http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23516990-2862,00.html
April 10, 2008 02:40pm
A DITCH on a Melbourne bike path was a "hidden trap" that directly
contributed to the death of a cyclist, a coroner has found.
Robert Graham, 55, broke his neck and subsequently died after hitting
a culvert and being flung over the handlebars of his bicycle on a
popular bike track in Melbourne's north on February 27, 2007.
The impact severed his spinal chord and paralysed him from the neck down.
He died on March 2 last year after agreeing to have his life support
at the Austin Hospital switched off.
Coroner Dyson Hore-Lacy today found that the culvert was a "classic,
hidden trap" and that the local Nillumbik Shire Council had a duty of
care to maintain the bike path.
The culvert "caused Mr Graham's fall and contributed to his death," Mr
Hore-Lacy said in his finding.
Mr Hore-Lacy delivered two key recommendations in his finding.
He called on the Victorian government to consider providing extra
funding to local councils to allow them to maintain and develop safe
shared pathways.
He also recommended the government undertake a review of Australian
standards and guidelines relevant to Victoria for shared pathways.
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