Cyclist crushed to death by lorry on Fulham Road

[alfajobrob]

I just don't understand why this particular message isn't hitting home with the two wheeled fraternity. And it's not just pushbikes either, I've seen all types of two wheeled riders fall foul of this particular insanity, staying upright by the narrowest of margins. Perhaps a blood splattered TV ad campaign is needed to shock this message home ???

Thats seriously a great idea, mebbe someone should email TFL & the relevant Road safety groups about a campaign......it seems to be happening with a disturbing frequency.

 

[mellowmoose]

we need the solution they've implemented in northern europe. Cycle lanes which are physically seperated from vehicles by pillars, pavement etc

Its insane for cyclists to have to share roads with 1 ton plus vehicles travelling at much higher speeds.

 

[Louloubelle]

A young woman who worked at the British Library was crushed to death by a lorry in Camden recently.

According to the local paper she loved the 1950s and dressed like and looked like Marilyn Monroe and all her colleagues called her Marilyn.

What a horrible shame

I'd love to ride a bike but I'm too scared of the traffic in London so I don't.

 

[ChrisSouth]

It's difficult to draw conclusions about this sad accident without knowing the full details. Was the cyclist in front of the lorry (having once been knocked off my bike by a lorry which was well behind me, being seen by lorry drivers isn't always a defensive measure), or was she in a designated cycle lane or cycle box?

Have you ever tried trying to cycle down a designated only bike lane when there's a huge lorry in the road?

Green bike only lanes which lead to advance stop cycle boxes are usually on the left hand side of roads. These are designated only for bicycles. And yet roads are often never usually wide enough for a car to use a car lane and a bike to use a bike lane at the same time, so there's never going to be the chance for a lorry/bus and bike to share this space.

The problem is trying to get a quart in to a pint pot. There's not enough priority given to making cars share with bikes and it's the cyclists who suffer. Why shouldn't there be much more space for cyclists, and less space for motorised vehicle users? I say this as a car driver and a cyclist. If London bus drivers enter green bike boxes and are reported, they will be disciplined. It would be nice to think that Road Haulage Association would work towards that aim.

I agree also with Mrs M's view that these blind spots need to be designed out.

 

[detective-boy]

As an experiment I asked him to watch me in his mirrors walking back from the cab along either side of his artic and sing out when I disappeared from view.

The notice on the back of some lorries is accurate ... "If you can't see my mirrors then I can't see you".

But there is a second one which is equally accurate: "If you can't see the driver in the mirror then the driver can't see you". On foot, bike, motorbike or even car alongside a large lorry it is always good advice to look in the drivers mirrors to see if you can see them ...

 

[oneflewover]

It is a horrible thing to happen and my thoughts are with her her family. As a cyclist anywhere you are the victim and you should always ride as such. On a motorcycle test or training scheme you are always told, before making a manouver, to look over your right or left shoulder it is called the life saver. I know as a cyclist and motorist that this is something that lots of vehicle drivers do not do. They think that once the signal of intention has been made that is enough. As a cyclist you should always drive with that knowledge.

These are American but they would serve as reminders in this country if reversed.
Wide Right Turn

 

[TopCat]

All lorries should be banned from doing left turns.

 

[Crispy]

All lorries should be banned from doing left turns.

A simple mechanical lock on the steering mechanism should sort that.

 

[Crispy]

Replace the car with a bike, and that should be a requirement on the rear of every large vehicle.

 

[fanciful]

I can't count the amount of times i've been cut up from the lights by lorries/cars pulling left in front of me. bike riders should work to the assumption that all motorists are out to kill them.
The trouble is the powers that be don't care at all about cyclists. When that car piled into those cyclists in Wales who were doing the right thing on the other side of the road, how quickly did the police rush in to say the driver couldn't possibly have been at fault? Even though he had bald tyres and the road was icy, or there was the bus driver who deliberately drove into a cyclist killing him and who was let off by the magistrate because he was "provoked." It's all sick.

 

[nino_savatte]

Truth be told, the powers that be, for all their talk, really don't give a fuck about cyclists. LBH&F, for instance, have some of the worst cycle lanes in the capital; most of them are advisory and when it comes to building new ones...guess what? They don't even bother to consult cyclists or cycling groups. I regularly have to negotiate the Hammersmith gyratory and it's scary as hell.

 

[detective-boy]

It's all sick.

And inaccurate ...

 

[TopCat]

I can't count the amount of times i've been cut up from the lights by lorries/cars pulling left in front of me. bike riders should work to the assumption that all motorists are out to kill them.
The trouble is the powers that be don't care at all about cyclists. When that car piled into those cyclists in Wales who were doing the right thing on the other side of the road, how quickly did the police rush in to say the driver couldn't possibly have been at fault? Even though he had bald tyres and the road was icy, or there was the bus driver who deliberately drove into a cyclist killing him and who was let off by the magistrate because he was "provoked." It's all sick.

So whay were the cyclists out on a ride in icy conditions? Sounds partially negligent to me.

 

[fanciful]

Yeah right. I suppose if someone chucks a brick through your window and robs your house you're "negligent" for having windows.
And completely accurate.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/4592412.stm

 

[TopCat]

You dumbarse! If the roads were icy everyone using them for non essential journeys was negligent! Get it or shall I say it slower?

 

[catrina]

bike riders should work to the assumption that all motorists are out to kill them.
.

Exactly. Incidentally, I had two near misses with lorries today. Perhaps I'm being more vigilant now, but I had to veer off the road in one case, and this was a lorry driver pulling up behind me to pass me, so he knew I was there.

 

[lighterthief]

Very sad.

Lorries turning left at junctions seem to be one of the more common causes of of cyclist fatalities.

Cyclists ignoring the fact that there is a fuck off big lorry with huge blindspots seems to be the cause I reckon!!

Some cyclists seem seriously fucking lacking in common sense!!

and yes, I'm a cyclist.

Please note I was not apportioning blame to either side, merely pointing out that a lot of cyclist fatalities occur when lorries turn left at junctions.

 

[fanciful]

Of course it was the cyclists fault they were killed! What a dumbass...no doubt it was the old ladies fault she was mugged of her pension! How negligent to take an non-essential trip to the library!

 

[Radar]

All lorries should be banned from doing left turns.

What about right turrns too ??

I know, have the orientation of the wheels fixed in relation to the body, and use grooves in the road to direct the vehicle in the correct direction.

Hold on .... I think someone's already done this

 

[butterfly child]

I think that London rapidly has to find a solution to this.
A friend of mine was killed by a lorry turning left - a tragic senseless loss.

However, I have to say that I walk to work along the canal in Hackney and there are lots of cyclists who go too fast and have no regard for pedestrians (who have right of way along the canal path).

Cyclists get killed by lorries all over the country, not just London!

I have a vague memory of my FiL coming home once and saying he'd been in an accident with a cyclist (he was a lorry driver). He was in shock. I was only about ten though, so don't remember the details.

I personally think lorries shouldn't be on the road in daytimes.

 

[Kanda]

Walking through Stockwell last night and saw a cyclist knocked over as a car was turning left. Thankfully he was ok and suprisingly they both just shook hands and got on with their journeys.

 

[TopCat]

Of course it was the cyclists fault they were killed! What a dumbass...no doubt it was the old ladies fault she was mugged of her pension! How negligent to take an non-essential trip to the library!

Straw man wank.