Yet another female cyclist death in London

[D8ve]

I stopped cycling in london when a car drew up level with me(while cycling) then turned left with me holding onto the roof and bike under rear wheel...
That was 400 meters after a parked van opened its off side door on me.
stopped cycling for a few years then.

 

[funkylyn]

I stopped cycling in london when a car drew up level with me(while cycling) then turned left with me holding onto the roof and bike under rear wheel...
That was 400 meters after a parked van opened its off side door on me.
stopped cycling for a few years then.

My god......you were lucky it didnt stop you cycling forever......and breathing .......totally terrifying how some people drive......

Lynda

 

[Woosh]

My thoughts are with this poor girl's family.
I worry myself sick every day about i) son, aged 29, rides own push bike, foolhardy, jumps lights, hangs on to lorries,a ll sorts of things, and has actually been hauled up TWICE by the police and shown a video in a nearby van about the consequences of dangerous cycling and ii) daughter aged 25, rides Boris bikes, not road wise at all, could easily sidle up alongside a lorry, and sometimes has to cycle home at 3am.
Both in London.
Going to email daughter right now about this issue and hope it sinks in. Son never takes any notice of parental warnings but will email him nevertheless....
Oh well.
Hatti

 

[GaRRy]

Thanks for the links, GaRRy, but that's still me going looking for the info... I didn't get a highway code book with my bike. And if I read those quotes in the context of the whole book, I don't think it would help to realise the problem for me.

I agree that the onus is on the cyclist to not put themselves in harms way. It may be common sense to some of us but we don't all see things in the same way.

I, like many people, don't read newspapers. I get my news from tv and google.

"Clunk, click before every trip."
"Think... before you drink... before you drive."
"Treat a cyclist like a small car."

Just a few examples of tv ad campaigns I recall. I can't think of a single full page spread campaign...

Yes but my point is EVERYONE should read (and occasionally re read) the Highway Code not just people learning to pass their test.

Heres a challenge for everyone see if you can pass all four tests on here (try and avoid reading the hints).

Driving Theory Test. Practice Online Theory Test Questions

Remember for a learner a fail means no license until can pass.

Obviously there are a fair few quetions that only really apply to car divers but most of it is stuff ALL road users should no.

 

[Justafan]

Agreed, it's all in there, Garry, but cyclists don't take a test, most don't read it & "It's all just common sense innit?" prevails.

I agree, it's time for an ad campaign.

In my current issues of the Institute of Advanced Motorists magazine , the Chairman reports that following a FOI request, spending on Road safety campaigns have been cut by around 80% in the past four years (from £19million 2008/09 to just £3.57m in 2012/13) Road safety adverts are no longer shown on TV. Each fatality is estimated to cost £1.7. The number of children killed last year actually rose,as did cyclist deaths which hit an all time high of 122, so it just makes absolutely no financial sense either.
Of that £3.57m just £78k was spent on childrens road safety and a derisory £53k on cyclists safety.
As he says, 'It is yet another example of road safety being cut too hard and too quickly.
If the govt is serious about saving lives it must start protecting safety budgets.'

 

[flecc]

In my current issues of the Institute of Advanced Motorists magazine , the Chairman reports that following a FOI request, spending on Road safety campaigns have been cut by around 80% in the past four years (from £19million 2008/09 to just £3.57m in 2012/13) Road safety adverts are no longer shown on TV. Each fatality is estimated to cost £1.7. The number of children killed last year actually rose,as did cyclist deaths which hit an all time high of 122, so it just makes absolutely no financial sense either.
Of that £3.57m just £78k was spent on childrens road safety and a derisory £53k on cyclists safety.
As he says, 'It is yet another example of road safety being cut too hard and too quickly.
If the govt is serious about saving lives it must start protecting safety budgets.'

Indeed. The London campaigns that I mentioned were completely financed within London and fortunately supported by BBC London and ITV in their London region, the national government playing no part. Unfortunately the current London mayor has done nothing of this kind, cutting the cycling budget, so its downhill here as well now.

 

[jackhandy]

Maybe I've been fortunate, so far, but most drivers & particularly truckers, Do stay back 'til they're sure what I'm doing at junctions et al.

I reckon that's helped by the hi-vis vest my rucsack wears; Not me - the rucsack.

Obviously, I get the minority who just don't know whether to or not - shall I? - shan't I? - Oops, too late! But by the time they've invaded my space, I've generally sussed & I'm not there anymore.

You Really do need to concentrate all the time, even on country lanes, when the dear old soul coming round the next corner has Never encoutered a bicycle there before! And I believe that's a significant contributing factor here: Young ladies are well-known for being able to multitask - Their brains work differently to men's. I see it all the time: They're not driving along the stretch the car's on - They've already dropped the kids at school & .....

Quite recently, I'd walked my older grandaughter to school & was crossing the road, shorty -in - hand, when a young mum pulled out of a line of parked cars & drove straight through where we should have been standing: She'd dropped hers off, you see, & was in "gotta get the shopping done" mode: "Stupid old fart" written all over her expression.

The sad part is, the more intelligent they are, the more able they are to multitask.

 

[flecc]

My view of multi-tasking is that it's a way of doing lots of things badly.

 

[Marctwo]

Yes but my point is EVERYONE should read (and occasionally re read) the Highway Code not just people learning to pass their test.

I totally agree... but is it going to happen?

Maybe it should be covered in schools though...

 

[flecc]

Yes but my point is EVERYONE should read (and occasionally re read) the Highway Code not just people learning to pass their test.

I totally agree... but is it going to happen?

Maybe it should be covered in schools though...

Out of mind, people simply forget that such a thing exists until it's mentioned.

One simple answer is to make it compulsory for a copy to be in/attached to every vehicle in use, to be shown on demand, failure punishable with a penalty. If the penalty for not having one on board was having to take the theory test again, that would certainly keep it in mind!

Given the very low cost of bulk printing today, another approach would be for a copy to accompany every tax disc issued annually and with every vehicle purchased, in the latter case that could include bikes.

 

[Scimitar]

I totally agree... but is it going to happen?

Maybe it should be covered in schools though...

Imagine a world where learning to ride a bike safely was compulsory.
Imagine the failures.
"Too stupid to ride a bike".
What a damning indictment that would be.

 

[Marctwo]

Imagine a fish eating peanut butter...

I was talking about the highway code, not cycling.

 

[Ionia]

I'm female and have cycled in London for the best part of 20 years.
Even though I make every attempt to stay behind / in front of lorries at junctions it is not always possible e.g. Arriving first at a junction only to have an articulated lorry pull up beside you, railings at the side of you, cars stacked up behind, unable to stay still because the angle of the lorry as it turns left means you are going into the danger zone, and not enough speed to go out in front.

Cycle lanes between left and straight on lanes are better, stops you being trapped in by accident.

 

[GaRRy]

I'm female and have cycled in London for the best part of 20 years.
Even though I make every attempt to stay behind / in front of lorries at junctions it is not always possible e.g. Arriving first at a junction only to have an articulated lorry pull up beside you, railings at the side of you, cars stacked up behind, unable to stay still because the angle of the lorry as it turns left means you are going into the danger zone, and not enough speed to go out in front.

Cycle lanes between left and straight on lanes are better, stops you being trapped in by accident.

If you arrive first at the junction be assertive and stay well out from kerb (middle of lane best) so as to force any vehicle that arrives after you to stay behind you rather than to try and squeeze along side. You have just as much right to use the road as they have. In fact riding in the 1 foot near the gutter at any time is for fools.

 

[Ionia]

If you arrive first at the junction be assertive and stay well out from kerb (middle of lane best) so as to force any vehicle that arrives after you to stay behind you rather than to try and squeeze along side. You have just as much right to use the road as they have. In fact riding in the 1 foot near the gutter at any time is for fools.

I agree - but easier said than done in London I'm afraid, and not always safer I've had my elbows scrapped by cars trying to get past, and cars pull in front and then do a 90 degree left turn across the front of me at junctions.

 

[GaRRy]

I agree - but easier said than done in London I'm afraid, and not always safer I've had my elbows scrapped by cars trying to get past, and cars pull in front and then do a 90 degree left turn across the front of me at junctions.

Dont disagree but if there is room for them to pull along side you then you are still to close to gutter.

Yea being further out annoys the morons but its your life at stake not theirs.

 

[Ionia]

Dont disagree but if there is room for them to pull along side you then you are still to close to gutter.

Yea being further out annoys the morons but its your life at stake not theirs.

Agree - but impossible to avoid at times, especially in London.

 

[flecc]

I'm female and have cycled in London for the best part of 20 years.
Even though I make every attempt to stay behind / in front of lorries at junctions it is not always possible e.g. Arriving first at a junction only to have an articulated lorry pull up beside you, railings at the side of you, cars stacked up behind, unable to stay still because the angle of the lorry as it turns left means you are going into the danger zone, and not enough speed to go out in front.

As a London Borough resident I agree Ionia, often true. But at junctions the stop line isn't on the bend apex, so in most cases it's possible to stay stationary without being overrun. Only if at the front up to the stop line would one be overrun on that odd occasion, so the answer if a truck pulls alongside and stops is then to cross the stop line to be well ahead of the truck cab as I suggested above. It's what I always do, checking if I can see the driver. If I can see him/her, they can see me.

Of course having railings right on the edge of the road at junctions is bad practice, I'd like to see them moved inwards in the final 10 metres to a stop line and on the curve to give an escape route.
.

 

[Ionia]

Agreed Flecc,

Although I'm only confident with the method you describe if the driver looks me in the eye and acknowledges me, when I started cycling in London it wasn't a popular thing to do, especially for a women, so relying on a driver to see you was risky - either they didn't register what they saw or they thought they were dreaming!

My fav method ( not always possible) is to jump off cross on foot, jump back on and be away far in front of said lorry.

 

[AlMel]

This all frightens me. Daughter senior is a London cyclist and I’m sending her a text telling her to be bloody careful.

Not for the first time… but then that’s what fathers are for!