Cyclist deaths on roads rose by 7% last year

[morphix]

Just spotted this disturbing news story on Channel 4 News from a week ago showing a rise in fatal cyclist accidents:

[video=youtube;tuyVZMGDhPo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuyVZMGDhPo[/video]

Interestingly they said a major factor is accidents involving cyclists over taking lorries. How many do that on the forum? I never over take lorries or buses myself. I'd sooner either wait a safe distance behind for them to move or I get off the road and onto the foot path if it's possible.

Apologies if the story has already been discussed, I've been out of the loop!

 

[morphix]

6 months update on self-build electric bike

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the good weather.

It's been 6 months since I first took to the road on my self-build electric bike.. I thought I would do a quick update to let everyone know the bike, and in particular, the two Chinese 36v 5Ah LiFePo4 batteries I ordered via eBay, are still performing as good as the first day.

I charge the battery once daily and I haven't seen any degrading in life or performance on the bike at all. I have two batteries and just used the one initially, but over the last month or so I've started alternating usage as I was worried the other battery might suffer not being used and I might forget to charge it occasionally.

Looking forward to another 6 months of cycling and doing a further update after 12 months of usage!

 

[eTim]

Well there's nothing like changing the subject of your own thread!

 

[flecc]

These deaths have mostly been with left turning lorries and cyclists who ride alongside them under the nearside cab mirror where the driver can't see them.

The rise in deaths is simply due to the recent expansion in cycling, newbies making this elementary mistake that experienced cyclists avoid. In London the majority of these deaths have been female, this due to their greater cautiousness. Where experienced male cyclists will often cross the line at traffic lights and sit ahead where they are seen, or even jump the lights, the more law abiding and cautious female cyclist are staying behind the stop line in that highly dangerous position.

The problem is so well known that there has been extensive warning publicity about the risks and changes are being made to many trucks to give the drivers improved vision in that area.

 

[morphix]

Well there's nothing like changing the subject of your own thread!

Oops, posted by accident on the thread.

 

[Scottyf]

Yeah it would be good to see if there was a similar uplift in Cyclists in the same period.
7% wouldnt be so bad if there was say an uplift of 40% more people cycling.
This would mean that cycling would have become safer.

 

[flecc]

Yeah it would be good to see if there was a similar uplift in Cyclists in the same period.
7% wouldnt be so bad if there was say an uplift of 40% more people cycling.
This would mean that cycling would have become safer.

That is what happened in London. Despite those deaths, cycling here is much safer since the accident rate has only risen a little and cycle commuting has doubled in less than a decade. There are now so many cyclists in many parts of London that drivers can no longer say, "didn't see him/her".

 

[Alex728]

how many of these crashes happen in London and bigger cities compared to other regions? most mainstream media seems to think "Britain" is "London".

In my area crashes of this nature are rare - you get rush hour crashes with kids at school time, and old folk who fall off their bikes due to heart attacks or other medical conditions, but anything else is rare and cycling is safe in comparison to the numbers on bikes (perhaps even safer than driving for some younger age groups!)

 

[flecc]

Year before last in London there were 13 deaths against the usual annual toll of around 110 nationwide, which includes the London figure.

Since London has around 13% of the national population and those 13 deaths are a little under 12% of the national total, London is marginally safer statistically.

However, when one considers the people and traffic densities in London, to have a better figure at all is a considerable achievement. If we can eliminate those left turning truck deaths, it will more than halve our London cyclist death rate.