A cyclist from Nottingham says he feels lucky to be alive after he got his bike wheel stuck in a new tram track and fell over.
Terence Granger, 64, suffered eight cracked ribs and a punctured lung in the accident – and says it could have been avoided with better signage around the roadworks at Southchurch Drive, Clifton.
He told the Nottingham Post: "To my knowledge there aren't any sort of warning signs for cyclists to be careful, and there are no cycle paths around the road works.
"I think more needs to be done. I had my arm out to turn right and the next thing I knew I was literally flung off my bike. The wheel had just got stuck in the track."
Mr Granger added that his helmet was badly cracked in the fall, and that he thinks it probably saved him from further injury.
His wife Jacqui added: "We hope it will make people realise how important it is to wear one."
A spokesman for construction contractor Taylor Woodrow Alstom said: "We are very sorry to hear of Mr Granger's accident and wish him a full and swift recovery.
"We have been working with several local cycling groups to raise awareness of cycle safety in areas where tram tracks have recently been installed.
"This safety campaign has included sending leaflets to homes along the route of the expanding tram network, posters, press articles and an online video.
"We recommend that cyclists crossing tram tracks prepare early, and cross them at a 90 degree angle, and where construction work on the tram expansion is still in progress we have advised them to dismount.
"Many new cycling opportunities are being created as part of the tram extension with new cycle paths, crossings, and cycle stands being installed."
Last year we reported how cyclists in Edinburgh had said a new stretch of tramlines in the city centre are 'lethal' for those on bikes.
A video showing a man having a near miss with traffic when his wheel becomes lodged in the tracks was posted to the internet.
Campaigners said the road's layout could either be addressed, or the grooves in the tracks could be plugged with rubber, as they are in other cities in the Netherlands.
Zurich is also experimenting with rubber plugs at the points where cyclists need to cross the rails.
27 thoughts on “Nottingham man says he’s ‘lucky to be alive’ after his bike wheel is caught in new tramlines”
“”We recommend that cyclists
“”We recommend that cyclists crossing tram tracks prepare early, and cross them at a 90 degree angle, and where construction work on the tram expansion is still in progress we have advised them to dismount.”
Right, so if you have to cycle along (rather than across) the road with the tracks on, you can’t turn across the track without either slowing to a near-stop before making a 90-degree turn across the line (the drivers behind love that), or you have to pull the side (you ARE on the left of all the tracks, aren’t you? Aren’t you?!), stop, then consider how to cross. Yeah, cheers for that. Some rubber in regular crossing points can’t be that difficult.
Quote:Terence Granger, 64,
I’m somewhat confused as to how a helmet would have prevented further broken ribs.
farrell wrote:Quote:Terence
I’m somewhat confused as to how a helmet would have prevented further broken ribs.
Somewhat facetious. Nowhere does he say that it saved him from further injury to his ribs.
“Mr Granger added that his
“Mr Granger added that his helmet was badly cracked in the fall, and that he thinks it probably saved him from further injury.”
Now now fellas, I’m all for choice, but have to presume that they are referring to potential further injury to what was inside the helmet.
I’m sure that’s what he’s
I’m sure that’s what he’s trying to say, and I don’t have an issue. Had an ‘off’ 12 years ago, probably doing around 20mph, and the first thing that connected with the concrete was the left hand side of my helmet. Head rang like a bell for a good few seconds, but apart from ripped tights and grazed elbow reckoned I was OK. It was not until I removed my helmet a few miles later that I found it was cracked from behind my ear to the front of my brow.
I’m with this guy. My helmet definitely saved me from quite possibly a fractured skull. Everyone to their own. We make our choice. But my choice is never to go out without my helmet on – even if it’s just round to the store on my tourer for some groceries.
kennethsross wrote:My helmet
I love how your smart side kicked in halfway through that sentence. Fact is that you can’t say that a helmet saved you from a fractured skull, unless you have had a helmet expert examine the broken helmet to see how much energy it really absorbed. Even then it is a guess.
Aapje wrote:kennethsross
It’s maybe not the best writing, but I stay with my point. I don’t think it takes a materials lab to tell you that a blow which cracked the foam of a cycling helmet could do damage to a human skull. If folks don’t want to wear a helmet, fine – I’m not forcing anyone.
kennethsross wrote:… I
If the helmet cracked it probably gave you very little protection. Tests have shown that if you hit expanded polystyrene hard enough, instead of deforming and decelerating the head, i.e. cushioning the blow, the pressure wave turns the material hard and it cracks, passing nearly the whole force to the head unabated. Helmets are not designed for impacts over 12 mph or to the side of the head. Your 20 mph crash was outside what the helmet is designed to protect against and it failed, giving you next to no protection. You may well have been grateful for whatever slight protection it did give you, but as you said, your head rang like a bell and I’m not surprised. I’m glad you did not come off worse.
arowland wrote:kennethsross
EPS also cracks after compressing, helmets slide (or catch), concussion can result from rotational deceleration and so on. Bottom line is we don’t know what protection was afforded (aside from some against lacerations often) but to say that a cracked liner means “next to no protection” is overly simplistic.
fukawitribe wrote:
EPS also
I guess arowland would have been “simplistic” if he was not making his point in reaction to kennetsross’s simplistic statement that his helmet definitely probably saved him from a fracture. As it was, arowland was merely giving a view to balance kennethsross, and to add a little complexity to that assertion.
kennethsross wrote: “I Had an
[[[[[ Okay, but “definitely” and “possibly” look like opposites, surely. And, as I’ve hit the deck at least ten times over the years and never yet hit me noggin, but grazed, bruised and lumped other bits of the bod, I’m beginning to think the (slight) extra weight of a helmet, and the (slight) extra width of it compared to my head means it’s more likely to contact the tarmac….and I also suspect our skulls are a whole lot less likely to crack than the relatively flimsy polystyrene cyclist’s skid-lid.
Well, you may say I’ve just been lucky so far, and you may be right, but let’s not assume every cracked hat means a life saved. That’s just lazy thinking.
It was facetious, but I’m
It was facetious, but I’m still at a loss as to how you can fall so heavily on your chest and your head at the same time.
I’m all for choice too, it just amazes me when people instantly jump to praising a helmet despite their injuries showing elsewhere took the brunt of the impact.
farrell wrote:It was
I fell with my arm (and elbow in particular) landing between my chest and the ground – which knacked my ribs for a week or so – and also hit the side the helmet I had on. As best I can remember the arm hit just before the helmet but I was rotating forward and down so the helmet/head was going to hit, and hit pretty hard, anyway.
It doesn’t have to be a case of them hitting at exactly the same time, although that’s surely not really that difficult to envisage, e.g. If I had gone down more forward, such as over the bars, I can also see quite easily how I could hit both hard. I”m sure there’s plenty of other possibilities.
farrell wrote:It was
Maybe someone cracked it afterwards in a nefarious plot to force us all to wear helmets. It’s the only plausible answer, since it is obviously impossible to fall on your head and ribs at the same time. Impossible because you can’t imagine it.
Although cycling paths and
Although cycling paths and tram tracks shouldn’t coincide it happens often enough – especially in amsterdam. Falling like this does hardy happen here though.
It’s like a dog trying to run over a pond covered with a layer green (don’t know what to call it in english) – the dog will do it only once in it’s live.
I would say the cyclist in question is a bit naive, and should use common sense rather then blaming for a lack of signs in this case.
(i make a habit of lifting my front wheel a little when i can’t cross tracks at a high enough angle, back wheel will usually follow the front wheel anyway so less change of getting stuck there.)
We used to have railway lines
We used to have railway lines around here that we crossed on most rides. Taking them at 90 degrees is fine. Luckily we didn’t have to ride parallel to them -is that what happened here ?
Similar thing happened to me
Similar thing happened to me in Croydon, scars down my shoulder, broke a front brake and my helmet. I emailed my councillors, who fobbed me off to TfL who responded with this (extract):
“…the geometry of the road is such that a designated cycle path at this location would not afford maximum benefits, as any path or facility to assist cyclists to cross the tram tracks at a 90 degree angle would not provide cyclists with a direct route. ”
To which I pointed out that taking the direct route goes around on a curve, where the angle of the wheel meeting the tram track is reduced, which is exactly what caused the accident!!! A complete ignorance of what the issue is.
The road at that point has five lanes, an unused central island about 1.5 lanes wide and 2 tram tracks but apparently “road widths are very constrained.”
Bunch of morons.
Having had a similar incident
Having had a similar incident happen to me. I feel his pain. Always try and avoid tram tracks if possible.
There seem to be a lot of
There seem to be a lot of morons posting on here recently or has it always been like this 🙂
Used to be polite too.
Used to be polite too.
GazHove wrote:There seem to
I’d say it’s quite civilised here. Try reading some of the posts on another well know cycling web site (cough)cyclingnews(cough) if you want to see “morons” at work 8>
GazHove wrote:There seem to
[[[[[ ….and now we have one more.
Moving slightly away from the
Moving slightly away from the helmet ‘debate’,,,,
Isn’t this story all about;
A) cyclists being UNAWARE of a shiny tram track in the road they are cycling on without being promted by a sign
B) cyclists being UNABLE to ride their bikes over a strip of metal in the road without falling off?
It sounds like there should be some compulsory awareness training and riding competance tests for all people that ride bicycles….
I live in a place with lots of trams, so I may have a different opinion to most and maybe(!!!) i was being a bit feceatious, but I seriously maintain, if you can’t see a tram line in a road, you may need your eyes testing and use spectacles while riding.
If the tramline squeezes you against the curb in places and you feel you cannot possibly ride in a space that narrow, then you should be travelling at such a speed and with enough foresight to be able to stop prior to that point, especially in an area of roadworks where there is lots of debris and compromised tarmac conditions.
Having said that, accidents will still happen.
If the police attend an incident where a cyclist has fallen off due to riding into a tram track, they get a ticket for (the equivalent of) riding without due care and attention.
I hope the guy recovers quickly (without speaking to ‘Lawyers4U’ for a compensation claim).
I will get off my soapbox now,,,,,sorry.
petertaylor123 wrote:If the
Eh ?
fukawitribe
Don’t you know that every mistake people make has to be fined nowadays? 8>
‘We recommend that cyclists
‘We recommend that cyclists crossing tram tracks prepare early, and cross them at a 90 degree angle, and where construction work on the tram expansion is still in progress we have advised them to dismount.’
chance’d be a fine thing here in Manchester. It’d be lovely if tram tracks crossed the roads at 90 degrees, rather than the 30 or so that seems so popular.
The docks in Portsmouth used
The docks in Portsmouth used to have railway lines in and the amount of cycle accidents was horrific.
If there are shared lanes then I can’t see how you can really avoid a tram line.