Cyclist hit by tractor trailer near Pateley Bridge
9th September 2015
A cyclist was hit by a tractor's trailer on the B6265 near Pateley Bridge on 26th August 2015, and knocked off his bike, suffering minor injuries, and £600 of damage to his bike, reports the Harrogate Advertiser.
At 2.20pm, the tractor overtook three cyclists near Studley Royal Garden Centre, and its trailer knocked one of them off his bike. The Advertiser adds the following details. The tractor was blue with a red trailer and was carrying large round bales of straw. Another similar tractor and trailer was following it. Neither stopped. The cyclist was 30 years old, wearing a grey gilet with a panther claw on the back, bright blue shorts, and black helmet.
The driver and passengers in a white camper van travelling in the opposite direction saw what happened. They stopped and offered help, but didn't leave their details. Police are asking that they get in touch.
Comment
I'm disappointed to read about this incident, but not surprised. It's fortunate that the main damage inflicted was to property, and the cyclist sustained only minor injuries. Given the size and weight of a tractor and trailer, it could have been a lot worse.
Cyclists generally stay away from busy A roads. The B6265 from Ripon to Pateley Bridge, and the B6165 from Ripley to Pateley Bridge, are, or ought to be suitable for cycling. However, there is often quite a lot of traffic on these B roads, which can be intimidating for people on bikes.
They are narrow and there are frequent blind rises and blind bends. When you are driving and you come across cyclists, you should wait until it's safe to overtake, and leave plenty of room when doing so, as required by the Highway Code (and ordinary politeness and consideration). Too many people expect to be able to drive on these country roads as though they were motorways, or at least major A roads - always at 60mph or more, and insisting on passing slower vehicles or bikes immediately. That's a dangerous attitude.
If you have a trailer attached to your vehicle, it is your obligation to take account of it in your driving. You have to account for it when passing cyclists, rather than pulling back in too soon as though the length of your vehicle wasn't extended by the trailer. The corollary of this is that you must account for it in deciding whether it's safe to overtake in the first place. If there's a blind bend coming up, and you may be forced to pull back in by oncoming traffic, then wait, don't overtake.
This may sound blindingly obvious, but apparently it isn't. Often, drivers with trailers attached to their vehicles seem to forget they are there. I came within inches of being knocked off my bike by a trailer with sheep in it, on the B6165 near Pateley Bridge in 2014.
Farmers have a job to do, and are entitled to use the public roads to go about their business. That is not an reason for recklessly endangering the safety of other road users. The roads are shared spaces, and whatever vehicle you're using, you have to accept that other people will be on them, and these people may delay you by a few seconds every now and then.
If you knock someone off their bike, you have to stop. In this case, from the facts reported by the Advertiser, the tractor driver should have been aware of what he had done. If for some reason he was unaware, his colleague must have seen what happened. It's unacceptable to flee the scene.