A seven year old girl has died in a collision between her bicycle and a car on a busy main road in Somerset.
The girl, who has not been named, was out riding on a shared cycle and footpath on the A371 near RAF Locking, Weston-super-Mare, when she was hit at around 3pm on Thursday.
She was said to have been riding with an adult but it is not yet clear whether they were on the road, which has a 60mph speed limit, or the path.
She died at the scene, and locals have placed floral tributes on the road, which was closed overnight while police investigated.
No arrests have yet been made.
One tribute, a grey teddy bear, dressed in a pink dress, was tied to a lamppost with a card saying 'lovely daughter.'
One member of staff at a local garage told the Bristol Evening Post: "Lots of cars had stopped in the road to help and were ringing the emergency services."
Council spokesman Nick Yates said: "We have been out to inspect the road and footpath and both are in a good condition.
"This is a shared footpath and cyclepath."
Police are appealing for anyone with information about the incident to contact them.
A police spokesman said: "Shortly before 3pm yesterday a car was in collision with a seven-year-old girl on a push bike.
"Sadly, the little girl died at the scene as a result of her injuries.
"Our thoughts are with her family at this tragic time.
"We would appeal for anyone who witnessed this collision to contact us on 101 and quote log number 552."
Just last month we reported how Police in Weston-super-Mare appealed for help in tracing a motorist who hit a cyclist, leaving him with facial injuries and possibly needing plastic surgery. The victim, 40-year-old Jason Mousley, says he is “lucky to be alive” following the incident earlier this month.
According to a woman who witnessed the incident, the female driver swore at the cyclist after the collision close to Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College between 7.30pm and 7.45pm on Saturday 18 April.
She said that the driver, who had red hair, said she would park her car, but after driving round the corner she did not return. The vehicle was described as old-style and silver in colour.
The witness did not take down the registration number of the car because she was more worried about Mr Mousley’s injuries.
Mr Mousley, who needed stitches around his eyes and nose, said: “I was coming home from the seafront. I saw there was traffic at the junction with Devonshire Road but knew I had right of way.
“All I remember then is being hit. I was on the floor and the woman was shouting at me. I keep having flashbacks and remember her driving off towards Broadoak Road.
“It could have been much worse. The paramedic couldn’t believe I had kept all my teeth because I wasn’t wearing a helmet.
“I am lucky to be alive.”
10 thoughts on “Police appeal for witnesses in collision that killed 7-year-old cyclist”
I make no judgement on what
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.
Horrible tragedy. 7 years
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.
E Mail them!
E Mail them!
Quote:It could have been much
Jesus wept.
The death of a child whatever
The death of a child whatever the circumstances is a tragedy. RIP.
So so sad. RIP little one
So so sad. RIP little one
I ride that road a lot and
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
Forgive me, I don’t read
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.
They were run down in a hit
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.
For goodness sake don’t read
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!”