Cycle deaths coroner calls for action on cycle superhighway 2

Apart from buses and lorries always watch out for any Audi, BMW or Mercedes drivers too-seem to all have an issue with (i.e. ignoring) any cyclist on the road

Suggest that TfL gets an unbiased and independent crash inquiry report specialist to deliver a reports on Aldgate and BOTH Bow Roundabout crashes and follow the neutral (ie no-blame style) used by all RAIB reports. A good idea might be to contract RAIB to do this as if these were crashes involving railway trains and cyclists.

The 'red light' issue for example would be reported as a causal factor, as would the failure of the road painting to enforce any priorities or protocols that would prevent conflicting interaction between (motorised) traffic turning left and cycle traffic moving straight ahead.

Plus the real HUGE elephant in the room. If as TfL/Jacobs statements appear to suggest, initial site surveying revealed that in the absence of any official 'safety' interventions 60% (my observations suggest it is nearer 70%) of cyclists travelling along route CS2 rode (and continue to ride) over the flyover, why was the delivery of a scheme that avoided riding on the roundabout not considered?

I feel it was unfortunate that this question did not appear to be directly asked at the inquest, with the follow through question to those traffic 'experts' who have delivered a second scheme potentially worse than the original one through its added complexity of traffic signal timings and road markings.

"If a cyclist was riding through this junction over the flyover, how, in comparison with the current official CS2 route might the level of risk of being run over by a left turning truck or other motor vehicle be changed?" Clue here - turning left in a truck when travelling over a flyover is generally not a manouevre that drivers have been seen to attempt.

Basically risk of this on current CS2 'high' risk on route over flyover perhaps 0.01% . Specification of road safety measures - 1) Reduce risk - ideally by removing hazard.....

Road design has not altered to take into account the needs of cyclist what so ever in the UK. We build shared paths with pedestrian thinking its a good idea. I hate riding on these as they are usually littered with sign posts, bins, dog walkers with ten foot leads, joggers wearing headphones 3 a breast, and mums in push chairs.
Until we have a dedicated roadside lane alongside traffic where we can go 25mph where we can then folks on bikes will always get knocked over.
It's like providing sports facilities, build a pool you'll get world class divers (Plymouth/Tom Daley) build a velodrome (Manchester?/Laura Trott). Build cycle lanes get more cyclists. EASY.

I am liking this coroner if she regularly does issue S43 orders - "official reports to people or organisations asking for changes to prevent future deaths, known as Rule 43s, of the Coroners’ Rules 1984."
It sounds like we should encourage her to take on all incidents where cyclists are not so lucky.

It's astonishing how in every other form of transport the designers of the infrastructure are responsible for the safety of the people using it, and have to take steps to make sure its users are safe. Think of rail, or air travel. Yet the roads are still a free-for-all. Hopefully this is a turning point.

Quote:

...transport commissioner Sir Peter Hendy said: "The primary cause of the terrible accident of Mr Dorling was that he and the lorry went through a red light.

Nope, that's got nothing to do with it. If they'd both have gone through on green, the same thing would have happened - the fact that they were both there together is the issue and they were both there together because the CS2 sent him to that point with zero segregation.

I guess we'll never know but maybe Brian thought that he could edge forward to give himself a clearer run or to make sure that the driver saw him. Unfortunately, the driver seems to have done the classic thing that so many drivers do which is not actually STOP but to constantly edge forward while the light is red. Harmless if it's a cyclist doing it, potentially lethal if it's 5 tons of truck doing it.

The coroner, Mary Hassell, is reported to have a track record of using S43 orders - "official reports to people or organisations asking for changes to prevent future deaths, known as Rule 43s, of the Coroners’ Rules 1984."

Plucky lady. She's gonna have her work cut out with TFL on the loose. Send cake.

What's needed is chevrons next to the cycle Lane, rumble strips on the chevrons.

Or a separate cycle path, the road is plenty wide enough, priority for cyclists at side roads made very clear.

I had two bus drivers try to tell me 1 foot is lots of room, I have to ride over a drain to avoid being hit by one of those buses - CS2 today.

Roadsafe needs to be upgraded and the police need to stop saying that a witness with video evidence is not enough to bring a prosecution, that excuse is not okay for rape and it's not ok for people endangering others lives.