British Columbia
Cycling Coalition
SHOULDER RUMBLE STRIPS (SRS) -- Cyclist Injuries
Cyclist Injuries Involving SRS
Comments from Cyclists Regarding SRS
Cyclist Injuries
The British Columbia Cycling Coalition has been contacted regarding two separate cyclist injuries involving shoulder rumble strips:
- Friday, May 16, 2003
-- near Hope, B.C.
Henry Berkenbos is injured while participating in a BC Randonneurs event after being thrown out of control by a shoulder rumble strip installation. Berkenbos is a long-time competitive cyclist who regularly cycles over 20,000 km per year and has ridden 35 years without a serious crash.
Two accounts of this incident have been written by BC Randonneurs members:
Account by Eric Ferguson
Account by Harold Bridge - Saturday, July 19, 2003
-- southern approach to the Malahat, just north of Victoria, B.C.
While attempting to avoid debris on the shoulder, Norman Marcy hits a shoulder rumble strip installation and the vibration causes him to lose control of his bike. He is thrown against a guardrail, subsequently flipping. The force of the impact broke his helmet, and he suffered numerous lacerations and abrasions. Marcy submitted an accident report to Minister Reid and MoT staff. That letter is available for download (PDF, 83 KB)
Other Comments
From: Michael Poplawski
Saturday, May 24, 2003
I had the bad experience of riding down the Malahat in the dark a few weeks ago. The start of rumble strips are difficult to see in the dark, and when riding to the right of the rumble strip, the cyclist has little room to deal with any problems with the roadway. In the case of the Malahat, the shoulder is not cleaned very often (I have seen small pieces of lumber on all three of my descents during April and May, and for all I know, they are the pieces I hit in May 2002 when I damaged a rear wheel) and the road is steep, requiring the cyclists to be applying their brakes far more often than normal. This can cause a blowout or other bike handling problems. The road felt much safer to cycle without rumble strips as I could pick a proper line on the descent and avoid debris.
--
Mike
Do you have an opinion or observations you would like to share about this type of road installation, or do you now avoid routes with SRS? Please contact us.
If you or anyone you know of has had an injury or a near miss due to SRS, please let us know. You can find our contact information at http://www.bccc.bc.ca/contact.htm.
As well, you may want to contact the MoT Claims Manager:
Marc Daubner
Ministry of Transportation
Phone: 250 387-7579
Fax: 250 356-9724
E-Mail: Marc.Daubner@gems1.gov.bc.ca
P.O. Box 9850
STN PROV GOVT
Victoria, BC, V8W 9T5
Kindly CC us on all correspondence--info@bccc.bc.ca.
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