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Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Sixth London cycling death this month as man in his 60s is hit by lorry in Camberwell
A man believed to be in his 60s has died after being hit by a lorry early this afternoon in London.
Police were called to the junction of Camberwell Road, and Albany Road, SE5, by London Ambulance Service at 12:07 today.
Officers attended and found the male cyclist suffering serious injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.37hrs. Next of kin have not yet been informed.
The male driver of the lorry stopped at the scene and has not been arrested at this time.
Detectives from the Road Death Investigation Unit have been informed. Enquiries continue.
Victim of last Wednesday's fatal crash identified
This is the sixth cycling fatality on London’s roads in less than two weeks and brings the death toll in London for the year to 14, the same as the total for 2012.
In the last fatal incident, late last Wednesday, a male cyclist was hit by a double decker bus in Whitechapel.
That rider has now been identified as a 21-year-old from NW6, but the Metropolitan Police have not yet released his name.
Next of kin have been informed and formal identification has taken place, but police say that they will not be naming the victim ahead of the opening of the inquest at Poplar Coroner's Court.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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44 comments
I don't know. I'm applying advanced motorcycling teachings, which work to a point on a bicycle. Cyclists lack the horsepower & physical presence of motorcyclists (85bhp vs 0.5?), so I've found the positioning stuff the most helpful, as well as better observation & anticipation.
I'm sure that even with better training and behaviour for all involved and better traffic management, cycling will still be more dangerous than driving a car. We are not inside a large protective metal box for starters.
I think that in order to be as safe as a car occupant you have to be a much better cyclist than most motorists are drivers. Fotunately this is not too difficult. The figures I keep going on about show that most cyclists ARE better.
Yes, I recognise that situation and it's scary. I would say it's helped by better positioning ie don't wait by the kerb to turn left but stay out far enough to make the vehicle stay behind you. That works if you're there first! If you're there second, don't go up the inside.
Better to avoid the problem whilst we wait for driver awareness to improve... But driver aggression IS an issue!
You are right. I move out a little at junctions when there is a vehicle behind, and when a vehicle which should give way to me on the major road is approaching. This too has saved me from a knockdown. Moving out has become second nature. Is it taught in Bikeability?
to the 6th cyclist killed, my heart felt condolenses go out to your family, may you RIP.
on another note -
i love the fact that boris johnson today made a statement that "wearing headphones on a bike should be banned", even though none of the 6 recent deaths have been atributed to wearing headphones!
way to go boris, jump on the victim blaming band wagon why dont you!
idiot!
I'm not sure the training, like motorcyclists have, would necessarily help, since despite all the training and licensing and lights etc.. using a motorbike in London is twice as dangerous as cycling
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/corporate/safe-streets-for-london...
Motorcycles accounted for one per cent of daily journeys, but 21 per cent of KSI casualties in London in 2011
• Pedal cycles accounted for two per cent of daily journeys, but 20 per cent of KSI casualties in London in 2011
Ribena, I agree that motorcycling is more dangerous than cycling, but my point is that motorcycling casualties have fallen with better compulsory training. Could we see bureaucrats deciding that cyclists too should have compulsory training? The KSI rate may be half that of motorcycling, but it's still pretty appalling.
As an advanced (IAM) motorcyclist, I am safer. I know what the high-risk situations are and I avoid them (half of London's cycling deaths in recent years are from being on the inside of a lorry). I have better anticipation & better positioning. Crucially, compared to a cyclist, I can accelerate out of trouble & keep up with fast moving traffic.
How many cyclists - vulnerable road users with a high casualty rate - have EVER had any training?
The AA, the Metropolitan Police, Westmister Council and the University of Monash (Oz) have looked at fault in bike/car accidents. They all found that around 75% to 80% are the fault of the driver. If training is the answer, then it is drivers who need more of it.
So, without training, cyclists perform better.
As a cyclist I would guess you know why this is. Anyone who is remotely in touch with reality feels vulnerable on a bike in traffic. Whereas a driver feels much more secure with his airbag, seat belt, steel cage. In a marginal situation on the road who has most incentive to avoid a collision?
I think you are missing the point. If half the deaths in London are from being on the inside of lorries, then it seems obvious to me that position is dangerous, regardless of fault. So don't do it.
I do think training for cyclists has an important role to play. As for drivers, yes if course they can be at fault, but what's better - being in the right but injured, or having learnt, through training, that riding smarter will reduce the risk of an accident?
I'm not going to wait for others to improve their driving, I'm going to improve my cycling safety and enjoyment.
When cyclists get caught alongside a left turning vehicle it is not always the cyclist's fault. I have twice had overtaking vehicles turn left across me before getting clear ahead. One was a bus which began turning as the driver drew level with me! Luckily I was not squeezed into railings in either case.
I repeat. If threequarters of the fault lies with the driver, it makes most sense to start with more training for the driver. If training could remove say 50% of accidents then training the driver would cut cycling casualties by half of 75%, which is 37.5%. Training the cyclist would remove half of 25% of accidents, that is 12.5%. These figures are obviously very rough, but I'm sure you can grasp the logic. If training is effective, it will be much more effective if given to drivers.
I have not waited for better driving to happen before riding as defensively as I can, The figures on blame in accidents show that most cyclists have not waited either.
We all make mistakes, but the figures show that drivers, for some reason, make a lot more than riders. This is in spite of drivers having to train to pass a test.
Last 2 rides home I've nearly been taken out by drivers.
despite having reflective overshoes, ankles, backs of thighs, rucksack, 2 rear lights (1 solid and 1 flashing) and a pair of exposure front lights!
just beggars belief that such douche bags still have a license!
Hoping to not hear about any more deaths this year!
RIP and hope the Lorry driver is ok as well. Sadly if you look at the pictures from the article on the dailymail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509314/Sixth-cyclist-just-weeks... I think most of us can tell what probably happened.
I've been a long term cyclist and I still see far too many cyclists taking risks when it comes to lorries, rightly or wrong it is never worth going up the side of a lorry no matter what the lorry seems to be doing.
I mean last week a lorry was at the traffic lights with a cycle lane on the left and he wasn't signalling to turn but I still waited behind just in case but that didn't stop three cyclists on racing bikes going round the right side of the lorry with the last one only just getting in front of the lorry since the lights had gone green and it had pulled away.
We certainly need various road changes but this has to go hand in hand with cyclists taking a greater responsibility since as we are the smallest and least protected we stand to lose the most in most accidents.
Help me out. What are we assuming from those pictures?
I have to agree with Tripod16 and the rhetoric of Ferrari on LBC. The number of callers with an anti-cyclist rant is in part due to the actions of riders who in their view disobey the Highway Code. Then they get one caller who admitted jumping red lights in order to go faster.
Condalences to the family and friends of the victim.
Has poor atmospheric light been an issue in any of these do we know? If these were 6 drug deaths in 2 weeks due to a dodgy batch of heroin, or 6 murders, there would be an immediate critical incident management team set up to investigate, warn and take whatever steps are possible to prevent further deaths.
honestly, really, honestly are you serious?
Well I'm serious but poorly written by myself! What I meant to say was...
1 is anyone doing a specific epidemiological analysis of these deaths to see if there is a common factor, other than a 'cyclist' and a 'HGV' involved in a tragic outcome? This would be done for other clusters of unexpected deaths.
2 personally I've felt less safe cycling in the past 2 weeks, partly I think due to the overcast, dull days, clocks going back, early nights, etc and I think it takes all road users time to adjust to autumnal conditions. I'm not saying this excuses any wrong doing / poor driving/riding, it's just an opinion.
And of course, I am so sorry that another life has been lost and would support decisive action toprevent further deaths.
As a life-long motorcyclist & cyclist, I agree with most of this. November always sees a spike in the number of accidents (I think for all road users), but tragically more vulnerable users come off worst. And we don't yet know the facts of these awful deaths.
But most motorcyclists learned long ago that 'smidsy' should always be assumed and that, if you are a vulnerable road user, you don't put yourself into high-risk positions. Too often, I see cyclists putting themselves in crazy places. Like tonight on Birdcage Walk, people cycling in the dark, in dark clothes, with no lights... Do enough cyclists understand the risks? Would you like expensive compulsory training and a staged license..?
Ye Gods, take responsibility for your safety - you can't wait for the mayor to do it for you! It's no consolation to be in the right if you are dead or injured. Let's get our house in order AS WELL AS pressing for sensible, proportionate safety measures.
I must admit, this has been irritating me in recent days. I was on holiday when the clocks went back, and I’ve come back to it being dark by rush hour. The amount of cyclists I see in dark clothes, no lights, etc simply makes me despair. I’ve mentioned it to a couple I’ve passed, but it just seems to go straight over their heads.
In this recent spate of sad cases, I haven’t seen anything to suggest this was a factor (or not yet anyway) but we really do have to help ourselves out there. We know that so many motorists see us as an inconvenience, so it’s even more important to at least be an ‘inconvenience’ that can be seen.
I thought some London politician just recently said London was on its way to becoming a car-free city? More like a cycle-free city, once we're all dead...
As cyclists we need to realize we are invisible.. Think this way and you will "help" protect yourself. (I don't mean act a victim waiting to happen.) Use bright flashing lights day and night. Make sure we signal clearly - follow the highway code - no red light jumping. No erratic fast maneuvers. Stay away from large vehicles and look for trouble to avoid etc etc.. We are always going to be the more fragile of all the road users. I am not saying that any of the deaths were because some of the recent fatalities were careless etc. I am not saying it was cyclists, drivers or even a third party fault.. (we don't have reports and witness statements. A pedestrian on foot could easily cause a cyclist to swerve into a motor vehicle..)
Yes we need the authorities to assist in making things safer. Yes drivers of all motor vehicles need education and awareness. Yes cyclists need the same too. BUT let's no lose sight that more bikes on the roads will obviously lead to a higher number of fatalities and accidents. Damp roads won't help either.
We all need to be smart and acknowledge motorized vehicles will fair better than those in lesser protected forms of transport when the two come together.
I have ridden past 2 motorcycle accidents caused by cars in the last few weeks on damp roads. (One this morning at 7.30 in Regents Park - where our cycle club member with medical knowledge waited for the ambulance while we warned traffic to stop with our bike lights.) It's not all one sided.. we as road users need to work together but also realize we as cyclists are always going to be the most vulnerable in an accident. I will still ride in London.. I will still have two flashing lights both front and rear while I will still be told by other cyclists "it's light why have you got your lights on?" These same people tend not to have helmets on and have music playing through headphones... I don't think "it will never happen to me" but I will try my best to avoid that day and others using the road avoid "that day."
Oh man, shitty as. Two a week dying.
Have any of the recent cases of cyclist dying gone for prosecution of anyone?
I suspect they won't. Knocking an adult cyclist off and killing them is acceptable it seems, bet that would change if it were a kid.
Another one just hit in Camden. https://twitter.com/search?q=camden%20cyclist&src=typd no news on his/her condition
Just seen that they were taken to hospital with non-life threatening head injuries.
https://twitter.com/markbikeslondon/status/402483492568567809
FWIW I didn't vote for him and I won't vote for him in the next election. The only Mayoral candidate to really take cycling seriously in the capital has been Jenny Jones so that's where I'll be putting my cross if she stands again.
And Christian Walmar.
This is a horrible junction. It looks quite innocuous but it's actually very dangerous. I've made the turning into Albany Road from Camberwell Road (and vice versa) many times. Both ways it's a sharp turn between two roads that are really too narrow for the heavy duty vehicles that use them and it's easy to see how a cyclist could not be seen here. Further up where Camberwell Road becomes Walworth Road, the road was actually narrowed even further to speed up traffic flow. It has had the opposite effect (from my research taking the bus up there when the bike's out) and now squeezes everyone together. I avoid it on the bike and using side streets instead but many take the risk of riding up these roads so the road scheme really needs to be looked at again to assess cyclists' and pedestrians' safety.
So sad that yet another cyclist has lost their life here. My deep sympathies are with the cyclist's family and friends.
Another sad day.
I don't actually care whether the cyclist of the vehicle is at fault. Some accidents will be one way, some the other. All of them are unacceptable.
Can't wait to listen to (D)nick Ferrari on LBC (London Bashing Cyclists) stating in his infinite wisdom another cyclist at fault! Ignoramus.
Condolences to the family and friends.
As a cyclist myself: you have absolutely no idea who was at fault for any of the recent bike accidents, it's perfectly possible that all 6 were the cyclist's fault.
Agreed! RIP!
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