Police appeal for witnesses in collision that killed 7-year-old cyclist

For goodness sake don't read the Daily Fail's comments section on this story. It boils down to "it's terribly sad for the little girl and family, but cyclists? **** 'em!"

They were run down in a hit and run and their daughter was killed by this thoughtless cow. I hope the cops catch the driver but if they were as useless in this case as they were when I was hit and run they won't trace the car or driver.

The sad fact is that UKplc is f*cking dangerous and shit country to ride a bike in, but not only this most DNGAF for cyclists whether it's dangerous drivers useless cops or pathetic judges who hand woefully inadequate sentences to drivers who should be banned from the roads for a very very long time indeed and spending a long time in prison at the same time. It is never going to get ANY better in the UK. The slaughter will continue until those in power start getting tough with the f*ckers who routinely try to kill us every day. I do not get any of the shit I get when I am cycling, when I am riding my motorbike, none what so ever. Many drivers consider it fair game to target cyclists or drive recklessly or dangerously around us either scaring the shit out of us by deliberately close passing us or worse still actually driving at us trying to force us off the road with all the risks of serious injury and death this boorish ignorant behaviour brings. As I say the slaughter will continue as the authorities and politicians DGAF about cyclists making it safe for us to ride on UK roads. Period. There needs to be a national advertising campaign to hammer it home to drivers to drive carefully around cyclists for if you don't and you injure or kill a cyclist who WILL go to prison and be banned from driving for a minimum of 15 years.

RIP this little girl. It must be a terrible time for the parents. Time we brought back hanging for scum like this who injure and kill and then flee the scene. The driver was either uninsured, disqualified, drunk or drugged up or combination of all these. What a bitch to having hit a family out cycling with a young child, abuse them and to leave them injured and dying in the road.

Forgive me, I don't read these sad, tragic stories. But re the headline, I wonder if "7-year-old cyclist" isn't a bit of a lazy term to use. It certainly makes the story relevant to this website. But the person is more than a bike-owning pedaller, I am sure - they may be a trombonist, a school pupil, a daughter, a sister, a Harry Potter fan etc. We might replace "7-year-old cyclist" with the equally brief but much less reductive "7-year-old on bike". If that starts to make the story feel less like a road.cc topic, well, perhaps that's worth considering too.

I ride that road a lot and have been close passed many many times by all types of vehicles, despite the fact it is a very wide road. It is also more or less dead straight, so visibility is good.

There are good footways / shared paths to the side of the road, and most casual / commuter cyclists use them. There is absolutely no chance that a vehicle could have hit the girl on the path, not without mounting the kerb.

My wife and I saw the road closed, as we were out that way in the car, the road was dry and it was a sunny warm day.

It is a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the little girls family and friends

So so sad. RIP little one

The death of a child whatever the circumstances is a tragedy. RIP.

Quote:

It could have been much worse. The paramedic couldn’t believe I had kept all my teeth because I wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Jesus wept.

Horrible tragedy. 7 years old. I feel for her family.

I bet Radio 4 won't vent the same moral outrage on You and Yours for this incident. After all, what could they demand? The driver was probably already trained licenced. Fat lot of good that did!

Oops, sorry, I forgot. They could blame the cyclist.

I make no judgement on what happened here but I will say that in my experience, many motorists on an NSL road will make no adjustment in speed when passing pedestrians (or cyclists) on the footway. For that matter, when I'm out running—often in the road—people will drive past me at ridiculous speeds, assuming that it's completely impossible for me to trip and fall into their path.