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Family tell of ‘immense grief’ as crash cyclist is named

By Jenny Fyall - Published on Saturday 7 January 2012 03:34

Andrew McNicoll was killed after colliding with a parked car. Below: Police examine the scene of the cycling accident that led to Andrew McNicoll's death. Picture: Neil Hanna

THE father of a cyclist killed after colliding with a parked car in Edinburgh has spoken of his “immense” grief and “devastation”.
The 43-year-old, who died on Thursday, was yesterday identified as Andrew McNicoll.
Mr McNicoll, of Cairns Drive, Balerno, was an enthusiastic road cyclist who was a member of the Edinburgh Road Club (ERC). He was an insurance officer at Balfour Beatty Construction in Ravelston Terrace.
He died after the incident on Lanark Road on Thursday morning, when it is believed he was struck by an overtaking articulated lorry after he collided with a stationary Mazda.
In a statement released on behalf of his family, his father Ian said: “Our grief, as you can imagine, is immense. Andrew was a fit young man with a great future ahead of him with his partner Donna.
“We are extremely proud of our Andrew and his achievements.”
He added that the family was setting up a memorial fund in his name to help make cycling safer in Scotland.

An ERC member who called himself ‘MAC’ posted a message on the club’s online forum yesterday, expressing his grief. He said: “Andrew joined the club recently, having been out on some of the Saturday and Sunday group rides and thoroughly enjoying them. He was a really keen cyclist, having cycled for the entire 12 years or so that I’ve known him.
“I will miss him greatly and my thoughts are with his girlfriend, family and friends.
“RIP Andrew.”

Mr McNicoll had worked at Balfour Beatty Construction since May. He had previously been a technical claims adviser for Marsh and McLennan Companies in Edinburgh for five years. He was educated at Currie High and Nether Currie.
Mr McNicoll is believed to have hit the blue Mazda on Lanark Road, one of the main thoroughfares leading into the city, at around 8am on Thursday.
The driver of the lorry, which did not stop at the scene of the incident, was later traced by police and was questioned by officers.
A Lothian and Borders spokesman said: “The individual who was detained and was assisting us with our investigation has been released without charge pending further inquiries.”
He said the investigation was ongoing and appealed for anyone who witnessed the crash.

Mr McNicoll was cycling down a hill on the north side of Lanark Road when the accident happened close to its junction with Dovecot Grove, in the Colinton area, near Kingsknowe railway station. He was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but later died of his injuries.

Local councillor Ricky Henderson said yesterday: “It’s a tragic loss of life. My thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Grace Hughes, secretary of the Longstone Community Council, which covers the area, said: “I have every sympathy with his family. It must be a terrible shock.”

He died after the incident on Lanark Road on Thursday morning, when it is believed he was struck by an overtaking articulated lorry after he collided with a stationary Mazda.

The driver of the lorry, which did not stop at the scene of the incident...

Grace Hughes, secretary of the Longstone Community Council, which covers the area, said: “I have every sympathy with his family. It must be a terrible shock.” Hopefully more details will follow to lend some further explanation of this tragic incident. To not stop is just awful. Might there be any chance he hadn't realised?? I find it hard to think that he could hit a car and be unaware of it ? Perhaps he was drunk ?

Who hit what?

As I read it. Cyclist rides into back of parked car falls over to his right and is run over by lorry which is overtaking both cyclist and parked vehicle. It would be pure speculation to think that the reason the cyclist ran into the parked vehicle was because the overtaking lorry didn't leave him room. But, in my experience, it is not uncommon scenario.

He had to move into the centre of the road to miss these two parked cars ...

This is a sad and tragic event. Don't let what I say next detract from that:

From what I can see from the video footage, this tragedy could have been a result of inappropriately adopting the "primary position".

On the face of it, it looked like Mr McNicoll might have have pulled into the path of the arctic. From the layout of the car and road shown in the clip, I believe there would have been adequate room to keep within the left lane, thus leaving the arctic an entire lane to pass.

According to Google, there is a gatso on this road, 800m from the crash site; the arctic would have passed the gatso before the collision.
Also, there is another gatso 200m ahead of the crash site, directly in line of sight too; you can just about see the graduated markings just to the right of the railings, at 28 seconds into the video.
Yes, when the collision occurred, the driver was between two gatsos that were only 1km apart !!

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "At this time inquiries are at an early stage, however it is known that the cyclist collided with a parked car.
"Further inquiries are under way in regard to the involvement of other vehicles, and a man has been detained for questioning by police in regard to the incident.
"We would urge anyone who was in the area of Lanark Road this morning, who saw what happened, to contact police as a matter of urgency.
"In particular, we want to speak to anyone who noticed an articulated lorry with a white cab and a red flat-bed trailer being driven in the area at the time.”

Anyone with information should contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3131.

But even if there's no room to move to your right, most road users tend to look where they're going and come to a halt rather than crashing into parked vehicles...