Tour of Flanders: Belgian judges investigate Johan Vansummeren crash that left woman in coma - but who was to blame?

@zanth, mrkeith, nicholassmith: The video can be paused to reveal that Van Summeren bunny hopped: he did not crash into the island. It can also be seen that he moved out of the stream of cyclists onto the hash markings many metres earlier.

@ notfastenough: "The riders aren't obliged to travel at a safe speed and give consideration to other road users in the way you would on an open road"; true, but they are obliged to follow the rules of racing, and the rule about remaining on the road, and not hopping across kerbs, has received particular emphasis this season. The rule might be much ignored, but breaking it still greatly damages ones defence against culpability charges if an accident occurs while the road is being broken. Few drivers stick to the 30mph limit on most of our roads, but if it can be established that they were in excess of that speed at the time of an accident, they cannot claim a "no fault" accident.

It is difficult to conclude that this is not a calculated risk on Van Summeren's part that was miscalculated: riders aim for marginal gaps all the time, so what he did is not very different from what many riders do in any race you care to mention.

Racing without risk is impossible: it comes down to risk management without changing the nature of the sport and the spectator experience so much that they are no longer attractive.

When the 2007 TdF passed through Kent, I watched at Tunbridge Wells: for the whole morning, crossing was only possible on controlled crossings about half a mile apart, and there were barriers. This degree of shepherding is not going to be acceptable mid-route in countries more deeply imbued with cycling tradition. But equally, where interest is higher, elbow pressure to get a good viewing point is higher, and organisers must assume that any advantageous point that is not expressly forbidden, or physically obstructed, will be utilised.

Riders surely have hefty insurance cover (even CTC membership carries £10m worth of liability cover), so hopefully this lady's future needs can be met. For such funds to be accessed, presumably culpability must be ascertained. But culpability does not have to lead to sanction, and nothing is to be gained by seeking to sanction Van Summeren here.

The UCI has contributed to this tragic accident everytime it has ignored kerb jumping and footpath use, and everytime it has licensed a race that is insufficiently marshalled: that should be the starting point for investigations that will have real consequences.

I wonder if the spectators standing on the island disguised the fact that there was an island there. Tooling along in a pack that's dividing and you see people in front of you might well, with a moment's inattention be seen as other riders in front of you.

Best wishes for speedy recoveries to both.

The question surely is; why was the woman allowed to spectate there, in such a precarious place, with the peloton speeding past inches away?

Surely a case to answer for bad safety practice, on behalf of the organisers?

Poor woman, looked a daft place to stand but more worrying was the young child stood on the island

A sorry situation but a well-written article I thought, well done. Interesting to read the Belgian legal perspective. And the varying carefully-reasoned legal opinions in the comments, of course.

The article comment that the victim of the collision should be found liable takes the p*ss. It was a raised kerb traffic island in a hatched marked road immediately after a roundabout.

It was a vulnerable spot for cycling savvy spectators in light of the common rider practise of bunny hoping over, across, hazards which is why organisers/marshals should have foreseen the risk, cordoned it off and warned the riders of the hazard. The fact that they didn't does not in my view justify blaming the victim who would reasonably assume that riders would stick to the road even when racing.

Spectators should not have been there on the traffic island in the first place...end of story. Johan not at fault.

It does look like from the video he just didn't see where the island was, I'd guess due to the speed and bulk of pack of riders and he couldn't move back in or across. The spectators look reasonably safe where they are, it's not like rally where you're often feet away from tons of metal doing 60/70mph, this just looks like pure bad luck.

The video is nuts, it's as if the guy in the red shirt didn't notice it at first. I can only assume there was a bit of shock involved and it took them a few seconds to process it through.

This is awful, really hope she recovers fully and quickly.

The blame game, meanwhile, is silly. The riders aren't obliged to travel at a safe speed and give consideration to other road users in the way you would on an open road; it's closed, for the specific purpose of allowing him and a bunch of others the opportunity of travelling as quickly as possible. The only responsibility you could apportion is to the requirement for marshalling.

As said above, this is a lot like watching the rally cars - you take your position, but there are risks involved.

Hold Vansummeren liable??! WTF! At best the organisers if it was not flagged. Sadly, a very vulnerable position to be standing but it could still happen if a rider gets forced to the road side...I certainly wouldn't have had my child on that traffic island. Very tragic.

"In my opinion, the liability of the woman could be criminalised. She was situated in an insecure location in the middle of the road where the group goes at more than 50kph, very close to the spectators"

Hmmm no....... This is part of the beauty of cycling, fans can get within yards of the race and observe it close up. The woman was within a point of refuge, behind an item of street furniture, how could she foresee what happened.

This is an sad accident but I do not see how she can be liable, nor Vansummeren. As far as I see it it comes down to whether the island should have been marshalled, and if so liability lay with the organisor no-one else.

Awful. I hope both make a full recovery. The blame game can start after.

The Dutch versions have a quote from the procurator which is not in the English version from deredactie.be. :

“Omdat het om een aanrijding van een zwakke weggebruikster gaat, volgen er eventueel ook vervolgingen.”

→ "As it involves a collision with weaker road-user, there may be a prosecution in due course."

Also, the building visible in the background in the video / screenshot seems to be the Quickstep factory in between Ooigem and Wielsbeke.

It was this picture that got me. Both lying there, she's KO'd with her eyes open, that shows how quick things are happening.

Garmin guy is looking over JVS but looks more concerned about the woman.

I can't apportion blame to the women or Johan. Things happen, but yes, there should have been a marshal there

Health and safety gone mad.

It's a road race with cyclists travelling at great speed. If you're the sort of fan that watches from the middle of the road, you almost certainly know that and are accepting of the risk that poses.

Surely this has to go down as a racing incident with no one to blame, despite what the ambulance chasers think/hope.

Thoughts are with the lady concerned for a full recovery.

I saw the footage from the side of the road that was mentioned, it was horrific, there really should have been a marshall there. Even if those spectators hadn't have been there, the speed Vansummeren hit that island it would have still been bad.

Quote:

Following the incident, some people on social networks such as Twitter queried why there was not a flag marshal at the location to warn riders of the hazard.

One reason is may be that the sheer volume of road furniture on the route of the race means it would be impossible to station someone at every single potential obstacle.

I'm not inclined to believe thats the case. Watching the race later on, they had police marshalling singular parked cars along the road for instance, giving the impression they had plenty of marshals.

Hopefully the woman will make a full recovery and this doesnt haunt Vansummeren too much.

This photo shows his front rim badly smashed so I guess he hit the kerb