The latest news from cycling-friendly York

A HAIRDRESSER who shattered her jaw after cycling into a pothole in York has won £7,360 damages from council bosses.

Lauren Wilkinson, then 17, was travelling to work at a salon in Whitby Drive, Heworth, in May 2006, when her front wheel went into the pothole, London’s Civil Appeal Court heard yesterday. She hurtled head-first over the handlebars on to the road, fracturing her lower jaw in two places. Miss Wilkinson and her boyfriend surveyed the site of the accident afterwards and found the pothole was four centimetres deep and 30cm wide.

She initially won her damages claim at York County Court in September 2009, when a district judge awarded her £7,360 damages and criticised the council’s failure to carry out sufficiently regular inspections on the road. However, he ruled Miss Wilkinson 50 per cent to blame in failing to keep a proper look-out. The council challenged the finding, insisting it should not be held responsible at all – and a circuit judge ruled in the local authority’s favour at Leeds Crown Court in February last year.

Upholding her appeal, Lord Justice Toulson said: “The obligation to maintain the highway is a fundamental obligation of very long standing.” He said the circuit judge was wrong to “interfere” with the ruling of the district judge who had made firm findings of fact after hearing the evidence. The district judge had found that the council should have carried out regular inspections on Whitby Drive at least every six months, if not every three months.

Lord Justice Toulson said: “This was a road which served a broader population. The district judge was fully entitled to conclude that it was the sort of road for which an inspection once a year was inadequate.”

A cycle route in winter

The light at this time of year brings out the sheer quality of Waltham Forest’s prize winning cycle routes.

Essex Road E17.

And on the adjacent footway there’s another little celebration of the success which Kier and the council have in jointly working to bring about clean streets.

Yup, the London Borough of Waltham Forest where even the garbage comes with an uplifting slogan.

Money cut for pothole repairs

The blight of potholes and cracked pavements is likely to get worse after Boris Johnson froze funding for local road maintenance [in Greater London].

The Mayor is reducing the money boroughs get for small-scale projects, including street repairs, by 22 per cent.

The amount given to local authorities by Transport for London will fall from £169 million in 2009/10 to £132 million in 2013/14.

Green Assembly member Darren Johnson said: “Local authorities are being squeezed by a combination of cuts imposed directly by central government and cuts passed on by the Mayor. Some of this pain could have been avoided if Boris had kept the estimated £55 million generated by the western extension of the congestion charge.”

Potholes? Nuffink to do with the council, mate

Mr Prior hit the pothole on Lockwood Road in March. His fall left him with a cracked rib and black bruises on his back. He was also in pain for a couple of months.

But, after making a complaint to Kirklees Council six months ago, he’s just been told they’re not liable.

Sky Ride: the day after

Let’s imagine you are from the London Borough of Waltham Forest, were not previously a cyclist, and went on London Sky Ride. Newly enthused by the experience you return to your borough and the next day you try out this cycling lark.

And what larks!

Go shopping in Walthamstow High Street and you’ll find attractive and convenient cycle parking…



























For that trip into central London there’s the very popular Lea Bridge Road commuter route with its ‘Tate Modern’ potholes…





























And exploring the quiet back streets you can discover for yourself the exciting concept of permeability. The council closes off roads to through traffic, but the two kerbs and the grass represent no problem at all for a Sky Ride cyclist. It’s what mountain bikes were made for.


























(Vernon Road E17, Lea Bridge Road by the junction with Hitcham Road, Alexandra Road/Longfellow Road closure. All pics taken yesterday.)

Crap cycling in Haringey

A CYCLIST knocked unconscious after crashing into a pothole has spoken out about the "awful" state of Haringey's roads.

Nadia Wilkinson, 32, of Topsfield Close, Crouch End, said she cannot remember the incident which saw her hurled over her bike's handlebars and land on her face when her wheel caught in a gaping pothole in nearby Park Road at the end of last month.

[Rob Ainsley should look away now.]

"The only good thing to come of it is that people are more helmet conscious now."

Survived Afghanistan, killed cycling in England

An Army officer died after being hit by a lorry while swerving on his bicycle to avoid a massive pothole a council had refused to repair, an inquest heard today.

Captain Jonathan Allen, 29, who had recently returned from Afghanistan, suffered major head injuries in the collision on the A338. He was cycling the 'dangerous' eight-mile route in the rain from his Tidworth barracks to his home near Burbage, Wiltshire, when the accident happened. It is thought Mr Allen, who had served in the army for eight years, did not see the pothole until the last minute and swerved to avoid it.

The hole, at the Leckford crossroads, Tidworth, was reported to Wiltshire County Council by a concerned driver three weeks earlier and inspected.

But under the criteria used by the town hall, it was 0.2in too shallow and not wide enough to be repaired within seven days, the hearing in Salisbury was told.

The real problem is expecting cyclists to use lethal A roads like this (below). The scope for Dutch-style cycle paths is blindingly obvious from this photograph but still no one in the world of transport or organised cycle campaigning wants to accept the simple truth: if you want mass cycling and safe cycling you’ll have to do it the Dutch way. Everything else, including the wearisome cycle helmet debate, ‘cycle superhighways’ and bike hire, is a massive diversion.

Woman brought off her bike by Crouch End pothole

A WOMAN cyclist was hospitalised with serious face injuries after crashing into a "dangerous" pothole on a busy thoroughfare.

The 32-year-old woman was flung over her bike's handlebars in Park Road, Crouch End, near the junction with Shanklin Road, shortly after 2pm on Saturday, when her wheel caught in a gaping crack.

Crouch End ward councillor David Winskill said: "My sympathies go to the cyclist but hopefully it will act as a spur to Crouch End councillors to find out what is happening.

"We're trying to encourage more people to use bikes and one of the prerequisites is safe road surfaces. Haringey allowed a dangerous pothole to continue for more than five months."

Afghanistan war veteran killed cycling in Britain

A SOLDIER who survived a tour of duty in Afghanistan has been killed by a POTHOLE.

Captain Jonathan Allen, 29, was cycling home from his base when he swerved to avoid the 15ft-long 'crater' and collided with a lorry passing alongside him.

He suffered multiple injuries as he was crushed under the front wheels of the HGV and died at the scene on the A338 on Salisbury Plain, Wilts.

The gaping hole, a mile north of Tidworth, was filled in by Wiltshire County Council workmen on Friday — 36 hours AFTER the fatal accident.

It was three feet wide and ran in the direction of the road close to the verge — right in the path of a cyclist.

Pothole brings down cyclist

A CYCLIST plans to sue Warwickshire County Council after a huge pothole caused him to fall off his bike and hit his head.

He said: “It was getting dark and water had filled the hole so I didn’t notice it at first. I thought I avoided it and I had no idea just how deep it was.

Haringey pothole hell

In just one day, Crouch End ward councillor David Winskill (Liberal Democrat) counted 12 potholes - some about a foot wide and several inches deep - in a 100 yard stretch along Tottenham Lane. He says he has spotted many more in surrounding streets.

Bruno Dore, secretary of Hornsey's Morrsh residents association, spanning streets from Rathcoole Avenue to Montague Road, said: "I caught the front wheel of my bike in one of these potholes and smashed the rim. If you have an expensive bicycle that would cost an awful lot to repair.

"Certainly the problems have multiplied big time since the frost has set in. There are a number of very dangerous bumps in the road for cyclists and at nighttime and, when it's wet, you could hurt yourself pretty bad if you didn't know your route."

He highlighted Inderwick Road as a particularly dangerous street because the potholes posed an even greater danger on the street's steep slopes.

Hazardous cycling in High Wycombe

Clive Twitchen said: “I've been cycling in the town for more than 60 years and I don't remember the roads ever being this bad.

(Below) Still cycling at 75.

Potholes can kill

A 62-year-old cyclist was killed when he rode into a hole in the road and was sent hurtling over his handlebars.

A prize-winning cycle lane

The yellow line on the right marks the centre of the cycle lane, probably no more than one metre wide, which at this point consists of a large water-filled pothole and gravel scattered for several yards.

This is on Selborne Road E17, approaching Hoe Street, just after the entrance/exit to Walthamstow bus station, yesterday. The road here is narrow; larger vehicles such as buses can't avoid going into the pothole and splattering the pavement.

So give the Council a prize!

Waltham Forest was declared the winner for its innovative and extensive cycling facilities, which includes [sic] a 40-mile network of cycle lanes and quiet routes in the Borough.

The Council regards cycling as an important mode of transport and almost all main roads in the borough now have cycle lanes.

Bike Week Day Seven: fun, fun, fun!

What are the couple in this Transport for London poster up to? The male cyclist has braked, and his female companion is swerving into the middle of the road.

I think TfL is to be congratulated for this poster, which realistically portrays necessary cycling manoeuvres in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Firstly, the need to engage with challenging road surfaces.






















Secondly, the skill required in finding space in the Advanced Stop Line for cyclists, particularly when turning right.


















Thirdly, the everyday challenge of just making your way along a street.





















Fourthly, the importance of not being distracted when passing through the superbly maintained top class cycle lane facilities at road closures:






























(Above) 'I have laser eyes and I can read your mind'
(Below) Priscilla the cat is missing






















Fifthly, the regular need to dodge potholes

























And last but not least, the skills required in passing the new barrier on the off-road cycle lane on Snaresbrook Road!

Pics taken on Storey Road E17, A112 junction with the A104, Vernon Road E17, York Road E4, Edinburgh Road E17, Storey Road E17.

Ancient folk traditions of Waltham Forest

An ancient folk tradition in Waltham Forest is for the Council to paint thin white lines around disintegrating road surfaces.

The origins of this enigmatic tribal art are lost in the dawn of time. Some anthropologists believe that it originated in 'telephoning to report a pothole' but as the white-lining is not followed by any action this is hard to believe. However, those who hold to this theory suggest that, having painted these mysterious lines, the highway engineering department then prays to the great God of Asphalt, who is a harsh deity who ignores all pleas for a safe, smooth cycling surface.

Two examples. The first is outside 40 Forest Drive East E11, the second at the junction of the A112 and Queens Road E17.

Another cycling pothole injury

A WOMAN left unconscious after falling off her bicycle trying to avoid a pothole in a Biggin Hill road has called for better road repairs. Mary Ireland, 61, was riding along Buckhurst Road with nine other cyclists from the Meridian Cycling Club on the way from High Elms to Oxted when the accident happened.

She said: "We always call out if there's a bit of bad road. Because it's a really bad road, it was 'hole; mind the hole'. I remember feeling very unsure about how bad it was. I'm an experienced cyclist. We weren't going fast."

Council spokesman Andrew Rogers said: "One of our highways inspectors has looked at the road and we will be making a repair at a particular location on the road." He added Buckhurst Road is provisionally on the list to be resurfaced in two years' time.

Pothole injury

Warren Peters, 45, was cycling to Petersfield from work at Milland where he is a director at the Meon Survey Partnership when he was catapulted over his handlebars after hitting a 13cm deep pothole on Harting Combe. "Surface water or a puddle was across most of my side of the carriageway, I went through the puddle and hit a large pothole and went over the handlebars, landing on my face," he said.

"I suffered multiple fractures, a broken nose, broken upper jaw and about five or six other complicated fractures as well as a lot of stitches. My upper jaw doesn't match my lower jaw and I won't know for another six months whether they are going to align. I have to be careful when I eat.

More on this story here.

Pothole injury compensation

A CYCLIST has won a £7,600 pay-out from West Berkshire Council after he was injured after riding over a pothole. Ian Davis, aged 49, suffered broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and hip and knee injuries, after he was thrown from his bike while cycling on the notorious B4000 from Lambourn to Newbury.

But this cyclist apparently just accepted her injuries and did not seek compensation:

A CYCLIST who was thrown from her bike after hitting a pot hole in a road in Sandridge two months ago is still nursing her wounds from the accident.Dawn Hewlett, of Taylor Close, St Albans, was cycling along St Albans Road in the dark towards the city centre when she hit a deep groove in the road.

Walpole Road 'twinned with Third World'

Exciting news - the council has now twinned Walpole Road E17 with the Third World. "The spectacular series of potholes on this street ensure that no Third World visitor need ever again feel homesick," Councillor Bob Belam told a thrilled crowd of WFM staff.