Volunteer puts quad bike into lock

[Mac of Cygnet]

OK, this is from NBW so may be old news, but I haven't seen it anywhere else. Isn't Barry Reed a Forum member?

 

 

 

Cart volunteer plunged into lock Friday, 17 April 2015 09:36

A VOLUNTEER lock keeper was quite proud at getting a quad bike for getting up and down the locks at Devizes, but just could not control it, and ended up with it plunging into a lock.

It was the volunteer's first day as lock keeper, but he obviously had not been fully instructed of the use of the quad bike, as an onlooker told how he careered off at speed obviously out of control and drove straight into a lock, Allan Richards tells us.

Face down

He ended up face down in the water in the bottom of the lock, but luckily he was not on his own, otherwise it could have been fatal, for the life jacket did nothing to help him.

It was boater Barry Reed who clambered down into the lock and dragged the volunteer face upwards so he could breath, then towards the ladder where together with the other volunteer lock keeper they managed to get the man out.

The emergency services had been called as a number of ambulances and the police arrived, with the volunteer taken to hospital, where he recovered.

 

[Bettie Boo]

I think this happened a little over 2 weeks ago, remembering seeing it on FB the day after it happened.

[Nightwatch]

Oops! Rather awkward,me thinks.

[Guest]

Sounds like the man had a lucky escape, and glad to hear he has recovered. Very well done to the people who rescued him.

[David Schweizer]

It beats me as to how he managed to ditch a Quad into a lock, the towpath (actually a wide rolled gravel track!) is about ten feet from the edges of the lock. I have never seen any of the lock keepers leave the track on the quad, they always used to get off the bike and walk to the lock side, and they never used to use it on the grass side of the locks.

[Bettie Boo]

David what a lovely picture of the flight, i don't think I've seen that one before.

 

Although with that said, I don't think the incident happened on the main flight, but the lock just before one of the main bridges into town. Sorry I don't have my Nicholson's to hand, but it's the one with the service station on the off side just on the other side of the bridge if going west. If that makes sense.

 

However, as you said, it's still pretty wide there as well.

[Keeping Up]

I wonder why the life jacket left him floating face downwards?

[David Schweizer]

David what a lovely picture of the flight, i don't think I've seen that one before.

 

Although with that said, I don't think the incident happened on the main flight, but the lock just before one of the main bridges into town. Sorry I don't have my Nicholson's to hand, but it's the one with the service station on the off side just on the other side of the bridge if going west. If that makes sense.

 

However, as you said, it's still pretty wide there as well.

 

Yes I know the one, but as you say, there is still about ten feet between the towpath and the lock edge.

Edited April 18, 2015 by David Schweizer

[alan_fincher]

I think this happened a little over 2 weeks ago, remembering seeing it on FB the day after it happened.

Probably about the time NBW take to wake up to an old story and publish it as an exclusive!

[Mac of Cygnet]

Actually, I can quite see how it happened. The first (and only!) time I drove a quad bike it just went all over the place. Driving one for the first time near deep water would be a total no-no.

[Midnight Rider]

Actually, I can quite see how it happened. The first (and only!) time I drove a quad bike it just went all over the place. Driving one for the first time near deep water would be a total no-no.

Really? As a novice quad biker I used to go on organised rides on the Welsh hills. No problems.

[BD3Bill]

We actually have to do a CPC for Quads here on the farm.

 

Bloody H&S gone mad ? No. They are brutes & obviously in the wrong hands potentially lethal ( Messers O.Ozbourne, R.Mayall et al ).

 

Very irresponsible of CRT ( & I am not usually one of their detractors on here) IF he had no training.

 

Imagine if he had killed a child instead of nearly killing himself ?

 

Oh, wait, !!! I'm not allowed to ride a Motorcycle along the towing path... How does that work then? PAH!

 

Cheers Bill

[Iain_S]

Actually, I can quite see how it happened. The first (and only!) time I drove a quad bike it just went all over the place. Driving one for the first time near deep water would be a total no-no.

 

Same here. Problem is the totally different steering technique from a motor bike.

 

Iain

[Richard Fairhurst]

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/12892939.Worker_drives_quad_bike_into_canal_at_Devizes_on_his_first_day_at_work/

[jake_crew]

IMO they sort of look / feel like a push-bike so you'd lean over to steer, but no, you have to use the handlebars.

 

A bit like the first time I drove a motor bike with a side-car. Very dodgy - I knew what to expect but it still caught me out.

 

Luckily in the early 1970s, the roads were a bit quieter.

Edited April 20, 2015 by jake_crew

[ditchcrawler]

IMO they sort of look / feel like a push-bike so you'd lean over to steer, but no, you have to use the handlebars.

 

A bit like the first time I drove a motor bike with a side-car. Very dodgy - I knew what to expect but it still caught me out.

 

Luckily in the early 1970s, the roads were a bit quieter.

I've lifted a wheel as well 50 years ago.

[nebulae]

Quad bikes are a usefull tool,not a toy. No volunteer should be allowed on one unless trained. Agree,for farm use,no worker can use one unless they have a certificate.or insurers get very cross.

[Alan Saunders]

As a beginner (ab-initio) at gliding club I was assigned, with no training, to the trike. I had never previously driven a motorbike, scooter or moped. Throttle and brakes (maybe clutch) seemed straight forward but I had no idea how to change gear.

 

To this day I do not know how 'motorbike' gears work! I found I could kick up or down but getting into neutral eluded, still eludes, me. The 'Quad' was more stable but also had 'motorbike' gears. I can understand how a 'quad' could result in a new rider ending up in the cut or, worse, in a lock.

 

This volunteer lock keeper, like me, probably had 'grandfather' rights on his licence for that class of vehicle that were accepted by CRT. Maybe, as the use was not on a Public Highway the requirement for a basic motorcycle skills course was ignored? I doubt it will be in the future.

 

Alan