Incident near Oval Tube this morning

[theclaud]

Horrible, chilling pictures. Desperately sad. I'm very glad I didn't see them before I found out my friend was OK - right age and similar bike and helmet. I'd have been a mess.

 

[Crankarm]

More comment and a post from the driver's partner on:

http://www.londonfgss.com/thread24674-3.html

The deceased cyclist's name was Catriona. She and husband were planning to do a stage of the Le Tour next month. So sad.

 

[hackbike 666]

Im thinking here it must be bloody awful at times to be a HGV driver esp if you have so many blind spots and you don't know whats going on.I have a bit of respect for busesas well although sometimes they can be a bit of a pain.Driving a bus in London is not my idea of fun let alone a lorry.

 

[scouserinlondon]

Im thinking here it must be bloody awful at times to be a HGV driver esp if you have so many blind spots and you don't know whats going on.I have a bit of respect for busesas well although sometimes they can be a bit of a pain.Driving a bus in London is not my idea of fun let alone a lorry.

I used to work for a trucking magazine and drivers to have a hard and very dangerous job. They have a tendency to also feel quite marginalised too.

Accidents will always happen and I think that many many cyclists, myself included, are not adequately trained to safely ride alongside such big vehicles.

The amount of cyclists I see taking crazy risks and making unpredictable moves is staggering.

 

[hackbike 666]

Accidents will always happen and I think that many many cyclists, myself included, are not adequately trained to safely ride alongside such big vehicles.

Perhaps if we are all sensible with big vehicles it will cut the odds,no?

The amount of cyclists I see taking crazy risks and making unpredictable moves is staggering.

Aye but that's not my worry.I don't mean that in a bad way but it seems in this country it's a free for all esp in London so if they want to RLJ or whatever I let them get on with it.It's not my job to stop them.

 

[tdr1nka]

There are a great many sad and emotive deaths in the world everyday, obviously as cyclists we do feel a level of kinship with the deceased, their friends and families but why should this effect us more so than a child that dies from neglect through no fault of it's own?

The singling out of one event, to make an example of, and then slingin sh*te does nothing to lessen the risks or promote safety/awareness overall.

When ever I hear of a death where the cyclist was on the left of a turning vehicle I have to ask with heavy heart, why were they cycling there in the first place?

 

[Origamist]

Horrible, chilling pictures. Desperately sad. I'm very glad I didn't see them before I found out my friend was OK - right age and similar bike and helmet. I'd have been a mess.

When I visited the site a couple of hours after the collision, everything was in situ as in the photographs. It was a compelling and harrowing scene - all I could focus on were the inanimate bits of cycling kit, a mangled bike and the large wheels of the tipper lorry. Although the police were carrying out their investigations and bystanders were congregating outside Oval tube station, there was an eerie stillness that was horribly at odds with what had taken place a few hours earlier. Later in the afternoon the road was reopened and there was no indication that a life had been lost.

 

[scouserinlondon]

Accidents will always happen and I think that many many cyclists, myself included, are not adequately trained to safely ride alongside such big vehicles.

Perhaps if we are all sensible with big vehicles it will cut the odds,no?

The amount of cyclists I see taking crazy risks and making unpredictable moves is staggering.

Aye but that's not my worry.I don't mean that in a bad way but it seems in this country it's a free for all esp in London so if they want to RLJ or whatever I let them get on with it.It's not my job to stop them.

I think that the Indian phrase 'might is right' is certainly applicable to HGV's vs push bike.

I agree on your second point, the problem I suppose is that loads of dickheads RLJ'ing all over the place only serves to raise the tension between cyclists and motorists.

 

[CotterPin]

The images are certainly distressing, as is the entire incident. What gets me is the helmet and the hi-viz (think it might have been a cover for her rucksack) lying on the ground. It recalls a comment made by a relative of one of the other cyclists killed in London that she was a careful cyclist and always wore a helmet.

This is not to turn this into a helmet debate (it has already gone off on a number of other tangents) but just to comment that the message cyclists can be protected by personal protective equipment such as helmets and hi viz seems to be fairly well embedded (rightly or wrongly - and as I said, this is not a helmet debate). How on earth do we get the message about road positioning equally (or more) embedded?

 

[Fab Foodie]

FF I had considered you one of the more sensible contributors on these forums never one to jump on a passing nasty bandwagon to make a cheap low comment. However in the context of this thread consider my view of you reversed.

I'll take that as a compliment then...

 

[Crankarm]

I'll take that as a compliment then...

I'll throw you a few more sometime then .

 

[Origamist]

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelo...lorry-at-oval-tube-named-as-catriona-cockburn

 

[MacB]

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelo...lorry-at-oval-tube-named-as-catriona-cockburn

thanks O, this bit made me pause:-

Bill Chidley, a bike safety campaigner who runs the movingtargetzine.com website, said: “It’s worth noting in most years since 1999 no more than nine London cyclists have been killed by collisions with lorries.
“Unless we are very careful, it seems clear that at least another three people will die under the wheels of a lorry before the end of 2009. This would make 2009 the worst year for a long time.”

Is it just me or is this a bit out of kilter?

 

[Origamist]

I'm not quite sure what you mean MacB.

2008 saw 9 fatalites with cyclists/HGVs in London. I'm assuming this is the figure that Bill was referring to. As we are "only" in July at the moment and there have been 7 deaths so far, 2009 could be a very bad year for HGV/cyclist fatalities.

If I've misunderstood your point, let me know.

 

[MacB]

I'm not quite sure what you mean MacB.

2008 saw 9 fatalites with cyclists/HGVs in London. I'm assuming this is the figure that Bill was referring to. As we are "only" in July at the moment and there have been 7 deaths so far, 2009 could be a very bad year for HGV/cyclist fatalities.

If I've misunderstood your point, let me know.

sorry yes you have and I probably wasn't clear, I meant from the 'ho-hum' just another stat angle. I particularly meant the line:-

It’s worth noting in most years since 1999 no more than nine London cyclists have been killed by collisions with lorries.

I see that as an oh my God type headline, it just came across rather dismissivley, as if those were 'good' years. I haven't visited the source web site etc but am sure they do a good job. But this quote, in this article, came across in the wrong way to me.