Comments for Cycle Safe London

Comment on Rider down, Notting Hill 5th February 2009 by Nicko

Nicko — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:14:40 +0000

Hi, I’m a newbie cyclist considering the commute from Ealing to Paddington. I noticed the ‘ghost bike’ memorial and found this article as a result and my guard is sure to be up when I do commence cycling… heres hoping many more cyclists are made aware of the risks as a result of this tragic loss. RIP

Comment on Contact by Kat Hawes

Kat Hawes — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:01:47 +0000

Hi everyone

My name is Kat and is was my beautiful and fun loving cousin who was killed on Wednesday in Whitechapel. Her name is Chrystelle Brown and she was 26 years old.

We could not bare for another family to have to go through what are, she was an experienced cyclist who was on her way to work and we cannot work out how this could of happened.

Could I ask all of you to sign the petition my sister and I have set up to have the road junction changed to make it safer for cyclists. We have heard from other cyclists how dangerous they find this crossroads.

Thank you all, the link is below

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/save-cyclists-lives.html

Comment on Contact by Kat Hawes

Kat Hawes — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:57:26 +0000

Hi everyone

My name is Kat and is was my beautiful and fun loving cousin who was killed on Wednesday in Whitechapel. Her name is Chrystelle Brown and she was 26 years old.

We could not bare for another family to have to go through what are, she was an experienced cyclist who was on her way to work and we cannot work out how this could of happened.

Thank you all, the link is below

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/save-cyclists-lives.html

Comment on Online Petition by Anish Patel

Anish Patel — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:50:47 +0000

My name is Anish Patel and I am the husband of Catriona . On Monday 29th June at around 08.20, Catriona died as a result of a collision with a green Tipper lorry at Kennington Park Road, at the junction with Harleyford Street. I would like to make a personal appeal for anyone who was in the Oval area that morning , who saw Catriona or the tipper, to come forward as a potential witness. Even if you did not see the incident directly, you may still have useful information on the lead up to, or aftermath of the incident. So, please, I urge you to come forward. Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, may be crucial to the case. I and the entire family would like to understand what happened on that day and you may have seen something that is relevant. Please contact the Collision Investigation Unit Witness Line on 020 8941 9011 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you have any information. Many thanks, Anish.

Comment on Map of cyclists killed or injured by large vehicles in London by Terence Carlin

Terence Carlin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:32:07 +0000

David A very useful piece of work. The friends and family of Eilidh Cairns are looking for specific data on the manufacturers and class of HGVs involved in each HGV cyclist fatal collision in London over the past 5 years. If you have any spread sheets or files that could help us pull this info together we would very much appreciate hearing from you.
The problem as we see it is that EU retrofit legislation was recognised as a suboptimal solution to Blind spots in HGV cab design but they opted for the least cost 5 mirror sub optimal solution. We believe that the manufacturers need to be held to account for producing vehicles that are a danger to other road users particularly cyclists. If we can identify whether the blind spot problem is all HGVs or a sub set of HGVs perhaps then we can take action/ seek a legal remedy to force manufacturers to fit cameras and or proximity sensors to vehicles that are the greatest danger.

Comment on Rider down, Notting Hill 5th February 2009 by Chris

Chris — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:33:17 +0000

Chris said…
I don’t have a blog of my own but this seemed to be a good place to get something off my chest. And who knows? Someone might read it.

I’m a daily commuter cyclist, travelling about 9 miles all year round from Bromley to Westminster.

There was a terrible accident today (Monday June 30) outside Oval Tube station. It’s a very busy crossroads with lights where the A3 runs across the A202.

A woman cyclist was crushed by a tipper lorry as it turned left on to the A202 towards for Vauxhall. She has died.

I didn’t see the accident, but it must have happened right in front of me. One second we were all looking at the lights to pre-empt them and jump across, the next everything had stopped.

From the flow of traffic I am guessing one of two things happened.

One, the woman was travelling quickly, also wanted to turn left and attempted to undertake the lorry on the corner. She misjudged it and the second set of wheels caught her from behind.

Or secondly, the driver did not indicate left and flattened her as he swung in. He has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving. Draw whatever conclusions you wish from this.

Looking at the stats for London accidents, it is clear a disproportionate number include cyclists and lorries. And of these, quite a few seem to be women.

Either way, please, please, take this to heart and tell your friends to tell their friends, and not just them but any cyclist you see at a traffic light:

LORRIES IN LONDON KILL – NEVER LET DOWN YOUR GUARD.

Thanks, I feel a little better for that. Spread the word.

Comment on Map of cyclists killed or injured by large vehicles in London by caz

caz — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:22:11 +0000

would it not be more useful if there was the same information about each incident? – for example the exact date/year; the exact location – rather than random facts about each person…

Comment on Map of cyclists killed or injured by large vehicles in London by DavidK

DavidK — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:04:35 +0000

It’s not really to derive a pattern, actually it’s probably best that there is no pattern as then no-one could assume “If I don’t go on this road I’m safe.”.

But if no-one has the information to know when it happens, where it happens, how will anyone know that things are getting worse, or better? How, without facts, can cyclists appreciate and understand the risks and then act to mitigate those risks?

Comment on Map of cyclists killed or injured by large vehicles in London by Charlie Lloyd

Charlie Lloyd — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:18:33 +0000

I’m not so sure of how useful the map is. Adam from CTC got a map of all the HGV cyclist injuries produced by Transport for London a few years ago. There was no overall pattern of casualties.

I think the truth is that if there is a lorry and if there is a possibility of a left turn then that is a hazardous place for any cyclist. There is one junction I know of that has had two cyclist/HGV deaths, ten years apart. In that time the junction layout and traffic flows had changed quite a lot, but there were still lorries, still doing left turns.

I think the map just shows the concentration of where all the dangerous lorries are. The most dangerous ones are the tippers, cement mixers and skip lorries working for the construction industry.

Comment on Print this out, give it to other cyclists! by Peter Tomlin

Peter Tomlin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:45:16 +0000

Bill – the flier states ” At the two junctions where
cyclists were recently killed by left-turning
lorries (Upper Thames Street junction with
Queen Street Place, and Camley Street junction
with Goods Way) there are advance stop lines,
both with feeder cycle lanes from the left.” The leaflet clearly implies that the ASL was there at the time. In fact it was provided by LB Camden at the request of Camden Cycle Campaign following the unfortunate death of Ms Foa. This is confirmed in the Coroners rule 43 report http://www.innerlondonnorth.co.uk/iln/uploads/rule43s/R43_Foa.pdf