Man Dies During Bike Ride 2008

bhai sahib ji · July 25, 2008

Criticism of death ride safety

7:20am Friday 25th July 2008

By Alex Hayes »

THE funeral of a local cyclist who died after being knocked off his bike during a charity ride took place yesterday.

Mohammed Abdullah Shah, 52, from West Ealing, was taking part in the annual Birmingham to London cycle organised by Sikh Arts and Cultural Association (SACA), when he was hit by the BMW 3 series on a slip road onto the A5 in Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire on Saturday afternoon.

He was airlifted to hospital in Oxford but died a short time later. A post mortem carried out on Tuesday revealed he died of multiple injuries.

Now some of the other 320 riders taking part in the ride, which has been running for 19 years, have slammed organisers for a lack of safety measures.

One rider, who did not want to be named, said she would not take part in the event again because it was unsafe.

She said: “I’ve taken part in a number of charity rides over the years and this one just felt really unsafe. At the safety briefing on the first morning, people couldn’t get into the room because it was too small. They showed us signs which were supposed to be along the route, but I didn’t see a single one.

“Some of the riders were so inexperienced. At one point, a young girl was trying to start off at some traffic lights when she wobbled and fell in the road in front of a car, which was luckily going slowly and stopped before it hit her.

“They should have had marshalls on the slip roads patrolling the event and it didn’t seem like they had told the authorities in the areas we were passing through about the ride before it happened.

“Some of the stewards were just young teenagers themselves and didn’t seem aware of the Highway Code.”

Organisers have also been criticised for not telling riders there had been a fatality.

The rider continued: “When we got to Luton on Saturday night a couple of competent riders said they were going home.

“That made me worry and I asked one of the organisers what had happened. He told me the man was not badly injured.

“Then, when we got into Southall we had a big Mela [festival] which, had I known what had happened, I would not have gone to.”

Harmi Kaler, a ride organiser, said: “The main part of the home stretch is a parade through Southall Broadway, with lots of music and fundraising, but we decided to cancel the music there as a mark of respect.

“We were asked by police not to tell anyone he was dead, as they had to inform his family and they did not want them to hear before they could tell them.”

Mr Kaler also said there were ambulances travelling with the group and that an ambulance crew got to Mr Shah within 30 seconds of the incident, but his injuries were too severe for them to save him.

He said: “Safety is one of the most important things to us and there was no negligence on our part. We have never had a serious accident in the 19 years the event has been running.

“The application packs clearly state it is up to the rider to know the Highway Code and take necessary safety precautions – and this includes wearing a helmet. We also can’t control the speed people drive at.

“He [Mr Shah] had four work colleagues with him, and they told us he was enjoying the ride and did not have any problems with it.”

SACA is offering counselling to anybody on the ride effected by Mr Shah’s death.

An inquest into the death was opened and adjourned at Milton Keynes on Wednesday, and a police investigation is still ongoing to establish the cause of the crash.

http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/news/localnew...th_ride_safety/