A roadside spectator at the final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire today caught on camera the moment an Astana team car almost hit a marshal as riders and support vehicles came round a blind bend.
Luckily the marshal, who was waving a yellow pennant to alert riders and the race caravan of the presence of a bollard, was able to jump out of the way, with the car then smashing into the bollard he had been standing next to.
The video was shot by Nathan Currie, who posted it to YouTube and Twitter, where he also shared a picture of the aftermath.
Too which ever car driver just smashed into the street sign in the #TourDeYorkshire2018 I’ve got a piece of your car here. The steward you almost killed is fine by the way! pic.twitter.com/vW4uVo6wF6
— Nathan Currie (@nathlukecurrie) May 6, 2018
22 thoughts on “Video: Astana driver almost hits Tour de Yorkshire marshal”
Now, THAT is a proper Near
Now, THAT is a proper Near Miss of the Day.
I hope you paid the dude for
I hope you paid the dude for that video. He’s getting royally ripped off by the national press at the moment.
What would the NUJ rate be?
Those fluorescent yellow
Those fluorescent yellow illuminated retroreflective bollards should have made themselves more visible!
ktache wrote:
Daytime running lights should be made mandatory for vulnerable street furniture.
If the marshal had a
If the marshal had a registration number and paid Road Tax, this would never have happened.
Sorry – I don’t see the blind
Sorry – I don’t see the blind bend (forgive the pun).
Clearly all marshalls should
Clearly all marshalls should be equipped with a helmet and probably a badge.
Has this been reported to the police and is legal action pending against the driver? Clearly someone who can’t see hi-viz objects directly in front of them in broad daylight shouldn’t be driving. The next victim might not be so lucky.
“blind bend”? Bullshit, you
“blind bend”? Bullshit, you can see the Marshall from 40m away.
This and other incidents should mean all team cars have designated drivers who aren’t titting about being distracted. I hope the police get involved because there’s no excuse for that.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
The problem with blanket rules is they have widespread unintended consequences.
At what level would your ‘all team cars’ kick in? Local club races on a closed circuit? Pro-continental teams? What evidence do you have that your rule would reduce harm?
It’s how we get mandatory helmet laws. A blanket rule that is a knee jerk reaction to a situation implemented without supporting evidence that then affects every user on every level, all to save the entirely unique situation that arises in a tiny percentage of cases.
I can’t see you being in favour of that
madcarew wrote:
it’s not remotely the same as helmets for a start off, and as for what level, every level that has cars on the course at the same time as people racing bicycles and/or has marshalls on the road.
The effect should be minimal, every team has someone who can drive, I and others are just saying that that driver do exactly that and not do what they currently do, on the radio, fannying about with all sorts inside the vehicle everything except actually looking ahead and driving safely when in close proximity to vulnerable road users.
Look at recent years and the amount of incidents are stacking up with some real shockers, the Hoogeland one was bad enough because the driver failed to notice that big arse tree slightly on the lane and thought driving into riders at speed was the best option instead of slowing down, another where the guy undertook and sideswiped a rider wiping him out, another rammed into the back of another team car which in turn hits a rider, the list goes on.
It’s a minor adjustment and each driver should have a minimum set of requirements stipulated by the UCI and/or race organisers so they are fully understanding of their responsibilities.
Or do we wait until someone is killed before we act, we’ve already had seriously injured parties due to piss poor driving.
Well there’s professional
Well there’s professional drivers for you….
Exuse my ignorance, but do the teams not get route maps (or create their own?) like in car rallying?
You know ‘Sweeping 90 right with traffic island. Watch out for the small guy with the smaller triangle, protected by those fluorescent yellow illuminated retroreflective bollards’ (with aprops to Ktache)
Bloody good job it wasn’t a
Bloody good job it wasn’t a fallen rider in the road. So easy to see what was coming if the driver was concentrating. Was it the DS?
Funny i was thinking the
Funny i was thinking the other day that it can’t be that difficult to make a device that can be put near obsticles and waves a flag or flashes a light. Maybe it will take the death of a marshall before more thought is put into hazard warning.
iso2000 wrote:
I can remember going past roadworks in France when i was a kid and they had a dummy waving a flag to warn motorists.
iso2000 wrote:
isn’t that what those hi-viz, strategically-placed but apparently invisible bollards are supposed to do?
ConcordeCX wrote:
I think he means instead of the martial.
The billiards are fine for normal driving (including team cars) but not for the cycling peloton due to close proximity to other riders, but it seems safer to have an automated warning than risk the safety of volunteers.
Astana have called the
Astana have called the marshal and apologised. I hope they’re sending him a trunk load of goodies.
Beecho wrote:
Yeah, they just delivered it this afternoon.
Beecho wrote:
I hope they reprimand the driver and look at their internal processes that allowed this to happen… Before they kill or injure someone.
I hope the police prosecute
I hope the police prosecute the Astana driver.
Daily Mail: ‘but who do YOU
Daily Mail: ‘but who do YOU think is to blame?’
The driver has apologised for
The driver has apologised for hitting the street furniture and then, as an afterthought, nearly killing the marshall. I hope the police can prosecute him but I suspect that closed roads might preclude any action.
I saw (on TV) many team car drivers were handing food to their riders; surely the passengers should do this and leave the driver to watch the road?