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news
Ford on Burroughs Road, Ratby.PNGCouncil being sued by three cyclists injured as they rode through ford
Three cyclists are suing Leicestershire County Council after they were injured as they rode through a ford in a village on the outskirts of Leicester, and are also calling on it to make the location safer for people on bikes.
All three sustained fractures in August this year after coming off their bikes due to a surface beneath the water described as being “more slippery than ice” since it was covered in algae.
The first incident happened on 6 August as Janet Fox, 58, and Kirsty North, 50, were on a bike ride from Leicester.
Neither was familiar with the road the ford lies on, but due to the shallowness of the water and the absence of any other way of crossing, they decided to ride through, with both crashing.
Ms Fox sustained a fractured pelvis, bruising and open wounds to her elbow and hip, while Ms North also sustained a fractured pelvis.
The following day another woman from Leicester was injured as she rode through the ford, having assumed it was a puddle.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, sustained three fractures to her shoulder plus soft tissue injuries to her left knee, right thigh, right elbow and both hands.
They all maintain that a sign warning of the ford was hidden by an overgrown hedge, which also concealed a footbridge for pedestrians.
Bringing an action against the council through law firm Leigh Day, they allege that the council was negligent for failing to maintain, for cyclists, safe passage of the highway, failing to prevent the algae build up, as well as not providing adequate signage warning them of the dangers from the ford.
In a statement the two women injured in the first incident said: “We urge the council to make this section of road safer for everyone. We feel it is impossible for anyone to cross the ford on a bicycle without falling off.
Not only that, the danger it poses is not clear at all, most people would consider a ford safe to cycle over if the water levels are low. There is no way of knowing just how slippery the surface underneath has been allowed to become. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
Ross Whalley, specialist cycling solicitor at law firm Leigh Day, commented: “This ford posed an apparently unavoidable danger to cyclists, motorcyclists and all road users at the time of these incidents.
“The signage was also inadequate and I understand that it has not been changed – but signage itself will not prevent further injury to vulnerable road users if the surface here remains as slippery as ice throughout the year.
“I would urge the council to reconsider the layout of the ford. My clients have heard from a local resident that there have been other incidents at this ford involving cyclists and even a horse rider, such is the danger. I hope that the council listens to their plea and takes action swiftly to prevent other road users coming to harm.”
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.
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50 comments
Seriously, ride through a ford like that side by side? I figure they must have done else the second one would have stopped when the first one fell off. The injuries seem exaggerated to me. I've fallen/crashed loads of times but never broken anything. Lost plenty of skin and been sewn up a couple of times though.
I'm afraid they don't get much sympathy from me.
I have fractured a tibia falling from my bike at low speed; a friend,also falling from his bike at low speed,fractured a collarbone - pedestrian trip and slips can also cause similar injuries.
What do people expect? Would you ride across a riverbed if you weren't up to it and the potential pitfalls?
Wet roads are slippery, moving water has force? There's a footbridge and unless the picture in the story is radically different from the situation at the time of the incident it really isn't too hard to work out what you are dealing with and proceed with the necessary caution.
Now if there were a 3ft scour hole at the bottom of the ford, of which the council had been notified and then failed to close the road, then I'd have more sympathy.
Yes Mungecrundle, but if a car were to cross the ford and then roll over or spin off and crash into a tree, no matter how carefully they were bing driven, destroying said car and putting the occupents in hospital, causing them immense pain for prolonged periods of time, then something might be done about it.
These cyclists are not claiming for damp socks.
occupent [noun] - small woodland creature, often found in packs crossing fords.
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Some things you just need to take your own responsibility for. It's not always someone elses fault.
I'm pretty sure any motorist attempting to claim for water damage whilst err.. fording a ford, would be met with hoots of derision on this site at least.
Fords are lethal, there was one we regularly crossed on our MTB routes and it seemed to be absolutely pot luck whether you made it across in one peice or not.
We eventually realised that it was more fun trying to negotiate the handlebar width pedestrian bridge instead...
The last ford I walked through I almost fell over ! It was rather slippy.
Should have worn a helmet on their hips and elbows.
Councils tend to only consider the motor car, vans and lorries when thinking about roads.
Just look at their pot hole policies.
Those on two wheels, us and the motor cyclists, are a great deal more vulnerable to bad road surfaces.
And the use of road dressing.
Who knew algae formed in water and it is indeed quite slippery? In other news the country is probably going to continue in its downward spiral to depravity after today.
But if you din't know it was a ford but was just a puddle, would you think that Algae would form then?
The streetview was last done in 2012 but the sign on the one route is pretty much covered then by a bush. It doesn't make much imagination that a council saving costs might have also let the footbrige next to a hedge be covered over as well.
I think the relevant bit is
"They all maintain that a sign warning of the ford was hidden by an overgrown hedge, which also concealed a footbridge for pedestrians."
Good luck to them! Council's are so useless these days; always mismanaging other people's money. I hope they are compensated and the council takes road maintenance a little more seriously in future.
There's a ford at the bottom of World's End in North Wales that is infamous for the slippy surface beneath. I've seen people boasting about their ability to ride through it only to come a cropper.
I've always ridden that without any problem - never seen anyone else fall there - but I'm probably going to crash and burn next time I'm there now. I think if you're not alerted to the fact its slippy then you'll probably be OK - if you're worried - you'll tense up.
As to the claims - yes it's a hazard that needs clear signage. End of.
It's huge that one but I've ridden through it every time without issue. You have to have a little bit of momentum and keep it dead straight with weight on the wheels. I've watched others fumble across the "stepping blocks" or through the water in road shoes while carrying their bikes.
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