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Sam Southan was knocked off his bike in Easthampstead Road and is now joining a campaign to have the speed reduced
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Bike injury boy appeals for speed cut on Easthampstead Road

By Jon Nurse
October 25, 2012

A schoolboy who was knocked off his bike on Christmas Eve in Easthampstead Road has joined calls to lower the speed limit before someone is killed.

Sam Southan, 13, was left badly bruised on his face, ribs and legs after being thrown into the air and landing head first in some gravel by the Ludgrove School entrance.

The Year Nine pupil at St Crispin’s School now avoids cycling along the road and is urging council bosses to slash the speed limit.

He said: “I was riding with two friends along Easthampstead Road heading towards Ludgrove school to pick some holly for a centrepiece.

“It was quite slippy and I panicked and went out into the road where I immediately got hit by a car.

“I remember seeing the car in flight and time seemed to go really slowly.

“I still have nightmares and wake up in the night thinking of it.

“It wasn’t the driver’s fault – it was me being stupid – but I do think if he had been going slower it wouldn’t have happened.”

Sam, of Starmead Drive, contacted The Wokingham Times after reading about Sunil Dharmabandhu, who is campaigning for the speed limit to be halved from 60mph to 30mph after being knocked off his bike in the road last month.

He hopes reliving the traumatic accident will encourage others to join the campaign.

“We had an assembly after the Paralympics when the head of year said if something bad happens you can make something good come out of it,” Sam added.

“I thought something could come out of this accident if it raises awareness and helps make a change, it could save someone’s life.

“I did some research and there’s a 40 per cent difference in the chance of life when a person is hit at 40mph or 30mph.

“That might add an extra 30 seconds to someone’s journey, but it could save a life.

“I’d like it known that Mr Dharmabandhu has public backing and that he is not fighting a losing battle.”

Sam also thinks a zebra crossing or traffic lights are needed near the White Horse pub.

Both cyclists were knocked down in the road’s 40mph section and Sam believes the speed limit should also be lowered.

Mr Dharmabandhu warned that drivers are reckless in the 60mph stretch between the road’s junctions with Heathlands Road and Old Wokingham Road and is planning a petition for the speed limit to be cut. Sam added: “It might seem quite dramatic but it would make a big difference.”

Matthew Gould, Wokingham Borough Council team leader for traffic, transport and road safety, said: “Unfortunately, it is a reality that the council has limited funds with which to improve road safety on the public highway and as such funds need to be prioritised into areas which will achieve the biggest impact.

“Because of the good safety record in this road, it is not proposed to implement any further engineering measures at this time.”

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Most recent user comments 13 of 13

Larry - when not if. The site has been released for development. Might be another 10 years but it has been released and will happen.

come on lads
25/10/2012 at 22:14

I sympathise with both Sam and Sunil. I often cycle from Finchampstead Road, past Ludgrove to Easthampstead Road but then turn back as the Easthampstead Road is too fast and the kerb too high and narrow in that area.

That said, the problem is that reducing the limit to 30mph around there could have an urbanising effect on the area with streetlights or repeater signs appearing along the route. Changing the area from 'rural' to 'urban' would make it harder to resist applications for large scale residential development south of the railway when they are inevitably submitted. Some form of traffic calming may well be the only solution to this but, sadly, given the current Government cuts, the only way it is likely to be funded is by a developer's contribution if/when the fields opposite the White Horse are built on. Sadly, it's a 'lose, lose' situation.

LarryS
25/10/2012 at 16:04

There's thousands of new houses planned around there. Heavy lorries rather than speeding cars will present a different risk.

come on lads
25/10/2012 at 14:19

It is absolutely stupid that a road like Easthampstead should have a speed limit of more than 40mph. It is a very useful road for cyclists as it leads from the centre of Wokingham to virtually the traffic free road along the side of Downshire Golf Course.

There is an urgent need for the council to recognise routes like this, that can still be cycled most of the way to Easthampstead, designate them cycle routes and implement appropriate traffic calming.

It is used as a relatively safe route by many people who cycle to the Bracknell's Southern Industrial Estate.

PoneRana, Wokingham
25/10/2012 at 14:19

I agree with Mavdo that we should have to regularly resit our driving test as there is some shocking driving these days and it is this minority of mindless idiots that cause most of the issues for those who drive sensibly and responsibly.

Regarding the issue, it would be more useful to see the circumstances regarding Mr Dharmabandhu's accident, as the boy appears to have been cycling on the pavement and slipped into the road at the same time a car went past. Reducing the speed limit in that situation may have actually made things worse as he could have been lying in the road when the car approached.

There will always be a conflict between motorists and cyclists where they share the road. I would love to cycle more, but just feel too vulnerable on the roads, which is a shame.

Smiffy, Reading
25/10/2012 at 13:38

@MSmith - I couldn't agree more with you in principle, and congratulations on the lad owning up to being the cause of the incident - he'll learn so much more from the experience than he would by denying responsibility. Full marks. The problem with my agreement with you is in practice - just how to we "improve driver skills"?

We only really start learning to drive once we've passed the test. But at the same time we also start gaining bad habits, some of which are dangerous. There aren't many drivers on the road who would pass a test now if they had to resit it today (without at least a couple of lessons to spot and correct these faults).

I'm personally very much in favour of a resit test every 5 years for every driver, to include motorway driving, with that test being every year for those over 70 or 75. It think it should be paid for by drivers, or through an increase in road tax (it would work out at less than £10 per year for one test every 5 years), but it would save so much money on speed limits, accidents and so on. It would also bring a massive increase in employment to the testing sector with circa 5m tests needed every year! If you fail, you'd have 6 months to resit and pass, or your driving license is suspended until you do pass.

Until this is brought in, you really haven't a hope of "improving driver skills" because there is no method to educate.

As an example of failed eduaction - those huge motorway signs ran a campaign a few years ago with some saying "Keep left unless overtaking" or "Don't hog the middle lane". Yet some people still actively believe that middle lane driving is right (let alone legal). I even have a picture (take from the passenger seat) of a driver hogging the miggle lane underneath just such a sign!

I might write to Mr Redwood proposing this idea. It would make our roads so much safer.

mavdo, Wokingham
25/10/2012 at 12:38

Don't see how enforced (LOL!) speed reduction would work here, however fair play to the lad for admiting his mistake, and for wanting to improve conditions for cyclists even though in this instance, I would side with WBC.

I would support a campaign for on-road cycle paths - even if the road is a narrow lane, it would give cyclists some confidence and something to aim for, and might improve driver's awareness of slower moving road users.

Paul Daniels' reattached finger.
25/10/2012 at 12:21

Is there an argument that says, if the boy had been cycling in the road to start with the car driver would have been more prepared to avoid him?

The chap has done the right thing by admitting it was his fault, but I wonder whether the corrective action is not to change speed limits, but to improve driver skills and awareness to a point where people feel safe enough to be able to cycle on the roads.

Drivers are impatient and frequently modicodled by modern cars that are very easy to drive with very limited amounts of attention given to the task at hand. It is (in my opinion, I have no facts) the lack of care and attention, rather than the speed which is a contributing factor in many incidents.

MSmith
25/10/2012 at 12:01

Really the driver should be anticipating these types of situations.

If you see a group of kids with a ball in hand up ahead then you should anticipate the ball or child going into the road and slow down a bit and be prepared to brake, or as in this case a kid on a bike who may suddenly go into the road off the pavement. Too many drivers these days just blindly follow there sat nav and arent aware of their surroundings.

I agree with Mavdos second paragraph and speed limits need to be appropriate to the road, but the driver should determine the speed based on conditions at the time.

Mistwalker
25/10/2012 at 11:52

I would tend to agree with almost all of what Mavdo said.

Point of order, though; we're discussing lowering a speed limit because, as this pleasant young lad (nothing against him) says himself;

"It wasn’t the driver’s fault – it was me being stupid".

If the driver had been driving more slowly and left home ten seconds earlier, the accident would still have happened. If the driver had travelled at twice the speed, he/she wouldn't have been on that stretch of road when the lad fell into it.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
25/10/2012 at 10:21

There is not much point setting lower speed limits unless drivers respect them.

The Easthampstead Road is in desperate need of natural traffic calming measures.

A mini-roundabout at both the junctions with Waterloo Road and Murdoch Road would be the best solution. Especially as this is a secondary route through Wokingham and there is an almost even traffic distribution in all directions.

Mark Savill, Wokingham
25/10/2012 at 09:44

@Orange - they have every right to be there as long as they are following the rules (eg use a light after dark, don't ride on the pavement etc). Drivers do not own the roads. If you drive round a country lane and don't see a cyclist until it is too late, you are going too fast. Banning cyclists just so you can go dangerously fast is an incredibly selfish way of living life. We have a speed limit, NOT a speed target, and you shouldn't rely on that circular sign by the side of the road to tell you how fast to drive. 60mph on some country lanes, especially the ones that are too narrow for two cars to pass at speed and have sharp and frequent bends, is usually too fast.

Note thought that I'm not a man who likes pointlessly slow speed limits either. 20mph on a wide and clear road, even past a school, at 2am on a Sunday in mid-August is too slow, for example. We just shouldn't be reliant on there being an appropriate speed limit all the time to tell us how fast to drive. It is up to the driver to determine what speed is appropriate, not the council. You can still drive dangerously within a limit.