Two London cyclists killed in past 36 hours - tipper truck involved in 2nd incident

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/100-hgvs-taken-off-roads-in-london...

"Almost 100 HGVs have been taken off roads in the Square Mile in the first month of a new unit to crack down on dangerous lorries.

The City of London police’s commercial vehicle unit, funded by Transport for London, stopped 136 vehicles in May and removed 95."

... That's almost 70%

"The London-wide industrial HGV task force, set up in 2013, stopped 199 vehicles in May, with *more than four fifths not meeting the required standards*. As a result 61 fixed penalty notices were issued and seven vehicles were seized. A further 24 vehicles were seized by the Met’s commercial vehicle unit."

81%+ not up to scratch.

@arfa

very apt comments

and I do not like swearing, but when the f*ck is this issue going to be taken seriously?

how many more need to die before someone in authority (who can make a real difference, not us ranting on a bicycle internet forum) really steps up and makes this happen?

will it take the death of the child or spouse of a politician, a police officer or executive of a transport / construction company, before something gets done?

There are numerous types on HGV's driven through London each day, but the overwhelming majority of cyclist fatalities are involved with Tipper Trucks.

Something needs to be done about this asap to understand why its tipper trucks and what can be done to reduce the death toll.

Is it because they are equipped with poor safety features? Are they over powerful and manoeuvrable for a vehicle with so many blind spots? Or is it down to poor drivers?

We need much more information on the incident before reaching any conclusions. It is just incredibly sad to see another young life end so tragically. Tipper trucks kill with alarming regularity and if authorities are just going to look the other way, they owe it to novices to inform them that if you end up on the inside of a tipper and it turns over you, you are unlikely to survive.
I just find it disgraceful that these vehicles which we know are unfit for safety purposes (witness the changing places "safety" program) are permitted to carve their way through urban rush hours. Added in to this, I saw data suggesting half of these vehicles pulled for spot safety checks failed them. To me this says the industry doesn't take its responsibilities seriously and far heavier penalties are needed to change behaviour and prevent as many deaths as possible. So very sad. I am sure this young lady leaves a terrible void behind for her loved ones to come to terms with and change is so very badly overdue.

+1 for Kadinkski's comment

Looking at those photos in the Evening Standard one thing that strikes me is the incredible number of people and resources that went into trying to save the poor lady. Well done and thank you to all who tried to save her life and RIP to the lady in question.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclist-seriously-injured-after-be...

GREGJONES wrote:

Surely HGVs are present in all major cities, or are there simply more in London because of the large amount of earth moving going on due to lax planning laws.

The construction vehicle problem in London is exacerbated by the fact that they are banned from the city at night (I'm not sure start of the start & end period). The reasoning is that they are a disturbance to City residents (yes I know, there are none). This is the inverse of Paris, which bans HGV's during peak periods.

The inability of construction vehicles to travel through London at night means that they put greater pressure in the roads during the day, and particularly during peak periods.

Surely HGVs are present in all major cities, or are there simply more in london because of the large amount of earth moving going on due to lax planning laws.

Perhaps the problem isn't so much the lorries and their drivers (although it might be) but instead the number of them in comparison to other cities of similar type/size.

Surely HGVs are present in all major cities, or are there simply more in london because of the large amount of earth moving going on due to lax planning laws.

Perhaps the problem isn't so much the lorries and their drivers (although it might be) but instead the number of them in comparison to other cities of similar type/size.

If you actually want to do something to address the deaths of cyclists - and, don't forget, pedestrians - read the possibilities here, where I say: "There is a range of solutions which require implementing, namely...:" See "HGV problem in context" in http://rdrf.org.uk/2015/06/04/scania-trucks-keeping-children-safe-whats-... .

Anyone who has used that junction will know that it's horrible and confusing and its easy for any cyclist to find themselves in trouble. Not because of their own positioning, but because its complex, there's roads going off in all directions and its easy to become marooned in the wrong place when the lights change.

I don't know what happened, but when I worked in the City I hated using that junction, and avoided it, especially if approaching from the West.

RIP to the lady, she's a victim of somebody sitting on their hands. This shouldn't be happening and something has to be done about these fucking construction vehicles.

So sorry to hear of both these fatalities, including yet another female cyclist v HGV incident.

Not the time to spout off, point fingers, blame victims but until better designs and safety equipment become mandatory, how about requiring all HGVs entering central London and other city centres to have a second driver / spotter and a proper concerted campaign to highlight the dangers of HGV blind spots and manouvering characteristics that not all cyclists, moped riders, pedestrians and even many car drivers appear to be aware of?

Sincere condolences.

M

Every time I see the broken paving slab with the cycle stensil photo on here my heart sinks. RIP sir and madam.

Quote:

I walked past the scene at Bank this morning on my way to a meeting. The incident tent was at the rear offside of the truck, but the truck looked to have been driving through the junction, maybe bearing left, but with lots of space on the offside. It's really unclear just from looking at the aftermath how the woman was hit by the truck perhaps another vehicle was involved or it stopped abruptly?

looking at the pictures on BBC - is the lorry not stopped in the pedestrian crossing area?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-33223823

The Standard has some photo's of the scene at Bank (nothing gruesome thankfully):

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclist-seriously-injured-after-be...

Another cyclist vs tipper truck fatality. This really has become some kind of hideous deja-vous.

I work in an area of Salford with a huge percentage of tipper trucks and whenever I see one, whether in front or behind me it fills me with dread.

There's obviously something intrinsically wrong with the compatibility of cyclists and tipper trucks that needs address immediately, but it's a matter of identifying whether it's the visual capabilities of the driver, the positioning of cyclists or the driver's attitude. I suspect a huge part of it is the latter.

Tipper truck drivers around me tend to drive with total disregard for speed limits, road layout (i.e. cycle lanes, or if the road narrows then they will just barge over into oncoming traffic) and red lights. Given recent cases you can't even be sure they have a sodding license.

Another needless fatality - I wonder if we will ever see legislation to prevent this happening.

I walked past the scene at Bank this morning on my way to a meeting. The incident tent was at the rear offside of the truck, but the truck looked to have been driving through the junction, maybe bearing left, but with lots of space on the offside. It's really unclear just from looking at the aftermath how the woman was hit by the truck perhaps another vehicle was involved or it stopped abruptly?

Nonetheless very sad news.

Perhaps the Met Police should, in light of this latest horrible circumstance, start to get really serious about road traffic policing in London?

And if, as I suspect, extra resources are required, then any canny politician could make good by applying pressure on the Government to dramatically increase the funding of road traffic policing

If 8 people had been killed by terrorists in the UK this year, there would be a national outcry, and a substantial political action leading to an increased spend on counter measures.

When you look at the amount of money spent on 'terrorism' policing, and the actual data on incidents that have led to fatalities, its quite revealing.

I am not belittling the Police in any way, they do a very difficult job in difficult circumstances, with ever decreasing funding from Central Government; and having worked for British Transport Police I understand the profession.

But, let's not mess about here; the Met need to ditch their occasional PR exercise 'Operation Safeway' (a.k.a. Operation "let's stand around talking and not paying attention to the junction next to us") and get really serious about cyclist, and pedestrian safety in London.

The groundswell of public opinion and support seen in recent "die in's" and protests is a good indication that we have had enough of these regular incidents.

As ever, and too frequently, my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of both road traffic collison

More deaths - what a surprise. Does this mean that simply telling vulnerable cyclists to "go careful" isn't making a difference to the frequency at which they are run over by lorries? Who would have thought?

How the hell does this keep happening? I've been cycling in London since 1981 and when I had my first driving lesson in 1984, I'd only been out for about 10 mins when the instructor said "Do you ride a motorbike?" I said "No", he then said "then you ride a bike", I said "yes, how do you know?", he replied, "You've got road sense, you know where the danger is."
Cycling in London is a combat sport, and you have to be able to defend yourself and the best way to do that is never put yourself in harms way. Looking at the pictures on the BBC News website I cannot fathom how you end up on the inside of a huge truck at a junction. Use your judgement, stay back if you have the slightest worry that the lights will change, you can overtake it later. It's no use keeping on saying its the trucks fault, it may well be, but they are bigger than us and that's not going to change. Cyclists must take responsibility for their own safety and ride sensibly and defensively.