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news
Video: Driver almost crashes into two cyclists on Cycle Superhighway at London's Bow Roundabout
A dashboard camera has captured the moment a motorist who had nearly been in a collision with another vehicle shot across a Cycle Superhighway at London’s Bow Roundabout, narrowly missing two cyclists, before crashing into a road sign.
Video of the incident, which happened yesterday, was posted to the video-sharing website Liveleak, with the poster saying: “Friend's dash cam. Driver of the white vehicle was uninsured. Unclear if it was a terrible get away attempt or stupidity.”
One of the capital’s most notorious junctions, three cyclists have lost their lives at Bow Roundabout in recent years.
After the deaths of Brian Dorling and Svitlana Tereschenko three weeks apart in late 2011, Transport for London took steps to improve safety for people riding bikes through the junction, including early-start traffic signals. There is also now a kerb physically separating Cycle Superhighway 2 from the main carriageway.
In 2013, Venera Minakhmetova was killed when she was crushed by a lorry at the roundabout. Coroner Mary Hassell concluded that she had ridden through a red light, although the 24-year-old’s family maintained that she would not have done so since she was “always suspicious” of the junction.
> Coroner concludes Venera Minakhmetova died after riding through red light at Bow Roundabout
The following year, cyclist Luke Redpath, whose commute took him through the roundabout, was told by TfL that nothing could be done about red light-jumping drivers endangering bike riders there because they had no record of any collisions there – even though Ms Hassell, who presided over the coroner’s inquest into Mr Dorling’s death, found that the driver of the lorry that killed him had gone through a red traffic signal.
> TfL rebuffs cyclist over safety fears about red light jumping drivers at Bow Roundabout
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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25 comments
Why has the video been deleted?
I expect this video to appear in a "Who's to blame" piece on the Daily Mail any time now with the comments filled with nonsense and bile about people who use bikes
I'd be surprised if this car wasn't being driven by our mate lawyer mate cyclingDMlondon in another rage about something..
Nah, this one is in favour of exiting at all costs.
What I see is the camera car trying to go straight on/left incorrectly from the right hand lane and consequently sideswiping the white car (you can see it at 0:06) the white car then puts on its hazards and pulls over. The guy in the camera car gets out and goes to speak to the driver of the white car and appears to point over to somewhere safer to discuss the situation.
The driver of the white car gets out but the driver of the camera car is already walking to their car. The driver of the white car probably in rather a panic gets back in the car knocking it into drive but then in trying to hit the brake they hit the accelerator and shoot across the cycleway and into the sign.
It's the sort of accident and circumstance that that could happen to any of us. Luckily no one appears to get injured.
Only if you mean being hit by the idiot in the white car.
It's reassuring that the protected cycle lane is effectively shielding vulnerable commuters... ahem!
Now what I see here is a comment from someone with no grasp of how you are meant to drive on roundabouts. I suggest you brush up on your highway code knowledge or this really will happen to you. Seriously!
Here is a link to help you:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-159-to-203#r...
The car with the camera is probably followin the green path shown in the diagram under rule 185.
The car that collided with the sign was overtaking on the left ("undertaking"). See highway code rule 268:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/motorways-253-to-273#overta...
The fact that drivers are meant to keep in the right hand lane until their exit (unless lane markings say otherwise) is the reason you should never undertake someone on a roundabout or enter a roundabout on the left of traffic moving round it, but should wait until it is clear in all lanes.
Depressing how few people understand how to drive safely.
This is a good example why many people dislike the use of the word "accident" for road traffic collisions. It is rarely purely accidental and usually includes some element of incompetence.
Either the video car is following the green path but trying to get into the 'outer' lane a little earlier than necessary, or it was going straight ahead (which is my personal opinion - it's heading straight for the slip road at about 6 secs). Either way, the white car should not have been turning right from the outer lane. However, it is a fact that the car 'behind' - the video car - is obliged to give the car in front space to 'do the stupid thing'.
Actually, I was suggesting that they were heading straight for the exit, and that they were following the green path - I imagine this was the third exit for them (there are four on the roundabout I think, so a right turn).
Yes, you are supposed to leave enough room behind the car in front not leave at least two seconds gap from the car on your left (and probably left and behind the camera car)! You can't necessarily predict someone undertaking you and cutting up, though they may have had a chance to anticipate it if aware of mirrors. Maybe they saw them in the mirror undertaking and assumed they were also going off at the exit not going further round the roundabout. I don't think the camera car would be found to be at fault in this scenario even if they might have been able to take evasive action. It would be like saying that someone was at fault for having a head on collision with an oncoming overtaking car because they could have swerved into a layby IMHO.
Agree the white car shouldn't be turning right from the left lane though.
How small was that driver? It looked like a child getting out of the driver side!
It looks to me like as they have gone to sit back down in the car they have hit the accelerator by accident, as the car lurches forward even before the door is fully shut.
Whatever it was, they need their licence taking away.
I'm sure the driver will be prosecuted and heavily fined.
After all, he knocked over a signpost!
...and damaged a van
The vehicle currently isn't insured (that's not proof that it wasn't at the time of the crash).
askmid.com allows you to check the insurance status of any UK-registered vehicle
Money for 15 plate car but yet no insurance? When I bought my last car from a dealer I wasn't allowed it until I'd given them proof of insurance.
Anyway, utterly shite driving skills. It would have been funny if not so potentially fatal.
Hate to say it but this did not happen yesterday. The footage probably leaked yesterday but it happened back in December. I remember being on the bus after it had happened as the sign had hit that white van, causing a massive backup.
Anyway, the Bow roundabout is a complete danger to everyone. Most drivers seem to fly around the roundabout and try to cut up other drivers because they're in the wrong lane. Which is what the driver did here and realised their fuck up when someone caught them out. They actually had kids in the back of the car as well.
Blinded by The Sun
Or the Daily Mail . . . . . . .
Probably someone in an automatic car who hasn't got a fucking clue how to drive it.
I'd be interested to see how this one pans out with the authorities.
Good reactions of the cyclist at 42 seconds. Idiot car on cycle superhighway. Slow. Wait for it to crash. Continue.
Possible explanations:
1. Ketamine
2. Spider
Or the terrifying ketamine spider.
The most likely scenario there. no idea what was going through the drivers mind
This ^^^
What. The. Fuck.