AA's pothole warning coincides with news of inquest into cyclist's death

Here in Sefton we have our council patching cracks in the pavement around trees whilst the potholed road next to said trees remains unpatched. I wonder if Sefton Council are working to some pre bad winter schedule rather than revisiting roads at public request and prioritising bad areas.

I've been trying to get work done on a patch of road for over 2 years now and even my local MP cannot get a response from the council.

As for the great helmet debate my original simple test question still suffices. I will fire you from a cannon at a brick wall head first. 'One question? Would you like a helmet or not?"

We can't know but maybe if she'd worn a helmet, she'd have died of a broken neck or other internal injuries. Who knows.

The road repairs in all of Somerset are awful. Some roads are worse after their repairs because they appear to have been botched: fills and patches not smoothed, patch edges not sealed, small potholes near large ones just left unfilled and then surface-dressed, surface-dressing the verge but leaving a gap in the middle. You name a way to bodge a road repair, it happens in Somerset lately. The contractors seem to be left largely unattended - because of council cuts, perhaps?

It's a shame she was only 67 with many more cycling years ahead of her. But,she died doing what she enjoyed and staying fit and healthy too.
I think it's too harsh to blame the council for every pothole on every back lane - it's impossible to cover all the nations roads in fresh smooth tarmac all of the time.
Cycling has it's risks and adults manage those risks as they see fit. I, like many others, have toured for years on lanes and poor roughstuff tracks. I've never worn a helmet, I've come off quite a few times but I know the risks and act accordingly. I imagine she did too, but we can't all get it right all the time.
Life/death just ain't like that.

When my time comes, I think I'd rather go in a high speed cycling accident such as this, than as a gibbering wreck in an OAP's home.
To raise the odds of that, I shall continue not to wear a helmet and enjoy myself as much as possible by cycling as fast as I possibly can at all times!

I hope I still have Margaret's spirit when I'm 67.

I'm in no way suggesting the COD is not wearing a helmet, I understand that lid or not its a call that everyone is entitled to, but if you know your route and know that you may be going down hill at 35mph, potholes or not, i find it mad you would not choose to stick a lid on "just incase"

The state of the roads are shocking, you should try cycling up here where we had the most snow and coldest temperatures over the winter last year and with cut backs to the council, they are never going to catch up on the amount of repairs that NEED to happen, some of the roads i'm having to treat as a slalom

BUT alas the snow has started here again and its time to dust the trainer out, more miles indoor and only long rides out doors, i'm not risking myself on short rides -25 miles when i can do more on the trainer and be safer

I agree with arrieredupeleton. Taking a big risk to do 35mph down a country lane in the UK. I usually assume that the road surface is suspect on roads I don't know. Mind you, wisdom of hindsight and all that....

The potholes on the roads out here are shockingly bad and were especially early this year - don't be in any doubt Gkam that that's what killed her. The fact that the poor woman also managed to have a serious crash a long way from an A&E trauma unit can't have helped - we were gobsmacked when we read she was taken to Bath for treatment.

To be honest starting to talk about whether she was wearing a helmet or not is getting dangerously close to blaming the victim. Last time I looked failure to wear a lid while riding on country lanes with your spouse was not a capital offence.

Us mentioning in the article that she wasn't wearing a helmet was purely because it was an issue addressed by the court. On a story in which a cyclist died from anything other than head injuries, the likelihood is we wouldn't have mentioned it all. While the corner will have taken it in to account It's also worth pointing out that he doesn't appear to have made anything of it in his summing up

Personally I'd rather concentrate on the shocking state of the nation's roads and the fact that the worst motorists are likely to suffer is damaged suspension while for cyclists the dangers are a lot greater - helmet or no helmet.

They were aged 67 and 70 and descending at 35mph down a country road in the UK in the early spring following the worst winter for over 30 years. Whilst its an extremely sad story, I think they failed to take reasonable precautions. Sorry to sound matter of fact but I think its just a tragic accident where the poor lady was aware of the risks.

The implication seems to be that we cyclists have a right to a decent road surface. In an ideal world we should but county councils are struggling to keep on top of potholes from last winter in my experience. The sooner we report new ones the better.

Safe riding everyone.

Quote:

A coroner’s inquest has heard of how a 67-year-old was when she was thrown of her bike after hitting a pothole...

What was she?

Jebus, here we go again...

The thing that grabs me from this report is not the potholes because i can't got 100 meters up here without seeing a patch of them

Its the fact they didn't wear helmets because of a report saying they were "ineffective at speeds of 12mph or more" So most of their cycling must have been done above that speed for them to choose not to wear them?

I don't care at what speed i'm cycling, a helmet is still going to take some of the impact if my head hits the road, madness not to wear one