7-year-old girl died after losing control of bike

[Postboxer]

I have suggested before that the cycle lane should be as wide as the car lane, cars would have the narrow strip to the right, but would have to completely exit the cycle lane to pass cyclists. Or we could just have a law saying how much room you have to give and start prosecuting drivers who don't do it, this would save paint.

[gaz]

If a cyclist is on a cycle path on a footpath, I would not expect a driver to slow down below the speed limit to pass them unless there was something obviously wrong. I see no reason why they should. ...

I can see reasons to slow down.

Rule 204

The most vulnerable road users are pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and horse riders. It is particularly important to be aware of children, older and disabled people, and learner and inexperienced drivers and riders.

Pedestrians (rules 205 to 210)

Rule 205

There is a risk of pedestrians, especially children, stepping unexpectedly into the road. You should drive with the safety of children in mind at a speed suitable for the conditions.

I can see that it is fair and reasonable to afford at least as much care to a child on a bicycle on a pavement as to any other child on a pavement.

Sometimes terrible things happen but are not anybody's fault.

There is really very little information in the linked articles. Whilst accepting that such occasions exist, I could not say whether this was one of them or not.

[MikeF]

If a cyclist is on a cycle path on a footpath, I would not expect a driver to slow down below the speed limit to pass them unless there was something obviously wrong. I see no reason why they should. I'm probably known here for being hard on bad driving, but I think people are being completely unreasonable about this. If the child hit the side of the car, then for all any of us know the child might not even have wobbled once until the driver had already passed them.

But it's a limit not a set speed vehicles should travel. It's not a target! There's nothing compelling anyone to drive at the speed limit.

Apparently there was something "wrong". The report quotes a driver travelling in the opposite noting the child was wobbling on the bike. It's an accident caused by a close pass when the cyclist wobbled.

[pwa]

As has already been said, there are gaps in the information about this awful accident, so I'm not going to comment further on the specifics about what happened on the day. But I wholeheartedly agree that roadside cycle paths ought to be of a decent width that allows users to stay well away from passing traffic. I wonder if, in this particular case, the existing footpath was declared a cycle path because it was deemed (perhaps correctly) to be safer than the road. The choice may have been between a less than ideal facility and no facility at all. Perhaps the result was a path that is better than the road, for many users, but also a path that is not suitable for children. Maybe this is an opportunity for path designers to learn. And maybe some paths could have signs that warn about the dangers for children.

None of these comments affect what drivers should and should not do.

[Revolution]

Not making judgements on this specific incident but -
I remember a while back, driving my car with Mrs Revolution in the passenger seat. We were going through a village at 30mph. On the pavement to the left, cycling ahead of us was a young lad (older than 7) cycling quite quickly. As I got nearer I slowed to the same speed as the bike leaving a good distance between us and said to Mrs Revolution "you watch, any moment now he's going to bunny hop off the pavement right into the road" and sure enough he did - without incident - as I'd anticipated his action.
The only point I'm making is that as cyclists, being aware of vulnerable road users is second nature to us.

[SA_SA_SA]

you should leave the same room when passing a cyclist on a separate path/lane as if in your lane:

but I have a hard job convincing some drivers of this: essentially they just say that they are expected to drive in a ruler straight line so tough luck on cyclists for wobbling. And are then too scared to cycle on roads

It should be stated forcefully in the highway code that the requirement to give passing room applies whereever the cyclist is.

Perhaps this case might embarrass them into driving properly.

[MikeF]

And are then too scared to cycle on roads

It should be stated forcefully in the highway code that the requirement to give passing room applies whereever the cyclist is.

I think this would apply to some drivers I see with off bicycles on the car roof.

However if this road had been built with a Dutch style path with a gap between it and the road, the little girl may still be alive today.