Cycling on the motorway

[Cycling2023]

DH decided to cycle from London to St Alban's today and on his way back, was apparently very dehydrated and had a dead phone so accidently ended up on the motorway.

He called the police for their help to leave the motorway safely and they took down his name and details and said he would be sent a fine. Does anyone know how much it could be and if this would be a FPN (where it doesn't show up on DBS and CRB checks).

This is the first time he has been fined for anything so we are actually quite worried as it is all unknown to us.

Thank you and please be kind.

Do you think his epilepsy has returned on the back of this one incident or other incidents?

If it's other incidents he really has to take some responsibility to why he was doing a 60 mile bike ride without enough water on a boiling hot day. That's idiotic enough as it is without having concerns about your health.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

The emergency SOS phones all along the side of the motorway.

That's been answered by the OP, he said he used an orange emergency phone.

he thinks that. the thing is he had seizures when he was a child and we thought he grew out of it. When he was at law school, he would lose feeling in his hand sometimes if he was stressed so he applied for a reasonable adjustment to allow him to type his essays rather than write them out. However he hasn't really experienced them much but like i said previously, he is going through a lot of stress at work now (hence why he took a day of leave). I think that might be triggering it.

He went back to work today but didn't cycle there, just took the tube.

this one incident. He apparently had water but it wasn't enough.

He is rethinking and does think he sometimes displays symptoms but thought it was just too much caffeine. DH is in a very high pressure job in a bank and the work conditions are actually less than ideal so i think perhaps he is used to pushing his body and mental health to the limit.. its silly though, i am usually there to moderate it, but i guess i wasn't there to do so.

For everyone saying the signage is confusing - whilst it may be (and I’m not convinced) it’s an awful lot easier to pull over and haul your bike over the armco out of the way than it is trying to rectify the mistake in a car.

He needs to either find some like minded friends and cycle with them or join the locsl
cycling club.

1. Summons will arrive in post. He pleads guilty.
2. He might be able to give mitigating circumstances, dehydration caused disorientation , he realised what he’d done, stopped, got off the carriageway onto verge ( I assume he did this) and called police for help to avoid an accident.
3. He goes to dr and gets epilepsy tests, pay for private if necessary.

Could have been worse, he could have been flattened by a truck.

I’m glad he’s ok. You must both be very shaken by it.

I think you have a few firm conversations to be having when you’re both feeling a bit less shaken up and need to agree some new ‘rules’ (in inverted commas because he’s an adult after all…):

1. No more big rides without adequate nutrition, hydration and navigation. He needs to take this as a warning to always have water, gels and electrolytes with him, even is he doesn’t think it’s all that warm. And he needs to know his route. But definitely - gels, electrolytes, water. This is just common sense and will also improve his performance, if that motivates him at all.

1. No more big rides until he’s been checked out for his epilepsy having returned. Actually, probably best if he doesn’t ride alone at all until that’s sorted. Does he have cycling buddies?

No idea about the potential legal implications; but given that he’s immediately called for help and made a genuine mistake rather than just heading off onto the lottery regardless, you’d hope that would be taken into account.

I think it’s healthier for men to do that. Dh used to cane it but now he cycles with others so they stop for coffee / food much healthier in every way

*motorway, not lottery 🙄

I guess he used an emergency motorway phone and those saying not to ring 101, surely that is what everyone on MN is told to ring for the slightest thing

both of you sound insane

Bloody hell! How did he manage that? I saw someone cycling on the m8 in rush hour in the dark with no lights once. Scary stuff.

hopefully there won’t be too much of a fine if there wasn’t an accident, main thing is he’s OK!

@Cycling2023

@spudlet has given some good advice on gels etc..

as for water...this one incident. He apparently had water but it wasn't enough.

Any idea how much he did have?

FWIW I'm in a part of the world where long rides in 30 celsius plus is common in summer and (especially if you are a slow sod, out on the roads for hours like me) you really need a water/hydration plan before you set sail.

You need to by default be consuming something like a litre of water an hour right from the get go, and that's a minimum,so large bidons and/or maybe a camelbak, and also some idea of where you can refill enroute - potable water taps, handy stores or garages etc...

Right, if you truly believe he's got epilepsy, he needs to deal with that as a matter of urgency.

Flopping about because it's difficult to see a GP is not good enough. He has access to a private GP. Just ask for an initial consultation - it's not complex, no need to find the right drop down on a list, just book an appointment for anything you can and he can talk to them then. They will likely want to discuss symptoms, so both of you sit down together and review anything you think might be relevant - the numbness, confusion, blanking out, staring off into space - you might notice more than he does, especially if they are simple partial seizures.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/epilepsy/symptoms/

already booked private GP online consultation. He is having one today.

His symptoms also mirror anxiety or stress. It can have many physical manifestations.

I wouldn't want him in control of any heavy machinery until he'd been thoroughly investigated.

Cycling2023 · Yesterday 20:50

“Yes he is fine. When he is tired and dehydrated, he doesn't think straight.”

In which case he shouldn’t be cycling. He could kill someone. it’s not difficult to carry water if you know it’s an issue.
I carry 2 litres of water on my long daily walks.

As a pedestrian, sometime cyclist and sometime motorist, I really can’t see how someone can accidentally find themselves on the motorway?

Surely if he had a seizure, he'd have had to have got back onto his bike and continued cycling, to then end up on the motorway in a state of confusion?

Some people with epilepsy have what I think is called "absense seizures". My daughter's friend was having these before she got medication and would do dangerous things like walk out into the road into oncoming traffic. That's how she was eventually diagnosed. I always thought epileptic fits involved someone falling to the floor and physically fitting, but that's not always the case.