Listening to music on iPhone may have led to cyclist's death, says coroner

Having had a big accident with a car in recent weeks, resulting with a helmet with a big dent in it and my head being practically the only bit of me un-injured, I couldn't be more thankful to have been wearing one. Quote all the statistics and hypothetical scenarios you like.  

If she had a fractured skull, surely a helmet may of been of some use in this particular accident?

I get people may not want to wear helmets, I can't say I wear one 'all' the time, tbh I think I've only come off twice on a road bike, one of those times being a blow-out and the other a comedy can't unclip to fall off. In general though I do wear one but it's a bit like insurance, a waste of money most years.

If you're not wearing on because you somehow think cyclists just don't suffer head injuries you're a bit daft though. Even an ultra-hard bastard like BMXer Mat Hoffman rode full kitted up most times. There's no shame in it. Maybe it's all about not flattening your hair or something?

The simple answer is "we just don't know" it may have helped, it may not.
My personal take on what the coroner said about helmets was in relation to the skull fracture.
Just been listening to radio 5 and they have been discussing this case re headphones. It was quite interesting to hear other people's views.

A helmet would clearly have helped, stop being silly guys.

Very sad that a fall caused such injuries. Condolences to the family, it is very sad.

Everyone has heard the anti helmet rant a million times already. Considering the poor woman was killed, are people really arguing that wearing a helmet would somehow have made things worse?

I'll continue to be one of the 'utterly stupid and easily led' thanks.

Why do these people feel the need to stick the knife in....

What has been confirmed...

 - There was no evidence the lorry hit the cyclist

 - the lorry had right of way and from all accounts was driving within acceptable speeds and awareness

- For whatever reason, the cyclist failed to give way to the lorry until already on the roundabout, and in an attempt to stop, fell from the bike. 

Everything else is just guess work. Its not needed. 

downesdesign wrote:

Tragic, of course, but this just underscores how foolish it is to be wearing headphones whilst cycling. All senses need to be fully engaged with the immediate environment, which should be bloody obvious to anyone who's ever ridden a bike in any kind of traffic.

I am all for agitating for the rights of cyclists, but some among us are still out there doing fundamentally stupid things  (just like car drivers) for which there can be no defence.

Except that when car drivers do stupid things they usually don't die as a consequence (often someone else does, though).

To me it rather underscores how foolish it is to design roads this way. Where a small error leads to death.

Personally I don't use headphones on the bike because of the potential distraction/loss of concentration (rather than the need to hear). It pisses me off because I really _want_ to (to the degree that I sometimes walk just so I can), and drivers have no such compunction about their extensive in-car (audio and visual) entertainment systems.

The fact that the roads as they are require such a level of concentration just in order to not die, is kind of the problem with them.

I listen to Podcasts using basic apple earphones and can easily hear a Lorry or car behind me ... sounds like someone trying to justify an idea never proved.

Surely the problem is that she didn't look before entering the roundabout? Hearing is very much a secondary sense when cycling/driving and plenty of people manage to do either activity safely whilst  being hearing impaired. Is the coroner implying that deaf people shouldn't be able to get a driving license or be allowed to ride a bike?

I don't listen to surrounding when I riding, its pointless

I use 6th sense to detecting surrounding, like an animal instinct

Its hard to explains, 90% of time, I able to detect "what" is behind me or from side way and that enough for me to avoid it

Professor Marks concluded: 'I accept this was an entirely avoidable incident and the cause of the events that lead up to the accident rest entirely with the cyclist.

Having now read other reporting of the coroner's report it would appear that the lorry and the cyclist were entering the roundabout from the same direction. The coroner's comment above would suggest that the lorry arrived at the roundabout first and the cyclist passed up the nearside of it; if the cyclist was in front of the lorry approaching the roundabout, even if they arrived at the same time then surely the coroner's comment above is incorrect and the driver of the lorry must be expected to have seen her. I'm struggling to get my head around the lack of consideration given to the position of both the lorry and the cyclist approaching the roundabout prior to the incident.

Agree with the comments, the coroner is speculating quite unhelpfully about helmets and headphones contributing here. Yes it sounds like the cyclist made a tragic mistake but there doesn't seem to be enough detail about the build up to the accident or physical interaction with the street funiture or lorry itself to understand the sequence of events.

Anyone who's riden 'at speed' knows the wind noise can blot out noise more than headphones can anyway.

Without the evidence to show that headphones and (lack of) helmet contributed, the conjecture about helmets and headphones do seem add further 'victim blaming ' which may not be warranted.

The corner seems very sure in his assumptions doesn't he...

Sounds as though the poor woman took a 'silly tumble' at low speed, and just landed awkwardly and twister her neck.

RIP

The article above suggests that the coroner makes a lot of assumptions about the actions of the cyclist which may have contributed towards her death. The report does not make any mention of similar assumptions to be made about the driver of the other vehicle involved e.g. was the driver looking at sat. nav.? or maybe a map? distracted by something in the cab? looking out for other road users?

Never mind all the red herrings - bell, reflector, assembly fault on a bicycle regularly used for two years - where was the lorry in it's approach before the incident and why didn't the driver see the cyclist? The lorry was either already on the roundabout or was approaching alongside the cyclist  - but that information appears to have been omitted from the article above. Surely this information was available to the coroner and surely the question must be asked - why did the driver not see the cyclist in his approach to the roundabout? This seems relevant to me.

I know it's not a popular viewpoint, but guess what, sometimes even cyclists can make poor decisions. In my opinion, riding on a busy road, with no lid, wearing headphones, on a poorly set up / maintained bike,  is a poor decision or three.

classic victim blaming... how far they can go to praise the petrol consuming vehicles?

Tragic, can't understand why there is so much emphasis on the run up to the fall and so little about why a fall of this type should end up being fatal. Was the street furniture involved in anyway, tall kerbs? Etc etc 

awful and tragic to die just falling off RIP

Earbuds do not block out all noise as has been mentioned. Extremely loud volume may mask vehicle noise but then that's down to a lack of sensibility of the user.

If I don't use my Bluetooth ear buds when out on a ride then as soon as I hit 12mph+ all I hear is feckin wind noise that's so loud it masks approaching vehicle sounds. That's probably due to living in a flat, windy county and having large ears that stick out a bit.

When I put my earbuds in and have low to moderate background music I actually hear more around me as the earbuds eliminate the wind noise almost entirely and I pick up approaching vehicle noise earlier.

Used sensibly and carefully earbuds can be ok but you have to be disciplined regarding their use.

RIP cyclist.

I don't entirely understand what happened.

Cyclist rides onto roundabout without looking. Doesn't see a lorry "exiting" the roundabout (by which I presume is meant that it was already on the roundabout coming from her right).

Cyclist panics, "something" happens (brakes lock up?), she comes off with enough force to kill her but didn't come into contact with the lorry.

Is that about right? 

(I'll pass over what possible relevance there is of her having a loose bell and no front reflector).

Tragic, of course, but this just underscores how foolish it is to be wearing headphones whilst cycling. All senses need to be fully engaged with the immediate environment, which should be bloody obvious to anyone who's ever ridden a bike in any kind of traffic.

I am all for agitating for the rights of cyclists, but some among us are still out there doing fundamentally stupid things  (just like car drivers) for which there can be no defence.