Cycling Incident on Whitegate, Levens
Our Levens Parish Council have sent this Open letter to Local Cycling Clubs Expressing Concern about Cyclist Conduct in the Village of Levens
Responses have come from 3 groups with a different version of events from Kendal Cycle Club, which we add at the bottom.
Levens Parish Council has recently been advised of an alarming incident involving a group of cyclists from a local cycling club and a Levens family, including a 3-year old child in a backpack. The family – mother, father, child and a dog (on a lead) were walking northwards out of Levens village towards the junction of Brigsteer Road and Whitegate at approximately 9.30 a.m. on Saturday 11 February.
Hearing a vehicle approaching them from behind the family moved towards a private driveway for safety and to give it plenty of room to pass on this very narrow stretch of road. As they were doing so, a group of 8 or 9 cyclists from a local Club came down Whitegate Hill at speed. With the car in the road at this narrow point there was no room for the cyclists to pass it and they were going too fast to stop in a controlled way. As the mother was moving into the driveway, one of the cyclists who was unable to stop collided with her. She was hit on her left hip and fell on to her right side.
At Westmorland General Hospital that afternoon she was x-rayed and referred for a face-to-face appointment with an orthopaedic consultant. Her right wrist is in a splint to immobilise the scaphoid bone which is being assessed for possible fracture and she is unable to do her job as a sonographer for the NHS. The cyclist concerned was also in the hospital receiving stitches to his chin.
The Club concerned is known and the matter has been referred to the Police by the injured resident.
Levens Parish Council has long had concerns about the conduct of cyclists passing through the village and particularly their approach to it at speed from Whitegate Hill. This has caused concern to residents on numerous occasions in the past. It has mentioned this in routine liaison with the Police and taken the view that the conduct of cyclists is an accident waiting to happen.
That accident has now happened and the question on the mind of most who are aware of this is what might have happened if the cyclist had hit the father, knocking him over with a three-year old on his back. Had that child hit the ground or a stone wall then the consequences are potentially too serious to contemplate.
The Parish Council recognises that accidents can happen and that Cycling Clubs have Codes of Conduct. The fact is however that those conducts seem to count for nothing on the road as Club Members routinely travel into and through Levens at speeds that are unsafe for pedestrians, other road users and indeed themselves.
This letter intentionally does not highlight a particular Club or name those involved. It is however a condemnation of many cycling groups who do not ride safely or to the circumstances of their surroundings.
The Parish Council wishes to bring this incident to your attention and expects that you will in turn bring it to the attention of your members. It will not now hesitate in future to report incidents to the Police where in its view behaviour remains at an unsafe or inconsiderate level.
A Response from Simon Horsley (Chairman – Kendal Cycle Club)
This was a very unfortunate incident and we fully appreciate the impact it has had on both the parties involved. We will certainly take the opportunity to reiterate to our members our guidelines for safe riding and I can confirm that the member directly involved in this incident filed an incident report form as is our club procedure. On reading your summary below of the incident and when comparing the details provided on the incident report form there are some significant discrepancies. Having consulted with witnesses who had a clear view of the events leading up to the incident we would like to share the following points with the council, in order to help ensure you might have an accurate understanding and appreciation of the incident.
The incident actually occurred around 10.00am and not 09.30am
The walkers were walking down the right hand side of the road in the direction of Levens village and when the group of eight cyclists approached from behind travelling at a safe speed. They proceeded to move once they heard a warning shout from the lead cyclist. At which point the male walker decided to move left across the road and the female walker initially hesitated then started moving left, but then she changed her mind and started to move back to the right. By her own admission she acknowledged that she panicked and her indecisiveness in terms of her sudden erratic left right movements caused the incident to occur. As the lead cyclist was unfortunately unable to avoid clipping her in the middle of road, not as a result of speed but as a result of her location in the centre of the road.
There was no car approaching them at the point when the incident occurred, the car arrived after the incident happened.
Fortunately the group of cyclists contained trained first aiders who proceeded to effectively manage the incident looking after the interests as best they could of both parties involved. The members certainly appreciated the kind offers from the couple who invited the lead injured cyclist back to their house for a cup of tea and to keep warm, while he waited for his partner to collect him in their car. While the offer to go to their house was politely declined the fact the couple proceeded to bring out a cup of tea and blanket to the injured cyclist was greatly appreciated.
