Four highways workers sent out to repair a dangerous crack reported to council bosses with pictures failed to spot the huge defect which four months later caused a cyclist's death.

Harry Colledge, who was a member of Cleveleys Road Club and a well-known cyclist, was riding along Island Lane near Winmarleigh on Monday January 2 this year. As the 84-year-old cycled down the single track lane at around 12mph his wheel entered a six-inch deep crack running along the centre of the road.

Harry, a retired teacher, was thrown from his bike and despite wearing a helmet suffered a serious head injury. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries.

An inquest being held this week at Preston Coroner's Court heard that the crack had been reported to Lancashire County Council's highways department by Winmarleigh Parish Councillor Brenda Brodie four months earlier. When Cllr Brodie sent an email about the road to the council's highways manager Mark O'Donnell she attached a series of photos including the main one above.

One of the pictures shows the council chairman's wife Beverley Hull with her hands inside the deep crevice. When Mr O'Donnell saw the images he said he was "concerned" and vowed to "look at it immediately".

Six days after Cllr Brodie sent her email a team of four highways operatives, who are tasked with repairing potholes, was sent out to Island Lane. Crucially, they hadn't been shown the photos, and instead were told to drive the full length of the road to look for any defects in need of repair.

The four men, three of whom have 76 years' experience in the job between them, visited Island Road on September 15 last year. All four failed to spot the huge crack in the road and it was never repaired. No repair was carried out before Harry's death four months later.

One of the highways operatives who visited Island Lane on September 15, Richard Hull, agreed that the team's "primary focus" was to look for defects which posed a danger to motor vehicles and not cyclists or those on two wheels.

Another of the operatives who went out in September was Paul Littlewood. He said that had he been shown the pictures sent by Cllr Brodie he "would have known it was there".

Area Coroner Kate Bisset said: "If you had been shown that picture would you say it required repairing?" "Definitely," he replied.

Fellow council worker Steve Oldham said that had he been shown the picture he would "definitely" have carried out a temporary repair. All agreed that the defect would require a road closure in order to carry out a "proper" repair.

Just 11 days after the highways teams failed to spot and repair the defect, a regular three-monthly inspection of the road was carried out by Robert Treen. Mr Treen, a highways safety inspector of 14 years, insisted that he had not missed the defect pictured just weeks before.

Alex Williams, the barrister representing Harry's wife Val, described the fact that all five men failed to spot the crack as "a strange scenario". Under cross-examination Mr Treen was asked how he had missed to see it.

He replied: "I don't believe I did miss it. If that was there on September 26 in that condition I would have recorded it."

Mr Treen was then questioned further on how the defect had been missed by everyone. Mr Williams asked him: "If it wasn't filled on September 15 then how did you miss it?"

"We don't know it wasn't filled," Mr Treen replied before being reminded that the two teams had not repaired the crack 11 days earlier.

Mr Williams then said "You say you would have not have missed it" to which Mr Treen replied: "I didn't miss it. It must have been repaired" before suggesting the crack must have "closed up on its own".

PC Glenn Hilton, a collision investigator with Lancashire Constabulary, visited Island Road after Harry's death. He concluded that the front wheel of Harry's bike had become wedged in the crack which caused the collision.

The officer explained that, due to reaction times, Harry would not have been able to stop or swerve in time to avoid the crevice once he had spotted it. He added: "In my opinion it was the front wheel of the bike going into the crack in the road which caused the cycle to suddenly come to an abrupt stop and throw the cyclist off the bike."

The inquest is due to conclude tomorrow (October 12). The second day will include statements from doctors who treated Harry in hospital as well as live evidence from an independent expert.

https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/they-primary-focus-cars-five-27897362

On 12/10/2023 07:30 pm, Simon Mason wrote:

> Four highways workers sent out to repair a dangerous crack reported to council bosses with pictures failed to spot the huge defect which four months later caused a cyclist's death.
> Harry Colledge, who was a member of Cleveleys Road Club and a well-known cyclist, was riding along Island Lane near Winmarleigh on Monday January 2 this year. As the 84-year-old cycled down the single track lane at around 12mph his wheel entered a six-inch deep crack running along the centre of the road.
> Harry, a retired teacher, was thrown from his bike and despite wearing a helmet suffered a serious head injury. He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries.

No other vehicle involved?

Has any explanation for Harry's travelling along the centre line been
advanced?

It seems an odd road position on the face of it.

> An inquest being held this week at Preston Coroner's Court heard that the crack had been reported to Lancashire County Council's highways department by Winmarleigh Parish Councillor Brenda Brodie four months earlier. When Cllr Brodie sent an email about the road to the council's highways manager Mark O'Donnell she attached a series of photos including the main one above.
> One of the pictures shows the council chairman's wife Beverley Hull with her hands inside the deep crevice. When Mr O'Donnell saw the images he said he was "concerned" and vowed to "look at it immediately".
> Six days after Cllr Brodie sent her email a team of four highways operatives, who are tasked with repairing potholes, was sent out to Island Lane. Crucially, they hadn't been shown the photos, and instead were told to drive the full length of the road to look for any defects in need of repair.
> The four men, three of whom have 76 years' experience in the job between them, visited Island Road on September 15 last year. All four failed to spot the huge crack in the road and it was never repaired. No repair was carried out before Harry's death four months later.
> One of the highways operatives who visited Island Lane on September 15, Richard Hull, agreed that the team's "primary focus" was to look for defects which posed a danger to motor vehicles and not cyclists or those on two wheels.
> Another of the operatives who went out in September was Paul Littlewood. He said that had he been shown the pictures sent by Cllr Brodie he "would have known it was there".
> Area Coroner Kate Bisset said: "If you had been shown that picture would you say it required repairing?" "Definitely," he replied.
> Fellow council worker Steve Oldham said that had he been shown the picture he would "definitely" have carried out a temporary repair. All agreed that the defect would require a road closure in order to carry out a "proper" repair.

Would closing the road have prevented cycle access to it?

It never seems to achieve that elsewhere.

> Just 11 days after the highways teams failed to spot and repair the defect, a regular three-monthly inspection of the road was carried out by Robert Treen. Mr Treen, a highways safety inspector of 14 years, insisted that he had not missed the defect pictured just weeks before.
> Alex Williams, the barrister representing Harry's wife Val, described the fact that all five men failed to spot the crack as "a strange scenario". Under cross-examination Mr Treen was asked how he had missed to see it.
> He replied: "I don't believe I did miss it. If that was there on September 26 in that condition I would have recorded it."
> Mr Treen was then questioned further on how the defect had been missed by everyone. Mr Williams asked him: "If it wasn't filled on September 15 then how did you miss it?"
> "We don't know it wasn't filled," Mr Treen replied before being reminded that the two teams had not repaired the crack 11 days earlier.
> Mr Williams then said "You say you would have not have missed it" to which Mr Treen replied: "I didn't miss it. It must have been repaired" before suggesting the crack must have "closed up on its own".
> PC Glenn Hilton, a collision investigator with Lancashire Constabulary, visited Island Road after Harry's death. He concluded that the front wheel of Harry's bike had become wedged in the crack which caused the collision.
> The officer explained that, due to reaction times, Harry would not have been able to stop or swerve in time to avoid the crevice once he had spotted it. He added: "In my opinion it was the front wheel of the bike going into the crack in the road which caused the cycle to suddenly come to an abrupt stop and throw the cyclist off the bike."
> The inquest is due to conclude tomorrow (October 12). The second day will include statements from doctors who treated Harry in hospital as well as live evidence from an independent expert.
>
> https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/they-primary-focus-cars-five-27897362

QUOTE: Mr Treen replied: "I didn't miss it. It must have been repaired" before suggesting the crack must have "closed up on its own". ENDS

Self healing concrete? Amazing!
Any films of this in action?

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> QUOTE: Mr Treen replied: "I didn't miss it. It must have been repaired"
> before suggesting the crack must have "closed up on its own". ENDS
>
> Self healing concrete? Amazing!
> Any films of this in action?

It’s ground shift, you moron. It’s what caused the crack to open in the
first place in the soft tarmac.

Why was the cyclist in the middle of the road, where the crack was? Wasn’t
he looking where he was going?

--
Spike

QUOTE: Not to brag, but this kind of thing just does not ever happen in the Netherlands. I have cycled 10's of 1000's of Km here and while we also have slipperly leaves, tree branches in the path after storms etc, we just dont have potholes or ruts in the road like in the UK.

Well, that's all well and good, but I bet you don't have sunlit uplands filled with freedom like we do here in good ol' Blighty. The collapse of our infrastructure and essential services is a small price to pay, as long as the bankers are making their money. ENDS

We also have world beating railway lines that cost more than TEN TIMES the French ones before they got scrapped. Just look at them all!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8U5WO_XwAAxStR?format=jpg&name=medium

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> We also have world beating railway lines that cost more than TEN TIMES
> the French ones before they got scrapped. Just look at them all!
>
> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8U5WO_XwAAxStR?format=jpg&name=medium

No wonder those bedbugs get about!

--
Spike

geomannie 531 | 9 months ago
6 likes
My sympathies are with Harry's friends & family.

From personal experience in Glasgow I have found that it is hard to get the council to take long linear cracks/defects in the road surface seriously. They are of no/little consequence to vehicles & the roads engineers just shrug and prioritise repairs that may impact on motorists. In Glasgow our Saturday morning ride traversed a downhill 500m road section where a channel had been cut to install a cable. Much of the fill subsequently eroded out. I was always worried that that someone would get their wheel trapped. It took me many attempts at reporting the defect to finally get a half-hearted repair.

https://cdn.road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/20230109_090214.jpg