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The EVO-fit of Malcolm Cottam issued by police as they tried to identify himHeart disease may have contributed to rider's crash death on Dronfield bypass
The death of a cyclist who took a week to be identified after he was killed in a crash on the Dronfield bypass last year has been found to be an accident, with heart disease a possible contributing factor.
Malcolm Cottam, 67, died of “catastrophic” injuries after being hit by a car on the A61.
Mr Cottam was riding along the southbound carriageway when he drifted into the road.
The Sheffield Telegraph's Michael Broomhead reports that Mr Cottam may have suffered a lapse in concentration due to heart disease that caused him to drift out into the lane.
Chesterfield coroners’ court heard on Tuesday how Laura Colland was driving her Citreon C3 down the bypass at about 3.20pm on July 31 when she saw Mr Cottam.
She tried to move into the outside lane but was prevented by another vehicle. As she moved back in, Mr Cottam swerved into the carriageway.
Coroner James Newman said: “As a result of these two movements – him moving out, her moving back in – there was a meeting and he suffered catastrophic, multiple injuries.”
Pathologist Dr Andrew Hitchcock said tests revealed Mr Cottam had ischemic heart disease.
He added: “Given the pressure his heart was under at the time, it’s possible he suffered from an acute cardiac event.”
Police found no mechanical problems with the car or bike, and there were no defects with the road or wind that might have caused Mr Cottam to swerve.
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Mr Newman said: “Why did he move out?
“The most likely reason was a loss of concentration due to some medical event.
“He may not have shown any symptoms of heart problems but he did have significant heart disease.
“That’s the most likely reason but it’s not proven.”
At the inquest, Mr Cottam’s family said: “Malcolm was a very fit person who had ridden on the Dronfield bypass for about 20 years.
“He was an experienced cyclist and loved getting out and about on his bike.
“He was a very active man and always loved to be among people – he was always doing something.
“We loved him – he was great.
“He’s missed by all his family and friends and indeed the community.”
Malcolm Cottam was not identified until a week after his death, following a witness appeal by Derbyshire police involving the release of an EVO-fit image and pictures of the bike and equipment he was using.
A retired teacher, Mr Cottam lived alone, and had not been reported missing.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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46 comments
You would think that, and I normally ride the quietest roads I can, but the actual experience of riding on a dual carriageway in rush hour shows me it is better than some other roads.
"Bike vs Car issues will always exist with these kind of attitudes"
I have read the article quite some time previously. The fact is that cyclists who behave perfectly responsibly are being killed so the problem is not with the victims. If every cyclist was trained to Level 3 Bikeability and concentrated 100% of the time and never broke the law in any way the death toll would only be reduced marginally because cyclists are only to blame in a small percentage of collisions. What you call a "rounded perspective" is simply victim-blaming.
Glad you've read it - not surprised to be proven right in my assumption from your previous blinkered comments that it wouldn't change your viewpoint.
You flatter yourself and assume a lot. In the fight for justice you are part of the problem. The lawyer you so admire is part of the system which desperately needs changing.
Ok, point proven methinks... Which is sadly that the lawyer and anyone else with a shred of common sense is fighting a losing battle on this score
Yep, you continue to flatter yourself while failing to respond to the points I have made.
I don't know about flattering myself but I haven't responded to any points because I don't believe you've made any. You have successfully proved my point though, which is that a fair proportion of cyclists dont believe or pig-headedly refuse to accept that they can do anything to positively influence drivers behaviour.
Sure, most crashes are caused by drivers and impact innocent cyclists. it doesn't take a genius to work that out.
The point you are "making" there is pretty obvious, the point you are missing is that if cyclists as a whole acted more courteously and pragmatically (forget the legalities, you are never going to come off better in an accident) it would have a knock-on effect and actually make drivers more likely to give a monkeys about them as a whole. There appears to be a rather pig-headed .attitude where a fair few cyclists think its ok to be inconsiderate and ride double file where it's inappropriate and any number of other in my view unnecessary acts that give cyclist bad vibes with motorists. If this didn't happen so much, I don't think its too naiive to say that some innocent lives would be saved
As I stated earlier your focus on the behaviour of the victim is inappropriate. Many drivers are ignorant and falsely believe that a cyclist in primary position for example, is unnecessarily hindering their progress and so a punishment pass results. Of course cyclists could avoid some conflict by deferring to every driver. Your argument is that the motorist is more powerful and the cyclist should submit to the law of the jungle. All you have done is to engage in classic victim-blaming behaviour, the type of thing we have traditionally seen with domestic abuse and rape victims. Let's look at what you have said applied to that scenario:
I don't know about flattering myself but I haven't responded to any points because I don't believe you've made any. You have successfully proved my point though, which is that a fair proportion of women dont believe or pig-headedly refuse to accept that they can do anything to positively influence male violence.
Sure, most domestic abuse cases are caused by men and impact innocent women. it doesn't take a genius to work that out.
The point you are "making" there is pretty obvious, the point you are missing is that if women as a whole acted more courteously and pragmatically (forget the legalities, you are never going to come off better in a conflict) it would have a knock-on effect and actually make men more likely to give a monkeys about them as a whole. There appears to be a rather pig-headed .attitude where a fair few women think its ok to be inconsiderate and appear to disrespect men where it's inappropriate and any number of other in my view unnecessary acts that give women bad vibes with men. If this didn't happen so much, I don't think its too naiive to say that some innocent lives would be saved
Thats an interesting analogy you've come up with there. I think you are stretching it somewhat beyond the bounds of credibility with the domestic abuse/rape comparisons though! Even so - all are emotive and complex topics with no easy solution, as we all know.
I'm certainly not engaging in "victim blaming" - i fully recognise that many many drivers are fully in the wrong.
Nothing good comes out of one-sided 'us versus them" viewpoints however. Automatically assuming the worst about "the accused" is not a great starting point to solving any of these matters - and expressing dismay about that is the where my original comments on this thread began.
There are things that cyclists can directly influence and do to provoke more harmony. At least the lawyer in the article i linked to is trying in a small way to achieve this through positive action.
I don't see you or anyone else offering any other solutions?
There are lots of solutions to reduce the killing and injuring and bullying of people on bicycles by motorists but victim-blaming is not one of them. I have already mentioned segregated infrastructure and better policing which you have conveniently forgotten about.
A lot of people have offered solutions to the problem of motor-supremacism but you are most certainly not one of them. I hope you behave more responsibly in the future.
If this wasn't such a sad and widespread issue that comment would be hilarious.
You've missed the point (again) and your pretty pathetic attempt to deflect your one-sided and very self-centred attitude into accusations of "victim blaming" (and laughable parallels with domestic abuse and rape) just shows the full extent of the problem and challenge for those that are trying to improve matters.
You need to live in the real world - sure segregated infrastructure and better policing would help hugely but I'm talking about day to day action and attitudes that cyclists can and should influence and enact immediately. You're a cyclist (i think) - you must have heard of "marginal gains"…
But you are?
So cyclists are riding double file when it's "inappropriate" (never mind any concerns about the fact that such a concept is legally undefined) and that's leading to cyclists dying. That sounds a lot like blaming the victim.
Oooh, someone mentioned cyclists riding double file (in the context of a much wider discussion) - lets wade in and call it 'victim blaming" and dredge up a load of laughable parallels with rape and domestic abuse.
And lets throw in the old chestnut about cyclists legal rights too.
How utterly ridiculous, predictable and symptomatic.
I think I'll bow out of this thread having proved (or provoked) what i thought would be the response
(rolls eyes and shakes head)
"Bike vs Car issues will always exist with these kind of attitudes"
No, bike v car issues will always exist while motorists continue to kill innocent people on bicycles and justice continues not to be done.
You're both right of course, and people being people, this stuff isn't ever going to change. The underlying problem is that there's a dual carriageway without safe cycle provision alongside.
The underlying problem is that motorists are killing people. The solution is to provide safe and convenient infrastructure for people on bicycles and to make motorists behave responsibly.
Precisely the kind of one-sided blinkered viewpoint that is fueling the problem still further.
Both things you mention are obviously true, what you ignore is the role cyclists can play in this. Read the article I linked to, it might give you a more rounded perspective - . somehow I doubt it however...
Why is it that every time a motorist kills a cyclist, the cyclist had inexplicably swerved out in front? It is such a pity that the victim is no longer available to confirm the assertion, so as to remove the heavy burden of doubt which hangs over the innocent driver.
The article says he swerved, definitely, no question, no doubt. But no evidence is mentioned.
John, read the comments and amend the article to remove the claim or support it with reasoning. We're all cyclists and hope not to read drivers' unsupported excuses as fact here, if that's the situation.
I'm not going to comment on the incident but do have a general rule of thumb for road riding. If I can comfortably do at least half the speed limit of the road then I'll travel on it. If not, forget it.
Agreed with MrZ, why would you put yourself on a dual carriageway when there should be alternatives nearby?
Why any cyclist would either want or need to use a Dual Carriageway escapes me. By definition they aware full of very big and dangerous lumps of metal moving very fast. Who cares about the legalities and Highway Code, why bother in the first place?
Dual carriageway:
http://goo.gl/maps/bgpD4
Completely irrelevant to the topic at hand - and pedantically typical of most of the comments on this thread. Bike vs Car issues will always exist with these kind of attitudes,. Time for some pragmatism, we'd all be better off (and safer).
This woman has the right idea - and she's a liability lawyer and former pro bike racer
http://www.outsideonline.com/1930211/bikes-vs-cars-deadly-war-nobodys-wi...
Most roads are big and full of very heavy vehicles. It doesn't matter What road you are on, if the other people also on it can't drive or are not paying attention then it is going to be a problem.
I have a choice of routes to get to work, one of which involves some dual carriageway. I get close passes on this road, but probably less than the A road that is another option. I see more drivers making more of an effort to pass properly on the dual carriageway than on the A road. It also has a better surface and much less chance of dicks pulling out in front of you than the A road.
Fair enough and I wish you all the best with this view. My comment was simply based on the fact that the speed limit is higher and I suspect most car drivers are much less likely to be looking out for cyclists on a dual carriageway. I know where I'd rather ride if I can help it
I occasionally use the Dronfield bypass early on a Saturday morning to ride to Sheffield to meet my clubmates for a ride.
It's a fast road and even when there is little traffic, a minority of motorists do not pull into the adjacent lane even though it is empty. The lanes are quite wide and it easy to see how this accident happened if the poor cyclist had a swerved and the driver was trying to squeeze through rather than give the rider adequate space.
FWIW I try and avoid it at other times of day as it is a very busy and I would rather take my chances on the old road.
I tend to think that most issues on the road come from 2 unpleasant human traits - selfishness and impatience
In this case the driver attempted an overtake without changing lanes first. Sounds like both to me.
At the very least they should be facing some charges so that the justice system can come into force. Then again some of the court stories on here leave me stunned as well
Around christmas time I was driving on an A road behind a cyclist - he was on the shoulder and I was waiting for an opportunity to pass. He was going quite fast, totally unexpectedly and suddenly he just came off on the ice - ended up sprawled in the middle of my lane. I often think about it and what would have happened if I wasn't paying attention or hadn't managed to stop in time. It would have been catastrophic for him. I would have been fine, well, physically at least.
When driving around cyclists I think you have the responsibility to assume that at any moment for any reason they may end up in front of you - you have to adjust accordingly, leave more following distance, slow down so you can stop in time, or pass them safely. But you have to adjust around them.
Drivers are supposed to give cyclists the same amount of room as a small car because any number of factors can cause a cyclist to swerve suddenly. This driver didn't leave enough room and didn't use her brakes correctly to avoid hitting him. As my okd rugby coach use to say when we used the "I couldn't stop" line to excuse a late tackle, "could you have stopped if it was an HGV" The answer was always yes. The legal system need to start applying this rule of thumb when someone is hit from behind.
Drivers are supposed to give cyclists the same amount of room as a small car because any number of factors can cause a cyclist to swerve suddenly. This driver didn't leave enough room and didn't use her brakes correctly to avoid hitting him. As my okd rugby coach use to say when we used the "I couldn't stop" line to excuse a late tackle, "could you have stopped if it was an HGV" The answer was always yes. The legal system need to start applying this rule of thumb when someone is hit from behind.
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