Saturday 3 August 2013

Death of a "cyclist"

A woman riding a bicycle was killed today.



Greater Manchester Police have released the following information:-

Cyclist dies following collision

A woman has died after a collision near the Mancunian Way.
At about 3pm on Saturday 3 August 2013, police were called to the slip road heading from Princess Road to the Mancunian Way following reports of a collision involving a cyclist and a black Seat Leon.
Officers attended and the cyclist, a 44-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the car, a 40-year-old man, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and remains in police custody for questioning.
Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the collision are ongoing.
....



The crash appears to have happened on a pedestrian crossing on the westbound slip road onto the Mancunian Way by the Redbricks flats.



When I went to have a look this evening I saw someone on a bike trying to use the same route.



The alternative is to disobey the no cycling sign and use the underpass, or risk riding on the roundabout.



This location clearly has a history of accidents.



There is even this sign on the approach to the site of the fatality.



What can you say about this - this is one death too many.


View Larger Map

6 comments:

  1. indeed...
    was awful to see this happen on such a beautiful day.
    drivers tend to take to speeds exceeding 30mph and are often unaware of the pedestrian lights situated midway at slip road.
    as a cyclist i use the pedestrian to cross this daily and never the underpass.
    indeed...the driver needs to be punished accordingly...he gambled and lossed.
    my thoughts go out to the cyclist's family&friends.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Clear indication of excess speed as the major impact is with the car roof. The bike is probably immaterial to the collision as a pedestrian would have suffered exactly the same fate. Relatively high speed impacts cause the victim to be lifted over the car rather than running them down. Deepest sympathies to the victim's family.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This was an awful accident. My deepest sympathies go to the victim's family.

    I used to cycle through here myself on my commute and know it's an awful place to cross, whether on a bike or walking.

    I went through here today with my family on the way to the SkyRide and met a couple of ladies from the nearby Redbricks. They'd been selflessly and bravely cleaning up the road after the accident, whilst getting abuse from passing cars!

    The ladies were talking about the improvements being made for cyclists for the route through the Redbricks, which is great. Though there really needs to be improvements made to the Mancunian Way crossings.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tragic news. sympathy to all who new her. We shouldn't judge or assume what happened. Let the police do the investigating and then either release the driver uncharged or refer him to the CPS for prosecution.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jaye was a wonderful person. So lovely, smiley and funny.

    We can't sit idle and let this happen again.

    That corner is awful either in a car, on a bike or as a pedestrian.

    Some traffic calming measures definitely need to be put in place :

    1 A roughened road surface to psychologically make drivers slow down

    2 Making the two lanes into one - getting rid of the added danger of an all too inviting (and unnecessary) overtaking lane, therefore :

    3 Having only one lane feed into the slip road so drivers are forward facing and not driving in their mirrors

    4 Narrowing and slowing paint work on lane to warn motorists of impending traffic lights

    All of these points work together to help keep drivers aware for a safer crossing.

    There can be no excuses for dangerous driving. We can only try to make things better.

    In Jaye's name, let's help make the roads safer.

    Love on you Jaye,
    Steve Cunio

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not making excuses for the driver, but this is a nasty piece of road.

    The Princess Road/Mancunian Way roundabout is a large one with traffic moving far too fast (considering the immediate environment), and at the location of the crossing drivers are often thinking about having to cross lanes to the right up ahead (onto a motorway!) while other cars will be changing in the opposite direction, off the motorway.

    It's ludicrous to have a pedestrian crossing over such a fast busy road, and pretty stupid to have such this kind of road so close to a dense residential area.

    Steve's suggestions (above) are good ones. If the turnings on the roundabout were sharper it might slow the traffic down. But grade separation seems far more sensible where motorway traffic is involved, so it's a shame the underpass is so grim.

    ReplyDelete