The other way round, unfortunately, the driver failed to notice the cyclist in quite a few cases. More interesting to ask why HGVs figure disproportionately, even compared with buses. Are we to assume cyclists are more careless around HGVs than buses? That doesn't make much sense, so what else can explain it?
We can assume that if we want to. I do not know the figures, so I'm not sure what the differences are. Nonetheless, there may be other reasons:
The driving position in an HGV is usually quite different to that in a PSV. Models and designs vary, but bus drivers tend to sit ahead of the front wheels and HGV drivers often sit above them. This will have a stark effect on the visibility of cyclists in the immediate vicinity of the cab.
You will find cases where this is not so, but the two vehicle types almost always position their driver differently.
There is also the matter of buses often having transparent doors in the line of sight between the driver and the nearside gutter. It is difficult for a cyclist to filter unseen up the nearside of a bus. Contrariwise, it is extremely unlikely that an HGV driver will see a cyclist making that same manoevre.
Further, and perhaps irrelevantly, buses tend to follow planned, known and predictable routes. This makes them less likely to suddenly pop out of building sites. The drivers tend to be familiar with the route, the traffic and the sort of road user they will encounter.
HGVs, on the other hand, may be on a particular road network for the first time and the driver may be making his or her first urban drop.
I have no idea whether there is a discrepency in the KSI (or death) figures between men and women on bicycles in London. It seems to me that the sample is so small that any difference may not be significant. Does anyone know the data?
