crashed his rented cycle in Bermuda, his widow said yesterday.

And Mrs. Robin Heschel said she has noticed increased speeds on Island roads since she first visited in 1988.

Mr. Robert Heschel, 64, of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, died on Friday at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Mr. Heschel, a passenger on the cruise ship Meridian , suffered massive head and neck injuries when he collided with a truck on Middle Road near Granaway Heights on June 1.

The man's 10-year-old granddaughter Leann was also seriously injured, but is now recovering in the US.

Mrs. Heschel, 54, said the helmet her husband wore "didn't seem to do any good''.

"They're half helmets,'' she told The Royal Gazette in a telephone interview from Conshohocken. "I assume that they pass safety standards, or they wouldn't be able to use them.'' But Bermuda should consider requiring a full helmet, she said. Mr. Heschel "didn't hurt the top of his head; he hit where the helmet ended''.

"If he had been wearing a full helmet that came all the way down past his neck, there wouldn't have been any of the damage, as far as his head was concerned.'' But no inquest will be held in Bermuda, since Mr. Heschel died in the States.

And a Police spokesman said the death cannot officially be recorded as the Island's third road fatality of 1993 until it is shown he died from injuries suffered in the crash. Mrs. Heschel has received no word about an inquest in Pennsylvania.

Tragedy struck on the Heschels fourth visit to the Island since they first arrived aboard a Royal Viking cruise liner in 1988.

"I just think it's gotten a little faster (on the roads) each time,'' Mrs.

Heschel said. "There's a lot of passing when you're not supposed to be; there's a lot of cutting people off.'' Visitors are told to ride at 20 miles per hour, but "nobody wants to wait,'' she said. "Everybody is in such a hurry to get where they want to go.'' Mrs. Heschel had nothing but praise for the care her husband received at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, where Mr. Heschel and his granddaughter were rushed after the crash.

But after the pair was airlifted home to Pennsylvania on June 5, "I really don't feel that he was getting enough proper care,'' she said. He was removed from the neuro-intensive care unit at Temple shortly after he arrived, she said.

Mr. Heschel opened his eyes and responded to light at times, but never fully regained consciousness.

Mrs. Heschel said experienced cyclists receive adequate instruction from livery owners, but she is not convinced novices do. Mr. Heschel rode cycles on previous visits and "knew what he was doing'', she said.

At the time of the crash, Mrs. Heschel was riding with her son-in-law on another rented cycle about 20 minutes behind her husband and granddaughter.

"We were all going to rendezvous up at Horseshoe Bay,'' she said.

A Police car rushing to the crash scene forced Mrs. Heschel off the road, causing her to fall off the bike and suffer a bad road burn, she said.

Further along, "they detoured us off down a back road. I had no idea the reason we were being detoured was that my husband was in the middle of Middle Road.'' A spate of serious accidents involving visitors on rented cycles recently has raised concerns.

Independent MP Mr. David Allen has called for Government action and greater monitoring of cycle liveries.

But livery owners have rejected suggestions they do not give visitors adequate training.