in this incident was identified and categorised, by introducing this new process, the council believes that a specific review of the pothole categories is not required.”
The spokesperson added: “The council is committed to improving communication with road users and improving the safety of the roads.
“The death of Jennifer Dyer is a tragic loss and the council offer its sincere condolences to Ms Dyer’s family.”
Cycling UK runs the Fill That Hole app and website which allows cyclists and other road users to easily report road defects to the relevant authorities.#
The national cyclists’ charity periodically publishes league tables of which councils and other agencies are quickest at responding and fixing them, and those that are less proactive in doing so.
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.
Latest Comments
- mdavidford 3 min 30 sec ago
Barring any other explanation, I'd say someone definitely forked up.
- brooksby 21 min 31 sec ago
You mean that they are Otherwise Law-Abiding™ ?
- brooksby 33 min 1 sec ago
And finally: I wonder how many of the "more than 3,000" signatures on that petition are actually locals, who live or work there (and are not just...
- Doug_D 2 hours 8 min ago
Another book suggestion - I can highly recommend "Lost Summers and Half-Forgotten Afternoons: A Mint Sauce collection" - a beautifully presented...
- chrisonabike 3 hours 21 min ago
But... the last is only not the case with drivers on normal roads because driving on the cycle path / footway / rolling a vehicle up there is seen...
- mdavidford 3 hours 59 min ago
I think you're missing an opportunity to pack even more tech into it - add accelerometers that can detect whether they're pedalling or stepping....
- chrisonabike 4 hours 24 min ago
Thanks. I guess the question is "need". If the road is busy, it sounds like it is a desired route between places? In which case (given this an...
- mdavidford 4 hours 32 min ago
Don't know what you mean. I thought my suggestion was entirely practical.
- Rapha Nadal 5 hours 6 min ago
I'd buy a motorbike fo rthat kind of money!
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20 comments
Was braking distance not a factor? So many times I have drivers sitting off my back wheel, they have zero chance of stopping if I am thrown from my bike by a pothole/tyre explosion/frame destruction etc.. and whilst the cause of my unplanned dismount may be accidental, a van driving over me would be negligence and dangerous driving if they had not allowed sufficient space to do an emergency stop or avoidance. Being thrown into the opposite lane obviously is different, unless the road is narrow and and rough and the driver should be going slower.
We've had an incident locally where a woman was clipped by a driver and thrown off her bike, she was then run over by a following car as she gathered herself up. There was a question of low sun, but drivers don't drive to the speed they can see the road is clear, they typically assume their lane will be clear without consciously observing.
Speed and following distance may be a factor here, but many drivers are quite capable of having collisions without speed or distance being a significant factor!
We've had riders hospitalised on our rides by potholes that don't meet the council's criteria for repair yet are obvious hazards, like long cracks in the road that tram line your wheels but are too shallow and narrow to interest the council.
Isn't the answer that the criteria were set generally by some test case in the courts years ago so perhaps Cycling UK or the like need to propose a different set of criteria backed by evidence and then send this to councils? Then when the next accident happens, cyclists should refer to this new evidence. The councils, having been made aware of the cyclist's pothole criteria, can't then hide behind their existing arbitrary numbers - after all they are legally obliged to act reasonably.
All it needs is a few claims to succeed to change the budget criteria once the insurers start whining.
This would also help refute the current widely-used defence that local authorities have an inspection system in place.
This is exactly the type of defect we get on roads around here. I tried to get compensation from Lincs CC for a damaged wheel on my bike after hitting a longitudinal crack that judging by Google Street View had been there and widening for at least 4 years. I involved BC legal assistance and they couldn't have cared less.
To be clear I wasn't actually that fussed about the money it was the fact that I barely stayed on my bike as the front tyre deflated (had I not been riding tubeless I think I might have gone over) and as a national speed limit road I could easily have been hit by a passing vehicle as happened to this poor woman.
What I wasn't allowed to question apparently was how it was possible to assess the risk presented by a surface defect to a cyclist and accurately gauge its size from a moving motor vehicle.
I bet with this year's weather those roads are well on the move.
Descended Edge Hill and at about 40mph discovered that the road had dropped several inches, fortunately the step was more or less at right angles. Sure that was landslip due to dry weather.
How appalling. I can confirm that the state of ESCC's roads has been seriously bad for the past decade.
the council offer its sincere condolences to Ms Dyer’s family
This comment structure is a dead-giveaway for an insincere comment. Just like the one your family would receive from the police after you're killed and they have ignored all the previous close-passing offences as something you should stop moaning on about 'and anyway he didn't see you, and didn't mean to do it' so it's not an offence
Tragic that it takes the loss of a young life to make the council pay attention, but to be fair, their funding has been cut so much for so long that road repairs were an easy target for spending reductions. Many councils have revised the size of potholes that need urgent attention, making it less likely that something that could possibly be catastrophic for a a cyclist would be repaired.
Now everyone on this site knows that I'm not in the slightest bit political, but this is purely and simply the fault of the tories who have ruthlessly cut local authority funding so that they can't even do the essentials. The latest from Truss is just the application of more of the same because "Maybe it hasn't worked yet, but we just haven't done it enough, so let's just keep digging; it's bound to work soon." And meanwhile, the rich keep getting richer and the poor die.
Quite agree on the councils. Although when you see what they do when they get some cash it gives you pause.
Now that's not fair and you know it. Governments previous have tried borrowing, cutting spending and more or less tax for companies (New Labour, don't forget!) and more wealthy individuals. The tiny amount I read about the latest ideas though it seems this is new - reducing lots of taxes on the wealthy, taxes in general, reducing spending AND lots of borrowing - all at once!
You missed the bit about removing human rights and abolishing laws that prevent pollution, like water companies dumping raw sewage, and allowing companies to hire unqualified, inexperienced, cheaper workers if the original workers dare to strike for better conditions and pay.
I'm struggling to see the difference between the current tory party and fascists.
Well they haven't outlawed unions and put strikers in concentration camps . . . . . . . yet.
Have the details of the accommodation planned in Rwanda been published?
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'Now everyone on this site knows that I'm not in the slightest bit political, but this is purely and simply the fault of the tories'.
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Jeez, surely you are not THAT dumb to be writing something as stupid as this?
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But you are.
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That is very funny!
Well, for those of us not too obtuse to understand litotes, anyway. Sadly that group does not include Flintshire Boy, whether by intent or lack of understanding.
Personally, I just try not to be too much of a smartarse.
I don't think there's much danger of any part of your anatomy being considered smart.