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Injured cyclist challenges Brighton and Hove council after cycle lane accident
22 April 2010
A cyclist is taking legal action against Brighton and Hove City Council after an accident caused by a poorly designed cycle lane left her with serious fractures to her arms.
Isabella Vanni, 39, from Hove, was cycling to visit a friend on the afternoon of the accident in July 2009. She was riding in the cycle lane along The Drive, Brighton and intended to turn right into Upper Drive. However, as she approached the junction, checked for traffic and steered to the right to join the main part of the road, her bike collided with a splitter island* positioned in the road.
This collision threw Ms Vanni, a competent and experienced cyclist, from her bicycle causing fracturing to both her right elbow and her left wrist. She was taken to hospital by ambulance where a few days later she underwent surgery on both injuries. Her wrist was immobilised in a cast and her elbow bandaged for one month while she endured physiotherapy. The accident also left her unable to work in her job as a contractor in the finance industry for six weeks.
She then required a further operation in February 2010 to remove the metalwork from her wrist due to a painful cyst which had formed, and has been left with scarring from both injuries.
Isabella Vanni said: “My accident not only left me unable to work, but I was also too weak and too nervous to ride my bike until just this month. I had been planning to start an upholstery business, as this is a hobby of mine, but these plans have had to be put on hold while I recover which is very disappointing.
“Even regular cyclists in the city like me would not be familiar with splitter islands like the one that caused my accident – other cycle lanes in the area use painted lines. There was no way of seeing the splitter island as I approached it, so this could be causing problems for other cyclists and motorists. While the council has good intentions with cycle lanes in Brighton and Hove, the design seems to be flawed and they need to address this issue to stop other road users getting hurt.”
Paul Kitson, Head of Personal Injury at Russell Jones & Walker, the solicitor representing Ms Vanni said: “There are a number of reasons why the splitter island installed by the council is poorly conceived and ultimately caused Ms Vanni to be seriously injured. The position is dangerous as it is just before a junction, the kerb is low and hard to see on the road and it is not marked in any way, either with signage, bollards or reflective strips. This is contrary to design recommendations.
“Ms Vanni is a capable cyclist whose injuries would have easily been avoided if proper planning had been done by the council.”
In addition to Ms Vanni’s accident, records from Brighton and Hove City Cycling Forum also show another serious cycling accident occurred on the same stretch of road a number of months beforehand.
According to reports in the local media, there was also opposition from a local councillor when the new cycling lane was installed, branding it ‘an extravagant waste of money’ and highlighting that ‘the new layout is dangerous in parts’. A number of locals have since complained in letters to the local media that the lane makes cycling more unsafe.
*A splitter island is a raised area on a road (usually on approach to a roundabout or junction) variable in size, which can be used to separate lanes of traffic or deflect and slow entering traffic for pedestrians crossing the road in two stages.
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