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Barclays Cycle Superhighway (source - Transport for London)Boris Johnson accused of victim-blaming over London cyclist deaths
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said cyclists need to take responsibility for their own safety following a nine-day period in which collisions with large vehicles claimed the lives of five cyclists in the capital. While he clearly states he wasn’t trying to blame the victims in those specific incidents, an opposition politician has accused him of doing just that, describing his remarks as “an insult to the dead.”
Speaking to radio station LBC’s Nick Ferrari this morning, Mr Johnson maintained that cyclists were obliged to follow the rules of the road and to comply with traffic signs.
He said: “Some of the cases that we've seen in the last few days really make your heart bleed because you can see that people have taken decisions that really did put their lives in danger.
"You cannot blame the victim in these circumstances. But what you can say is that when people make decisions on the road that are very risky – jumping red lights, moving across fast-moving traffic in a way that is completely unexpected and without looking to see what traffic is doing – it's very difficult for the traffic engineers to second-guess that."
No suggestion has been made by police investigating the five fatalities this month, three of which occurred on or near Barclays Cycle Superhighway CS2 in east London, that the people who died were riding their bikes in such a way as to endanger their own lives.
On Twitter this morning, Labour’s former transport secretary Lord Adonis had urged Mr Johnson to take action, saying: "The mayor should appoint a rapid independent review of superhighways after the horror of all these cyclist deaths in London."
However, rejecting calls for an urgent review of the safety of cyclists in the city, Mr Johnson said that unless riders complied with traffic laws, "there's no amount of traffic engineering that we invest in that is going to save people's lives."
Quoted in the Guardian, Green London Assembly member Darren Johnson accused the Mayor of victim blaming and of "dodging responsibility."
He pointed out: “Four out of the five deaths of cyclists in the last nine days have involved either his blue paint or his red buses.
"The mayor's comments this morning which targeted cyclists breaking the law as the primary cause of death and serious injury is an attempt to blame the victims, rather than tackling the real problem of HGVs, buses and dangerous junctions.
"It is an insult to the dead and injured that the mayor continues to blame victims in this way, rather than accepting his responsibility and getting on with fixing the things he has direct control over."
The succession of fatalities has seen other high profile politicians call for segregated cycle lanes, such as that on the new section of CS2, opened last week. The original route from Aldgate to Bow has no such segregation.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told LBC: "Distressing as all this is, I really hope it doesn't discourage people from bicycling – it's got to be made safer and we have got to have more of these bicycling superhighways which physically separate cyclists from roads.
The Liberal Democrat leader added: "We as a government have said we want to make new road schemes fit for cyclists and at the same time we'll look at every other suggestion to make this a safe thing to do."
The Mayor’s own Cycling Commissioner, Andrew Gilligan, whom he appointed to that position earlier this year, cautioned against taking hasty action but criticised CS2.
He told BBC London: "The danger in the current atmosphere of understandable alarm and concern is that we rush into some panic measure which actually makes things worse.”
However, Mr Gilligan added: "From the beginning, Superhighway 2 has been little more than blue paint and I've been pressing to change it."
National cyclists’ organisation CTC meanwhile called for new drivers of large vehicles such as lorries, buses and coaches – all three types of vehicle have been involved in fatalities of cyclists in London this month – to have to undertake cycle training before they are granted a licence.
The appeal comes as the government prepares to publish a green paper regarding the training and testing of such vehicles.
CTC’s policy director, Roger Geffen, said: “We will investigate further options for reducing the number of large vehicles in urban centres at busy periods.
“Options that the organisation has considered in the past include banning lorries from city centres at peak periods and locating distribution centres on the outskirts of cities.”
Its chief executive, Gordon Seabright, added: "CTC and all cyclists are sickened by the continuing failure to protect cyclists, in particular from the dangers caused by lorries in our towns and cities. We want to see The Mayor of London and all those responsible for the safety of our streets living up to their promises.”
Martin Key, campaigns director at British Cycling, called for a national cycle awareness initiative to be launched.
"The fact that five cyclists have been killed in London in the last nine days is shocking news and an urgent investigation needs to take place into what could have been done to prevent these deaths," he commented.
"We have to do a better job of looking after each other on the roads.
"That includes significant investment in a nationwide cyclist awareness campaign rather than a few posters in a handful of cities.
“This is about changing the culture of how people get around, making cycling a more attractive and safer option for millions of people across Britain."
In its editorial today, the London Evening Standard says that “We can be a cycling city to rival any other in Europe: we just have to want to make it happen.”
The newspaper says:
The cyclist killed last night on one of London’s cycle superhighways, at Aldgate, is the fifth to die in nine days. The total killed this year in the capital is now 13. It is a reminder of the inadequacies and dangers of the blue cycling superhighways. As Debbie Dorling, the widow of the first cyclist to be killed on one, observes, these are little more than “comfort blankets”, giving cyclists a false sense of security on dangerous roads while mostly failing to segregate them from traffic.
The fatalities are tragic — though they should be put in context. Most London cyclists get to work each day without incident. Annual deaths have stayed roughly the same over the past decade, despite a huge increase in the numbers cycling: cycling is proportionately safer than it was. And motorists generally seem to be more conscious of the vulnerability of cyclists than they were even five years ago. This is, moreover, a dangerous time of year, with cycle commuters riding in the dark or dusk.
But a cycling city, which London aspires to be, cannot be safe only in summer and in optimal conditions: it must be safe in the dark and rain too. The Mayor has already launched his scheme for a safe cycling network, and says he will install CCTV at Bow to study the problems. Now he must go much further. We should consider an independent review into cycle safety in London. And we need a plan to transform the city’s cycle lanes and junctions, making much greater use of segregated lanes. TfL must now treat this as a transport priority.
This is a question of political will, not physical road space: other changes to our roads once branded unthinkable, such as bus lanes and the congestion charge, are now accepted parts of the system. London is a working city with a multiplicity of road users — cyclists, pedestrians, car and lorry drivers. Yet it should be possible for all of us to share the roads, given decent provision and mutual consideration. We can be a cycling city to rival any other in Europe: we just have to want to make it happen.
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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42 comments
I arrived at the Bow Roundabout on the morning of the 13th about 20 minutes after the accident happened. A terribly sad day. I found it difficult to concentrate on anything else for most of it, particularly once I read the news. Only two weeks before at that same location I had a near miss with a lorry who failed to stop for their red signal:
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMtxGrfUdTU
. I have written to my MP, Boris, TfL, DfT, CTC, British Cycling requesting a review of the CS2 Extension design so that cyclists can again access the Flyover and have asked for a review on the restriction of the movement of large vehicles during peak travel hours. Lessons must be learned from the spate of tragedies that have happened this month.
I haven't seen much from The Times, have they got bored with cycling. Was it just a pushing to sell papers when one of theirs is the story?
TfL's own survey shows 60% of cyclists following CS2 corridor go over flyover at Bow - risk of left hook or drive through crash on flyover = 0
Almost all motor traffic on roundabout is turning on/off A 102 - so hazard of nearly 100% of motor vehicle movements driving across CS2 route and high risk level for motor-cycle crashes when one or other fails to behave to planned regime.
TfL will have planned an alternative route over the flyover - what drove the choice of the slower and more dangerous route?
The number of cyclists in London has increased enormously since the late 80s, when I first moved here and started cycling commuting in the city. The reporting seems to ignore that fact. It also ignores the fact that since the 1980s, cycling fatalities have fallen in the UK and also in London.
Boris has recently said that London needs an exclusion zone for vehicles not fitted with the relevant safety warning equipment, similar to Crossrail, no vehicle would be allowed within the inner limits. What are other cyclist’s views on the top safety features that a hgv or bus should have? One of mine would be one of the alarms that I’ve heard, if I’m out on my bike and sometimes not paying complete attention then the sound of a 100dB voice of somebody barking vehicle turning left has made me shift pretty damn quick… It will always be somebody's fault, whether the driver or the cyclist, but 9 times out of 10 it will be the cyclist that comes off worse.
It still surprises me that there are not more deaths given the standard of riders we have on the road combined with the standard of driving. Given that its cyclists that always come of worst we need to be proactive with our own safety. We can display our personal view of Boris all we want but cannot ignore his valid comments on our own actions on the road. Having said that some sort of action needs taking on improved road design and driver/cyclist behavior should be done urgently.
Safe cycling
Too much is made of this legal system. Its for civil claims only.
We already have a similar system in place for rear-end car collisions (if you hit the car in front, you are assumed at fault unless you can prove otherwise).
Its done absolutely nothing to stop tailgating!
It was too soon for Boris to make a judgement. We don't know the facts.
I do know that a work colleague has stopped cycling to work in London after seeing a fatal cycle crash. How many others are thinking the same?
Many roads and junctions are primarily designed to move vehicles swiftly around. Cyclists and pedestrians are largely left to fend for themselves.
We need full facts and learning from every single one of these terrible incidents so that we can break the pattern of repetition.
Have a look at this website:http://www.maib.gov.uk/home/index.cfm
Whilst it is not the most exciting, every single serious marine incident/fatality is investigated and the learning disseminated. We need the same for vehicles as 3000 death a year are too many and the political complacency towards the combustion engine is totally unacceptable. Cold hard hard unavoidable facts are needed to implement changes across the board and at least Mary Hassell is trying to do something to change the status quo.
Wow, I hope Boris is being called as a police witness into each of these events as he was obviously present to observe exactly what happened at each of them.
Redesigning roads will not solve the problem of cyclists being killed in London. ALL road users have to be better educated about city driving. I do like the idea of curfews on HGVs in rush hour - worked well during the Olympics and reduced congestion too. As there is a clear link between HGVs and the timing of the deaths over the past four years this has to be worth a try?
Note....There were no cycling deaths in Paris in 2012: a city where they also banned HGVs between 08:00 and 20:00.
Even IF there was an element of blame attributable to the cyclist in any of these cases, these comments are clumsy and crass in the extreme.
And the whole point is that of course we know that human being's f*ck up - this will never change - but civilised infrastructure ensures that small vulnerable road users are separated from big heavy fast road users (especially on busy roads), so when f*ck-ups happen, they are that much less likely to result in the kind of tragic senseless deaths we've seen here.
Boris was warned how bad some of these facilities were by very qualified people. He did nothing and more people have died. He has blood on his hands and he's making a bad thing worse with comments like this.
This bit
'Mr Johnson maintained that cyclists were obliged to follow the rules of the road and to comply with traffic signs.'
this bit,
"We have to do a better job of looking after each other on the roads."
and this bit
“We can be a cycling city to rival any other in Europe: we just have to want to make it happen.”
Pretty much sum up the whole thing.
Surely getting about without getting squished isn't too much to ask?
I've spent a week in london this week, couldn't take my bike as I'm in a hostel. I haven't seen too much bad cycling and mostly fairly considerate drivers but it is mental here - its truly scary! I consider myself a competent cyclist but I'm not sure I could deal with it here! I'm sure I could but still, little un-nerving. I think a lot of people would be put off. There's easy changes
-No HGVs or Cars, neither are needed. I don't believe you need to have a car in the capital, the tube links are good - theres taxis and buses
-Cycle only roads
-Speed limits down to 20mph, most of the time traffic is moving slower and if you can get to 30mph - your more than likely not driving fit for conditions/situations
Thats 3 pretty much over night changes and you'd see more people getting into cycling.
Agree! I was in London watching cyclists in rush hour; a whole different 'ball game' to other cities. In order to improve traffic flow a lot of London roads have no parking on them which means the traffic moves a lot faster. My brother got knocked off by a left turning coach on the Edgeware Road (v v lucky to get away with a broken leg) and he now uses quiet roads and Hyde Park (TfL route planner). Similar time and less stressful.
Always the cyclist
Anyone see the recent episode of the gadget show? They had a 3 bike review. Trek/ribble/+1 with that very we'll known cycling athlete/expert Helen Skelton!
However preceding that segment of the show they had a London taxi driver on who stated that HE, I quote "hates cyclists" 5 dead in the last 9 days, can it get more tasteless and tactless than that, obviously the editor had a degree in the Atomic levels of a paper clip and their effects on global warming, so we know they are educated people. What a bunch of A-holes.
@FluffyKitten the statistics are still lower than some other years. But I know that another statistical anomalous week and they would well over shoot other years. Hopefully there will be no more this year.
I'm sure something wil be done. I just hope that it is coordinated and effective. Unfortunately I think that the TFL will be forced into half measures by political/public pressure to do something and nothing constructive will be formulated, which will be a travesty for the victims and their families.
There's certainly a lot of "something must be done"
Looking at the statistics on the BBC the numbers this year are not really any different from other years. The only difference is that there has been a significant statistical cluster this past week.
I can imagine that Boris is under a lot of stress to do something about what has happened in the last week or so, but he is right to wait until we all know more.
If we are not to victim blame I think we should wait until we have something conclusively to discuss as to the causes, and then point the finger.
Knowing the media, they want to be judge, jury and executioner….i.e. drum up all kinds of fuss following anomalous events, and drive the public into a fever, and so have pushed and pushed Boris for a sound bite or controversial statement - it seems the context of what he said is perhaps not entirely honestly portrayed (happy to be proved wrong with actual transcripts if that's what someone wants to do - I don't really care, it is not entirely important what he has been goaded into saying).
I am in no way defending the CS's (I don't like them and don't use them). But what we are looking at here may or may not be a result of using them. But what if statistical analysis shows that actually they are safer (I doubt this - and am being devil's advocate) and do their job - but due to poor cycling/poor driving these events have happened? If people had there way they would pull them up tomorrow, and create something more dangerous….
Ultimately I hope that these deaths are all reviewed, and explanations provided. I also hope that an independent review of the CS does show that they are pieces of blue paint which have no further use than to win the votes of cyclists (but are useless at that too). But I actually think that the events of the last week are all independent of each other.
Hopefully the work will crystallise efforts to be pushed in the right way, whether it be cycling education, driver education or changes in infrastructure. We can all do with being safer out there, and hopefully the deaths will stop.
@Colin Peyresourde
I agree that the figures are not hugely different from previous years. But I only recently noticed that this year's casualty figures seemed set to be lower than last year - then within a week they'd caught up and could (God forbid) end up even higher before the year is out.
The 'clustering' in time perhaps isn't' the point, the point is the figures are too high and have been slowly creeping higher for many years now, even as figures for those _inside_ cars have been dropping. For a moment it looked as if that trend might not continue this year, but now that hope seems dashed. At some point something has to be done to change this.
I was listening to the radio when driving home (yeah, I know - wuss) and that prat came on. I had to change channels or explode.
I've not ridden it but I've seen pictures of that Bow CS2 thing and it looks like it was designed by a psychopath (not in the mood for a quip on sounding like cyclepath).
Mad Dog
British Justice relies on the principle of innocent until proved guilty.
The opposite could mean open season for vigilantes. God knows it has happened already with the situation in Bristol a couple of years ago.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12092600
Do you really want to go down that road? I feel that is totally wrong.
At this point in time we can no more blame the drivers than we can blame the cyclists. Equally we cannot yet decide what is to be done to resolve this issue. It may be that a multitude of issues caused these tragedies; poor driving skills, bad visibility, complex junctions, poor cycling skills. Only when more is known can an appropriate solution or range of solutions be considered. I think Johnson should be criticised for his failure to recognise that some form of urgent review is necessary rather than his comments about cyclists' road skills.
Boris has provided cyclists with unsafe infrastructure, and is now looking to pass the buck so he doesn't get the blame.
People are being killed on London roads at a rate of more than 1 a month! That is completely crazy!!
I personally had a head-on collision with a car who was driving in the wrong lane last week. I did nothing about it, as my bike was not damaged and I got away with only a dead leg. I accepted it.
The more I think about it, the more I realise that letting a dangerous driver off with a bit of a talking to; is not sufficient and only adds to the problem.
I agree with congokid, we all need to be a lot less tollerent of this dangerously unfair playing-field. Me included.
The fault of any accident should automatically lie with the motor-vehicle driver until proved otherwise. Currently drivers have very little incentive to think about cyclists safety, we already have plenty of incentive to steer clear of them.
What exactly would be the point of blaming the (potentially) innocent for an accident that could not be avoided?
What other offences are there where people should be assumed to be guilty until proven innocent?
This has been a dreadful week but hysterical overreactions do not help anyone.
I'm not aying the blame would stay there, just that the satrting postion would be that. If investigation proved it was the cyclist fault, so be it. But the burden of proof could lie with the vihecle that has the physical and special advantage.
Surely, much better to assume that neither party is to blame until all the evidence has been gathered and the investigation is complete?
Apart from having to endure the trauma of being party to a fatal accident, why should a totally innocent human being be additionally burdened with the suspicion that he/she is some sort of mindless, callous criminal until proved otherwise?
Would you want to be put in that position?
Any that involve H&S where the accused is asked to attend court.
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