Dorothy Martinscroft a retiree was left bloodied and bruised after tripping over a partially installed bike lane barrier that was nearly invisible.
- Dorothy Martinscroft, from Stockport, tripped over as she walked across the street, missing the grey concrete platform beneath her
- Sefton Council put the new raised kerbs in place after the last cycle lane bollards were kicked out of the ground by vandals – they are now investigating
- The new blocks are supposed to have black and white poles in the middle but when Dorothy fell, they were only partially installed
Dorothy Martinscroft was returning home from her Covid boPrisoner Dorothy Martinscroft Left Bloodied, Bruised And Embarrassed After She Tripped Over A Cycle Lane Barrieroster vaccination when she injured her face, hand and back after tripping over a platform being fitted as part of improvements to cycle paths in Southport city centre.
The new gray platform is the same color as the road surface and with the black and white bollard itself not yet in place, Dorothy did not see the raised surface and fell onto the road.
Dorothy Martinscroft, pictured, suffered injuries to her face, back and hand after tripping over raised curbs for cycle paths as she crossed the street in her hometown of Southport
The 86-year-old was helped by a passing first aider before being taken to hospital in an emergency vehicle.
Sefton Council has since promised to investigate the incident.
According to daughter Alison Barnes, Dorothy was still in pain and was awakened a week after the incident, which took place on October 1.
She also had trouble using her hand and was embarrassed to be seen because of the bruises on her face.
Alison said: “She had been to Hoghton Street for her Covid booster shot and tripped over the concrete pole.
“She had a big egg on her head, a sore back and right hand, and she was bleeding profusely.
“A first aider came by and luckily had a spare diaper that they used to control the bleeding until the police arrived.
“The police said they had done all the first aid they could and a paramedic got in a car and took her to the hospital because the wait for an ambulance would have been too long.”
The concrete ‘kerbstones’ are very similar in color to the asphalt of the road below, making it difficult for Dorothy to see
The concrete platforms are intended to have black and white posts in the center (pictured above), but the one Dorothy tripped over was only partially installed
Although her mother is usually very independent and active, Alison says she was left shaken by the fall.
She said: “She is in a lot of pain, she is very ashamed to be seen with the bruises and she struggles with the pain in her right hand, while she is right handed.”
The old posts, first put in place with funding from the government’s active travel fund, were bright orange and white posts held with a bracket to the flat surface below.
These were often vandalized and kicked out of the ground, so the council recently turned them into gray raised concrete curbs with a black and white post sticking out of the center.
However, the concrete curb that Dorothy fell over, which is almost the exact same color as the asphalt of the road, did not have a black and white pole in the middle, as it was only partially installed.
Staff at the nearby Stokers furniture store invited her in while she waited for the paramedic.
Dorothy wants to thank the staff who helped her, as well as the couple who provided the emergency room, Amanda and Neil, and Chris the paramedic.
A spokesman for the Sefton Council said: ‘Our condolences go out to this lady and her family.
“We’re going to investigate the matter further.”
Pictured in September 2020, the cycle path was installed on Hoghton Road in Southport. The track had bright orange and white posts on a flat surface separating car traffic from the cyclists, but these were removed after the posts were smashed and kicked out of the ground
The previous bollards were changed to these raised curbs intended for screwing the black and white posts, pictured, into the concrete
Announcing the installation of the barriers, along with other changes to the width of cycle paths and road markings, just a day before Dorothy fell, Cllr John Fairclough, Sefton Council cabinet minister for Locality Services, said: well aware that Sefton, like many other councils, were told by the government to put in place strict active travel plans soon.
‘Due to the timescales imposed on us by the central government, there was relatively little time to fully develop the Hoghton Street project and this was compounded by a national shortage of materials available to our contractors.
“After a detailed series of independent reviews, we have identified and implemented a range of changes that we believe are necessary to ensure that this scheme is as effective as possible.
“Once these adjustments are made, we remain fully committed to reviewing the scheme after six months.
“Neither the Department for Transport nor the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority have provided definitive criteria for assessing the success of such a plan.
“As such, our teams will use detailed and publicly available bike usage data, along with further research, to inform future decisions about whether this scheme will become permanent, be further modified or eventually be removed.”
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