Did traffic chicane kill two bikers?

Motorcycle groups are questioning the safety of traffic-calming chicanes after two riders were killed when a driver didn’t seen them.

Claire Cooper, 26, was cleared of two counts of causing death by careless driving after she pulled into the right-of-way of experienced motorcyclists Andrew Burns, 45, and Wayne Walker, 39

The BMF and MAG say someone must be to blame for the two riders’ deaths, and if not the driver then it must be the designer of the chicane.

The 30mph road where the crash occurred features an S-bend created by two chicanes. The traffic-calming measure depends on vehicles in the S-bend having right of way over traffic waiting to enter it from the opposite direction.

The BMF’s Chris Hodder: “It would be very strange for nobody to be responsible. If it’s not the driver, then it’s the designer of the chicane.”

MAG’s Nich Brown said: “It raises concerns about whether traffic calming is designed in a way that’s safe and fit for purpose.”

Leeds Crown Court heard how the riders entered the S-bend while Cooper’s Ford Fiesta was around 19 metres from the give way markings at the opposite end.

The prosecution said all three vehicles were travelling within the speed limit and Miss Cooper failed to see Burns on his Harley-Davidson and Walker on a Kawasaki before entering entered the S-bed.

Married Burns and married father of one Walker both died at the scene, in Wakefield on February 13 last year.

Cooper said she had been concentrating and had not been distracted, and a jury found her not guilty on February 11.

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