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Death prompts safety appeals
4:33pm Wednesday 9th April 2008
Motorcyclists and villagers are pushing for greater safety on a notorious stretch of road after the death of a rider.
Mark d'Ardenne, 22, was killed in a head-on crash on the A4074 Dorchester bypass on Saturday afternoon after visiting Fox's Diner at Berinsfield, a well-known meeting place for riders.
With more motorcyclists using the roads around the diner during spring and summer, both villagers and officials of the Fox Motorcycle Club are appealing for safer motoring from drivers and riders.
Steve Harding, chairman of the 250-member motorcycle club which meets at the diner, said: "We're doing everything we can.
"We work with police to enforce a six-point plan we agreed last year to curb dangerous riding.
"Our members are very conscious they have a responsibility to set an example by leading the way in road safety."
Berinsfield parish council discussed Mr d'Ardenne's death on Monday and asked police and county council road safety officials to monitor the road more closely to see how accidents can be prevented.
Mr d'Ardenne's Yamaha bike is believed to have clipped a traffic island and he and his machine were catapulted across the road. There was a head-on collision with a Peugeot. A BMW and a Mercedes were also involved.
Mr d'Ardenne was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dorchester and Berinsfield representative on Oxfordshire County Council, John Howell, has worked closely with bikers and police to cut speeds on the Dorchester bypass.
He said: "This was a tragedy. The death of any young man like this is to be regretted.
"I'm working again with the county road safety officers, bikers and police to find out what happened and how something like this can be avoided in the future."
Dr Howell, and Berinsfield parish council chairman Ken Hall, both said Fox Motorcycle Club members who use Fox's Diner were not the problem.
Dr Howell said: "These people are responsible bikers and are trying to do what they can to cut accidents.
"Police had CCTV camera vans monitoring the diner area but we are now asking them to concentrate more on the roads than on a group which is generally no problem."
Mr Harding said: "Mr d'Ardenne was not a member of this club - he was just one of many bikers who like to come to Fox's Diner.
"We have notices about urging people to ride safely and we support the police and the county council in everything they do to promote safe motorcycling. We reinforced the road safety messages at our club night on Monday."
He said the motorcycle club backed the call by villagers for a permanent speed camera on the bypass.
Your Say YourOxford
JonD, Witney says...
5:20pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Martin, Cumnor says...
7:00pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Micky, Witney says...
7:03pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Motorcyclists love speed cameras.
Mike, Wallingford says...
10:52pm Wed 9 Apr 08
Steve, says...
6:21am Thu 10 Apr 08
Road safety initiatives are presided over by the Safety Camera Partnership guided by people who couldn't understand a set of statistics if their lives depended on it and the police are only ever put out on the street if they find one of their cameras in ashes.
It's little wonder the roads feel more dangerous than they used to, because I doubt it's just a feeling.
As Micky says, the irony of motorcyclists asking for a speed camera is really quite funny.
Mike, Witney says...
7:57am Thu 10 Apr 08
s - in general - ignore speed limits. They seem to think it dosn't apply to them. I'm sure everyone has had some experience of this!!
Nick, Benson says...
7:58am Thu 10 Apr 08
paul, Oxford says...
8:11am Thu 10 Apr 08
Mike wrote:Im sure people who have the mentality to excessively break speed limits is averaged out over all road users. However when that mentality is given a motor bike they then have the means (high speed bike) and the space (fits between cars) to do just that. The fact is the opportunity to speed can be realised with a motor bike far more than any other vehicle, thats why we see more bikers breaking speed limits.
FACT....Motorcyclist
s - in general - ignore speed limits. They seem to think it dosn't apply to them. I'm sure everyone has had some experience of this!!
Sid Hunt, says...
8:31am Thu 10 Apr 08
There are examples of bad riding / driving from all manner of those supposedly in control of their vehicles. It is not the type of vehicle but the operator that is at fault.
When was the last time you saw a motorcyclist fumbling with a mobile phone, reading a map, eating / drinking or changing a CD whilst supposedly in control of a motor vehicle?
I agree with another post on here which cites the lack of active traffic policing, perhaps if drivers saw more police they might remember to drive a little better - assuming, of course, that they are actually driving with a degree of attention in the first place.
Chris, Oxford says...
9:57am Thu 10 Apr 08
Sid Hunt wrote:Well said. As a regular user of the Botley Road to get to/from work I will often see a motorcyclist grind to a halt alongside my driver's door as I have seen them approaching from some distance and allowed them room, but the person in front either not using their mirrors, or deliberately obstructing them, has drifted across. It is as you say, extremely dangerous.
Mick from Witney, please supply the evidence to suport your \'facts\'. Paul fom Oxford - it is more likely that motorcycles are travelling up to the speed limit but it appears they exceeding it because larger vehicles are stuck in congestion and can not attain the limit. I have been riding on the roads for 27 years, I am a member of the IAM and ride or drive within my capabilities and within the road capacity. That being said, the number of self, sad car / van drivers who block progress of motorcycles by swerving into its path is disappointing to say the least. The attitude appears to be \'if I can\'t go anywhere neither can you\'. It is extremely dangerous.
There are examples of bad riding / driving from all manner of those supposedly in control of their vehicles. It is not the type of vehicle but the operator that is at fault.
When was the last time you saw a motorcyclist fumbling with a mobile phone, reading a map, eating / drinking or changing a CD whilst supposedly in control of a motor vehicle?
I agree with another post on here which cites the lack of active traffic policing, perhaps if drivers saw more police they might remember to drive a little better - assuming, of course, that they are actually driving with a degree of attention in the first place.
All the comments about speed show a similar attitude to that applied by the government in determining strategies for roads policing - speed speed speed speed speed speed... Head-on collisions are not caused by excessive speed, but rather a vehicle being on the wrong side of the road - speed is merely a factor in the severity of the resulting collision. It is stated in the report that Mr. d'Ardenne is believed to have clipped a kerb, even at relatively slow speeds this is a dangerous thing to happen, and its occurance at a left-hand bend obviously provides the mechanism by which the vehicle can end up in the path of oncoming traffic.
Whilst it is the subject of a proper investigation, there is nothing to suggest Mr. d'Ardenne was speeding, and he needn't have been for the accident to occur. I regularly see road accidents due to the nature of my job, and from looking at the damage in the photo it would appear that if anything the collision happened at a more modest speed than people may think. Sometimes it is just the case that there was an unfortunate accident, and it may have been impossible to prevent this collision, but overall Police should be allowed to spend more of their time enforcing overall driving standards instead of such a disproportionate amount of time on speed enforcement.
Nick, Benson says...
11:05am Thu 10 Apr 08
Phil, Wallingford says...
11:29am Thu 10 Apr 08
I've travelled along that road on the 60 limit (it's 60, not 70, on single-carriageway) and been overtaken by three or four bikes in a stream, doing at good 75 mph. 99% of the time they'll be fine, but speed can kill.
Remember, the energy of a moving object increases with the square of the speed, so go from 60 mph to 75 mph, and you increase the energy by over 50%. Stopping, whether using brakes, or in an accident, will be much harder.
Phil, Wallingford says...
11:30am Thu 10 Apr 08
I've travelled along that road on the 60 limit (it's 60, not 70, on single-carriageway) and been overtaken by three or four bikes in a stream, doing at good 75 mph. 99% of the time they'll be fine, but speed can kill.
Remember, the energy of a moving object increases with the square of the speed, so go from 60 mph to 75 mph, and you increase the energy by over 50%. Stopping, whether using brakes, or in an accident, will be much harder.
henry, dorchester says...
12:06pm Thu 10 Apr 08
Morris, Speed Camera Central says...
1:05pm Thu 10 Apr 08
A head on collision between two vehicles both travelling at 29 mph is quite possibly fatal because it results in an impact speed of 58mph but isn't illegal.
I'm not saying you're wrong to want to bring speed down, but have the wisdom not to be brainwashed into thinking bringing speed down will cure everything, as the partnerships seem to think, because it won't.
If you were to hit a child pedestrian with a car at 29mph, it's possible you won't kill that child, but that assumes you're awake, alert and not under the influence of drink or drugs.
Perhaps we need a new slogan that does embrace the problems on Britains roads today 'Bad Driving Kills'
Nick, Benson says...
3:53pm Thu 10 Apr 08
Chris, Oxford says...
4:24pm Thu 10 Apr 08
Nick wrote:I agree totally. I personally would class such deliberately irresponsible behaviour under the umbrella of poor driving/riding standards. However, there is still however nothing to suggest the victim of this accident was involved in such activity, and in fact my experience would suggest (purely from looking at the photo) that there needn't have been a particularly high speed involved. A biker has very little protection if they come off a bike and can easily be killed by a relatively low-speed collision.
Chris Oxford, I would agree in general with your comment that Police should be allowed to spend more of their time enforcing overall driving standards instead of such a disproportionate amount of time on speed enforcement. However as this discussion is primarily about the Dorchester bypass then excessive speed is the major factor, coupled with other dangerous practices. The nature of the road means it is used by SOME bikers for burn ups. I may be only a sample of one but on two occasions have been overtaken at high speed by bikers, on one of those times by two racing side by side. Also, I am informed by a friend who uses Foxs Diner there are a small number of bikers who compete for fastest times on this road. It is these sort of things should be policed more regularly.
When I refer to policing priorities being heavily biased towards speeding, I'm not suggesting speed enforcement should stop altogether. Take for example a person who happens do be doing 70mph on a nice, wide 60mph road with a good surface and good visibility, and is otherwise driving in a perfectly safe manner, versus a person who's driving around doing one or more of not using their mirrors, not indicating, changing CDs, smoking and thus risking dropping a lit cigarette, pulling out in front of people without looking, failing to give way, overtaking on blind bends, contravening solid white lines, blinding people with their headlights/foglights in broad daylight, etc... the list goes on. Who is more likely to cause an accident? The second person of course. The first person by contrast is MANY times less likely to have an accident in the first place, and the fact they are speeding means if one does occur there could potentially be more energy involved, but it would be unlikely that the speed itself would have cause - instead it is far more likely that somebody not dissimilar to the second person in my example would be to blame!
At approx 8:40am this morning I was travelling along the A40 towards Witney, it was a lovely bright, clear and sunny morning. Between Eynsham roundabout and Witney bypass I encountered FIFTEEN oncoming cars with both their headlights AND foglights on, and many more with their headlights on. Many of these drivers were actually wearing sunglasses due to how sunny it was, and as if the light level wasn't enough to dazzle drivers they were adding to this with their unnecessarily (and thus illegal ) use of their lights.
We've got the speeding campaigns, the seatbelt campaigns (which are both related to reducing the impact of accidents when they occur, but not really preventing the accidents themselves), now we've got the mobile phone law and subsequent campaigns.... When are we going to see some enforcement of overall driving standards, which have so sharply declined and continue to do so??? Action needs to be taken, if we are ever going to make any real impact on the road accident statistics.
Morris, the days of yore says...
4:34pm Thu 10 Apr 08
I couldn't agree more and with so many missing traffic police since cameras arrived, who's enforcing all these additional mobile phone, seatbelt etc laws? ..nobody.
I believe even in 2008 prevention is the better strategy than some half baked attempt at a cure.
Nick, Benson says...
4:58pm Thu 10 Apr 08
However you hit the nail firmly on the head, the main problem is enforcement. It is not happening. Where have all the police gone? It is a sad reflection on this country when we can produce thousands of police to guard an Olympic flame, yet when they are really want to do a proper job there is never one to spare.
George, says...
6:32pm Thu 10 Apr 08
Granted there are a few idiots who may or may not be PR people playing devils advocate, or at least I hope thats what they are.
So if I can add my tuppence 'apennies worth.
Don't talk about cameras or speed limits, that just divides the argument between the 'they work' and they don't work' camps.
If everyone were to concentrate on enforcement, instead of just one kind of enforcment, we may all reach agreement that what we've got, just isn't good enough.
As for why, my opinion would be, that inspite of having the highest motoring tax regime in Europe, if not the world, because our dear leaders don't want to pay the public sector, we're left with a ramshackle collection of ageing boxes on poles, instead of what was once a police force the envy of the world.
Nick, Oxford says...
9:34pm Sun 13 Apr 08
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dave, witney says...
4:42pm Wed 9 Apr 08