Left turning lorries -Write to your MP

[User]

 

[John the Monkey]

Freewheeler, of the Crap Cycling & Walking in Waltham Forest blog, suggests four points;

My immediate response is:

(i) Just look at those lethal railings in the photos. They may or may not have had a role to play in this latest fatality but nevertheless railings at every road junction in Greater London (spot the railings in the last pic in my lorry post below) need to be torn up AS A MATTER OF URGENCY. They are quite literally death traps for any cyclist caught between them and a heavy goods vehicle.

(ii) BBC London News has contemptuously ignored this fatality, just as it has done every other lorry/cycling fatality this year and in 2008. The cycling community should be bombarding the BBC with protests about the way it marginalizes road violence. Complain to the head of BBC News: helenboaden.complaints@bbc.co.uk

(iii) The police could play a major role in making our roads safer by cracking down on lawless drivers, lorries flouting the law (like the one in the Boris incident, with doors held together by a coat hangar) and enforcing Advanced Stop Lines. The Met is signally failing in its duty of care to vulnerable road users, and it’s about time London’s cycling community vented its dissatisfaction outside New Scotland Yard.

(iv) [Belated afterthought a day later]

London Cycling Campaign has criticised Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick for failing to implement measures to protect vulnerable road users from lorries. In a letter to LCC this week, the minister confirmed he has no plans to speed up the fitting of Class VI safety mirrors, nor to ensure lorry driver training will make them more aware of cyclists and pedestrians.

The letter from the minister came days after another London cyclist was involved in a fatal collision with a heavy goods vehicle in Greenwich on 15 May 2009. LCC has long campaigned to speed up the fitting of Class VI safety mirrors to all HGVs. These mirrors give a view of the road directly in front of the driver’s cab, and are proven to reduce cyclist and pedestrian casualties.

Under the current programme, most UK lorries will not have these mirrors until 2014.

I don't know which office Jim Fitzpatrick hangs out in (it shouldn't be too hard to find out) but I think we need 500 cyclists to turn up outside it to send him a message.

http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.com/2009/06/yet-another-woman-london-cyclist-killed.html

 

[bonj2]

Following on from Mag's thread, let's do something.

Go to

http://www.writetothem.com/

and write to them. If someone can draft an email/letter and post it here, then all the better. I will later if no-one else does, but I've got to go out in 10 minutes.

Then when you've done that, post on here with your area and the name of your MP....

good idea (think it was mine actually) but don't draft a letter and post it here - we dont' want all mps getting the same letter otherwise they're just going to twig that it's a stock letter, and take less notice. They do talk to each other you know!

 

[Joe24]

good idea (think it was mine actually) but don't draft a letter and post it here - we dont' want all mps getting the same letter otherwise they're just going to twig that it's a stock letter, and take less notice. They do talk to each other you know!

Does someone fancy writing a letter for me then, me writting a letter to make a point can often be a bad idea

 

[bonj2]

Does someone fancy writing a letter for me then, me writting a letter to make a point can often be a bad idea

you can write your own letter http://www.writetothem.com/about-qa#formletters
it doesn't have to be perfect.

What i would like to know, is can you write to the MP's competitors, i.e. the ones that are going to stand against him?
oh what a surprise my mp is a tory ...

 

[Davidc]

If no one else has done it by this evening and I have time, I'll draft a letter for Joe and others, but agree the personal variety is best.

Now may be a good time to do a mass write-in. All of them are licking their constituents a**** at present hoping to curry favour, knowing that the government is near death, terminally ill, and they will have an election to fight

 

[grhm]

Don't post a letter here for others to copy and paste - see http://www.writetothem.com/about-qa#formletters (as linked by Bonj above) - they actively filter out copy-paste letters and explain why such letters are not good.

By all means post a bullet list of points that you think ought to be included in a letter, so that someone with writers block can use that as a starting point - but copy-paste's aren't good.

 

[JamesAC]

I think a bit of self-preservation is called for.

If you get to the junction first, then put yourself in a very strong primary position, so that no-one (car, truck, bus etc) can pull alongside your rhs.

If there are already vehicles stopped at the junction, irrespective of what type of vehicle it might be, DON'T feel tempted to cycle up the inside, even if there is a cycle filter lane and an ASL. You have no idea what frame of mind the driver at the front of the queue is in: he might be half asleep, on the phone, in a tearing hurry to get his load dropped off. Better to be safe than sorry. Stay in the traffic lane, in primary, and wait your turn. You're better off behind a truck, than in front of it.

That's not to say I don't fully support the concerns in this thread, and I will be writing to my MP. But it will take ages for anything to happen, and in the meantime I want to stay safe.

 

[grhm]

JamesAC, I agree entirely with what you've said - it all eminantely sensible IMO. The issue is how best to pass that message across to the new/inexperince cyclists that don't realise this.

 

[HJ]

Maybe we should campaign for changes to the Highway Code on this issue, the HC is after issues with the authority of Parliament. If the advice give to cyclist in the HC was less about keeping out of the way of driver and more about safe road positioning, it would be a lot better. It would also point out to drivers (well the new ones how have to read the thing) that we are entitled to ride in primary where there is a good reason for us doing so...

 

[Dan B]

Yeah, I'm unsure what we're supposed to be recommending our MPs actually do. As far as I know mine is neither a HGV driver or a cyclist, so ...

My suggestions (pretty much off the top of my head) would be
* Some kind of ad campaign (backs of buses?) telling cyclists not to go up the inside of lorries
* a review of cycle facilities to remove the suicide lanes that encourage people to think undertaking lorries is sensible in the first place
* a firm commitment from the authorities relevant to Olympic planning that all vehicles and contractors involved in the Olympic construction work subscribe to a safe driving code of conduct, and should any of them be involved in a collision of this kind, that the operator have its contract reviewed/cancelled as a matter of priority. Ditto for other vehicles operated on behalf of the public sector

I was going to suggest HC changes as well, but I don't think anyone except for forumites of one kind or another reads the highway code anyway

 

[marinyork]

I'm quite happy to take part in this but I'm unsure of what coruskate has said too. This HGV railing squish thing is basically London Cycling politics. How do I convince any MPs up here to take it seriously when it isn't a problem up here?

 

[summerdays]

Maybe we should campaign for changes to the Highway Code on this issue, the HC is after issues with the authority of Parliament. If the advice give to cyclist in the HC was less about keeping out of the way of driver and more about safe road positioning, it would be a lot better. It would also point out to drivers (well the new ones how have to read the thing) that we are entitled to ride in primary where there is a good reason for us doing so...

I like this idea - a large number of cyclists are also drivers, ok most that are already drivers don't re-read the highway code. But all new drivers are forced to read it... and those who have to retake their test. What ever happens it needs more than one line of attack to get to as many different groups as possible.

 

[hackbike 666]

I find irresponsible driving worse.

Coming up to the pinchpoint as St Paul's Thameslink tonight I knew there was a lorry speeding up to get through the gap so I didn't argue.I tend to take it a bit easy with these pinchpoints but they are so fking dangerous.I still caught the comedian up twice and was in front of him at Bank.

Muppet.

 

[Theseus]

The HC already has sections in it to some extent.

72

On the left. When approaching a junction on the left, watch out for vehicles turning in front of you, out of or into the side road. Just before you turn, check for undertaking cyclists or motorcyclists. Do not ride on the inside of vehicles signalling or slowing down to turn left.

73

Pay particular attention to long vehicles which need a lot of room to manoeuvre at corners. Be aware that drivers may not see you. They may have to move over to the right before turning left. Wait until they have completed the manoeuvre because the rear wheels come very close to the kerb while turning. Do not be tempted to ride in the space between them and the kerb.

170




Take extra care at junctions. You should

• watch out for cyclists, motorcyclists, powered wheelchairs/mobility scooters and pedestrians as they are not always easy to see. Be aware that they may not have seen or heard you if you are approaching from behind
• watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way
• watch out for long vehicles which may be turning at a junction ahead; they may have to use the whole width of the road to make the turn (see Rule 221)

182

Use your mirrors and give a left-turn signal well before you turn left. Do not overtake just before you turn left and watch out for traffic coming up on your left before you make the turn, especially if driving a large vehicle. Cyclists, motorcyclists and other road users in particular may be hidden from your view.

221

Large vehicles. These may need extra road space to turn or to deal with a hazard that you are not able to see. If you are following a large vehicle, such as a bus or articulated lorry, be aware that the driver may not be able to see you in the mirrors. Be prepared to stop and wait if it needs room or time to turn.

There may be others, but these were found in a quck scan of the online version.