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news
Warning signDeath of student on charity bike ride leads to calls for better warning signs
The tragic death of a university student who was taking part in a charity bike ride has led to calls for better warning signs on parts of the Downs Link.
University student Pathushan Sutharsan, 20, sadly crashed into the path of a lorry during the ride after trying to brake on a steep section of gravel track.
A coroner warned that the signs in place on the route alerting riders to the 'immediacy' of the A road were 'inadequate'.
It's been confirmed a cyclist who died in a crash with a lorry near Horsham had been taking part in a 120 kilometre charity bike ride.
20-year-old Brighton University student Pathushan Sutharsan died at the scene in Rudgewick last month. #CapitalReports pic.twitter.com/FwWzlfKE91— Capital S Coast News (@CapitalSCNews) August 6, 2020
Mr Sutharsan, from Morden in Surrey, was cycling on the stretch of the Downs Link from Cranleigh towards Southwater when he went down a steep forest track leading to a junction with the A281 near Rudgwick, an inquest heard.
Mr Sutharsan, was hit by the driver of a tipper truck after he tried to brake when approaching the road but was unable to stop in time.
Mr Sutharsan, an architecture student at University of Brighton, had been taking part in a 120km ride from London to Brighton to raise money for people affected by the war in Yemen, The West Sussex County Times report.
Senior coroner Penelope Schofield said: “As he got close to the A281 it appears that he braked but lost control of his bike probably caused by the gravel surface on the track.
“This caused him to fall from his bike with a forward momentum pushing him onto the road directly into the path of a heavy goods vehicle being driven on the A281.
“The signage in place at the time of this accident to warn users on the Downs link of the immediacy of a major A road was inadequate.”
The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 1 hour 22 min ago
If you're feeling a bit dystopian - the stand will be useless because nobody cycles....
- Rendel Harris 1 hour 52 min ago
Wasn't her quote something like "Any man who takes the bus after the age of twenty-five [maybe thirty?] is a failure?...
- andystow 4 hours 43 min ago
Based on my experience with the Hunt wheels, I might do a review on their durability in three or four years.
- Destroyer666 9 hours 9 min ago
"...the beeswax-based covering magically shuns off whatever might be lurking in the corners. Even after multiple rides, when the bars rattled about...
- David9694 10 hours 32 min ago
t-boned
- Rendel Harris 11 hours 52 min ago
I didn't know the blue RA saddle was a holy grail - I had a 1986 RA bought new in 1987 with a blue saddle that lasted me very well until 2002 when...
- newbankgyratory 12 hours 2 min ago
Solution: Put these up everywhere. Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/traffic-signs
- Rendel Harris 12 hours 59 min ago
Glad you like it - this week was the first proper commuting week since I got it, 250kms nice and warm but not boiled, indeed - and when the...
- Rendel Harris 14 hours 32 min ago
As what you have said is demonstrably untrue, given that the event is organised and has been for the last four years by a professional events...
- Steve K 16 hours 16 min ago
I'm there now too, if anyone wants a follow/wants to follow me. @cyclingtheseaso
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9 comments
I've done the BHF London to Brighton off road event a few times, though I don't remember this junction. I do remember BHF event support were very thorough and put attendents at dangerous points to warn cyclists, such as a drop off in the middle of the woods. Maybe this wasn't the BHF event.
Is the Downs Link a permanent cycle route? A 'steep forest track' with a gravel surface, doesn't sound like great infrastructure.
Also, I took it the the Coroner was criticising the permanent signage and not the charity/sportive temp signs.
Whatever, still a sad story.
EDIT: Wikipedia is my friend https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downs_Link
Yes, it's an old railway track from Shoreham by Sea to Guildford, which I've ridden a couple of times.
It suffers from having had most of its bridges over roads removed, so you get these drops and climbs on to an off the route.
If these down ramps are so steep that stopping before the road is in doubt, then they should be tarmacced.
I wonder how many others have failed to stop before going into the road, but been lucky there was nothing coming.
As David9694 says the missing bridge at Rudgwick creates two of the steepest sections of the Downs Link; they're short but very steep and emerge directly onto a part of the A281 where most drivers are doing 50mph.
There are better signs now but it's very easy to miss the junction or see it late. The surface is loose and quite broken up and rutted due to lots of people having to brake on it.
I rode through not long after this happened and saw the flowers left by the side of the road. My sincere condonlences to the family of Pathushan Sutharsan.
Is it this path?
https://goo.gl/maps/rQinKfh55d6GeHbe8
From the descriptions of direction of travel etc, it could have been the path on the other side with the gates. Doesn't look as steep as the one you point to but also probably more misleading because of that.
Indeed I was not sure if I understood the description of direction of travel correctly. It's hard to identify such locations on Streetview or see how steep the paths are. One would really need the view from the path, not from the road, but Google ist quite car-focussed and many other paths are not even in it. (Openstreetmap is much better but doesn't have a view).
My thoughts are with the family and friends of Pathushan Sutharsan.