Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman’s Mother cyclist dies in tragic cycling accident

Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman’s mother, Carol has tragically died following a cycling accident in Deeside, North Wales earlier this week.

Carol, an avid racing cyclist who competed in cycling races until the birth of her two children and had passed her love of cycling to them, was knocked off her bike after colliding with a car and died from the serious injuries she sustained the following day.

Chris Boardman, who won gold in the 1992 Olympics, is a high profile road safety campaigner who has devoted much of his life to promoting cycling safety. He recently took part in a series of cycling safety awareness videos for Cycling Weekly demonstrating how to cycle two abreast and how to safely overtake.

Chris, nicknamed ‘The Professor’ by Team GB cyclists, is considered to be the pioneer of the UK’s highly successful Olympic team and recently called on London’s new mayor Sadiq Kahn, to follow through on his promise to increase funding available to a cycling safety initiative in the capital.

Only in February this year, Chris revealed on twitter that he had been shaken up when his mother was riding her bike in a group and was involved in a near-miss with an Aldi truck. At the time he said there was no excuse for such driving.

He posted a touching tribute to his beloved mum describing her as the most positive outgoing person you could ever hope to meet with a generosity of spirit that inspired everyone she met.

Sadly, serious cycling accidents are far too common in the UK. According to statistics from the Department of Transport, in 2014, over 20,000 people were injured in cycling accidents involving motorised vehicles and 114 of the worst cases resulted in fatalities.

Cycling UK has long campaigned for the rights of cyclists to use roads safely. In their ‘Safety in Numbers’ research they found that the more cyclists there are in any given area, the lower the risk to cyclists. They also found that one of the main reasons people don’t cycle is due to fear.

National road safety charity BRAKE believes road safety isn’t solely about driving safely and within the law. It’s also about making our streets safe and pleasant for everyone to use freely, and doing everything we can to protect ourselves and people around us, especially vulnerable road users.

It has long called for more investment in infrastructure to make roads safer for vulnerable road users. Last year, it participated in a Department for Transport consultation recommending the Government invests in improved infrastructure that benefits cycling and walking both in the long and short term, implements more segregated cycle ways and creates new routes that encourages cycling and walking.

It remains to be seen what changes will be made to the transport infrastructure to make roads safer for cyclists. However, serious cycling accidents are still too common an occurrence.

At Novum Law, we represent the families and dependants of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers who have sadly lost their lives due to road traffic accidents. It is possible to make a claim for compensation in two ways:

• A claim by the Estate on behalf of someone who has died following an accident
• A claim by any individuals financially dependent upon the deceased at the time of their death.

We also work to compensate victims who have suffered life changing injuries as a result of a road traffic incident.