Cyclists crash after ignoring signs

TWO towpath cyclists were involved in a head-on collision with one, a female, suffering a head injury despite wearing a crash helmet, writes Allan Richards.

The accident occurred outside the Toll House, Little Venice, with Canal & River Trust (CaRT) staff taking the woman to St. Mary's Hospital Paddington for treatment.

Cycling not permitted

CaRT say that both cyclists had ignored signs and were riding on a section of towpath where cycling is not permitted, due to the narrow width and conflicts with pedestrians and boaters using the visitor mooring.

Unfortunately, CaRT's London Region have attempted to capitalise on the accident using it as publicity for the Trust's new towpath policy, ‘Better Towpaths for Everyone' which they claim is based on their pioneering work in London with the ‘Share the Space' campaign.

Ignored signs

However, bearing in mind that central to CaRT's towpath policy is better signage and education, one wonders why they are highlighting an accident which shows that cyclists ignore signs!