28 April 2023 , 06:23
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A pensioner was left bloodied and bruised when he became the latest casualty of an “optical illusion” cycle lane and tripped over twice in the same day.
The cycle lane was opened in Keynsham’s high street in March last year after nine months of work.
However its two raised kerbs has so far caused dozens of people to fall since its introduction, with 59 people reported being hurt as a result so far.
The latest was pensioner Dave Dawson who twice tripped over the edge of the kerb on Thursday as he ran errands in the Somerset town, sustaining injuries to his hands and knees.
Mr Dawson shows the injuries to his hands as a result of the falls (Paul Gillis/BristolLive/BPM)The 76-year-old told BristolLive: “I was walking along the pavement, and it’s sort of like an optical illusion, it looks as if it's all level.
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“I was walking back towards the church and stepped with my right foot on the edge of the pavement because it looked flat, and I lost my balance and fell down.
“I cut the palms of my hands and my knees a bit because the surface of the cycle lane is very sharp.
“When I came back up the road, I was obviously quite conscious of the kerb because I’d fallen over, and lo and behold, I fell over going back as well. Exactly the same.
Kindly members of the public help him to his feet (Paul Gillis/BristolLive/BPM)“The trouble is that in some places on the high street, the cycle path uses the same principle, but the cycle path is level with the kerb, but as you walk along, it drops down about two inches.
“I think it’s where they thought people would be crossing."
Since its introduction, 21 people have pursued personal injury compensation claims against the council in relation to the road.
Seven of these have been rejected, but the rest remain open and under investigation. Council bosses stated that no insurance claims have currently been settled, and no other payments have been made to anyone.
Although the incident put a downer on his day, Mr Dawson said the “embarrassment” was worse than his injuries.
Dozens have so far been injured on the cycle path (PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)He added: “I'm 76 but still pretty active. So as soon as I realised what had happened, I got back up so it wasn't the end of the world.
“It’s only grazes, I just cleaned it up myself. Everybody who asked ‘are you alright’ as I got up, they all said ‘We’ve all done it’.
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“Lots of people have done it and not been seriously hurt.
“I’m not intending to make any claim or anything like that. I feel if I did that, you’re only claiming against your own money because it comes from the council.
“I think, in all honesty, the intention [of the cycle path] is good, and apparently, it's to the government standards, but I think they’ve made a mistake.
“It will have to be rectified, but it’s getting them to admit they were wrong. We all make mistakes."
Some work has been done on the cycle lane with the hope of reducing the number of falls. The lane, which had been plain tarmac, was painted red in August in response to 46 incidents of people falling at that time.
Mark Roper, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s cabinet member for economic development, regeneration and growth, defended the council’s response to the issues.
He said: “The new Keynsham High Street cycle lane is built to the government’s current LTN120 standards, and when some early problems were identified with the double kerb down to the road surface, a series of mitigations were put in place which has had the effect of substantially reducing the number of reported incidents.”