Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after a cyclist sustained fatal injuries in a collision on the M40 in Oxfordshire.
The incident took place at around 3.50am on July 13 when a 23-year-old man from Egham in Surrey was hit by a white Mercedes HGV while cycling on the M40 between junctions 8 and 7 southbound.
The cyclist suffered serious head injuries and was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he died on Wednesday July 22.
Investigating officer PC Kelly Hobson, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “I would like to speak to anyone who saw the collision or the cyclist and lorry before the collision.”
If you have any information, you can contact the Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
18 thoughts on “Police appeal after cyclist is killed on the M40 in Oxfordshire”
Can we have a bit more
Can we have a bit more context here?
Do we know what lane he was in when he was hit?
Why was he on the M40 at 3:50am in the first place?
webster wrote:Can we have a
Lost, confused…
Or maybe just thought he’d
Or maybe just thought he’d take a chance on using the hard shoulder – late at night, quiet time, it’s not far between those junctions, can perhaps understand…
Gizmo_ wrote:Or maybe just
Sorry this is not understandable ! If he was on the motorway then its his own fault. I feel sorry for the van driver who will have to live with this sad case.
Then again if you knocked
Then again if you knocked someone down, the best place to hide them is in plain sight; put them and their bike on the nearest motorway…
(Idle speculation and probably in bad taste…)
At risk of being very
At risk of being very callous, riding your bike on the motorway is well into “play stupid games, win stupid prizes” territory.
vonhelmet wrote:At risk of
Oh, I completely agree, don’t get me wrong.
But as I’ve commented before, objectively riding along the inside of the hard shoulder (a wide lane-width away from trucks at 56mph) should actually be safer than riding along the inside of a normal lane on a normal 60mph A-road.
How does one ride
How does one ride objectively? (Sorry, couldn’t resist)
id assume that even if he was
id assume that even if he was riding on the motorway he’d be on the hard sholder so still shouldnt be hit by a vehicle.
anyhow. rip
Maybe he shouldn’t have been
Maybe he shouldn’t have been there, does that really excuse the driver? I have seen bricks, fence panels, exhausts etc on the motorways, I am sure I heard someone was killed on the M4 when they hit a Wild boar.
Just because something shouldn’t be there is no excuse IMO.
Agreed, the driver should
Agreed, the driver should have been able to avoid a collision. I’d imagine at 3:50am there wouldn’t be much around to distract a driver so the cyclist should be easy to see. …and if the driver couldn’t see the cyclist then he was clearly driving too fast for the conditions.
ChrisB200SX wrote:Agreed, the
Really? Based on what evidence?
CygnusX1 wrote:ChrisB200SX
Clearly, horses do regularly get on to motorways, as do deer, I mentioned the accident caused by a wild boar.
Light or dark, drive to the conditions, if you can’t see it you can’t assume it isn’t there.
CygnusX1 wrote:ChrisB200SX
Based on the evidence that he hit and killed a fellow human being with a 10 ton metal box
“driver couldn’t see the
“driver couldn’t see the cyclist then he was clearly driving too fast for the conditions”
“clearly” – really? In the dark? Perhaps with no lights, wearing dark clothing?
Not at all “clear” IMHO.
flobble wrote:”driver
Presumably the HGV had headlights? Just because it’s dark, doesn’t give you carte blanche to drive into stuff at high speed without being able to see where you are going! Imagine driving into a cyclist in fog, was it the cyclist/fog’s fault or maybe you were driving too fast for the conditions?
Garminicity? Facebook stunt?
Garminicity? Facebook stunt? Who knows.
Doesn’t the A40 run parallel
Doesn’t the A40 run parallel to the M40 between these junctions?
So the cyclist has no real excuse.
Having said that, I can see the appeal of riding down the hard shoulder, particularly if you don’t have working lights.
1) Short distance, good chance you can get on and off without being spotted by the Police.
2) Good, smooth surface fairly free of debris and obstructions.
3) High speed or heavy vehicles are about 10 feet from you.
4) No vehicles crossing your path.
He took the gamble, rolled the dice and unfortunately this time he lost. I don’t condone his decision or his actions but I do understand them.