Killed Cyclists in London - new map and spreadstheet

[redfalo]

this is a junction that Susie and I traverse regularly. I confess I can't work out precisely where it happened, but a right turn off Cavendish on to Abbeville would be a frightening proposition.

Traffic does go round the 90 degree bend at high speed - that's what the junction is designed for.

Linda wrote on my blog that the accident happend "where Cavendish Road curves and then turns into Poynders Road"

 

[ttcycle]

Sadly, last Sunday, there was another fatality in Lambeth. A white van knocked down a female cyclist on Cavendish Road/Englewood Road / Poynders Road. It has not been reported by the media, yet. However, two eyewitnesses give appalling details on my blog:
http://cycling-intel...way-in-lambeth/

Number of cyclists killed in London this year raises to 11, at least 2 more died just outside the borders of Greater London. http://cycling-intel...ents-in-london/

Take care, please!

oh, that makes my stomach go tight on reading you blog Olaf. I know that road very well and can see what had happened as the crossing to get into the right lanes can be hair raising. Truly horrific.

 

[dellzeqq]

I can't work out whether she was going northbound or southbound.

Going south on Cavendish Road one has to get in to the second lane, which goes straight on - the first (kerb) lane sweeps left as a filter. That's usually ok-ish, if you keep an eye out and you're prepared to 'abort' and go left on the filter lane. You've got to be in the primary, signal well and establish eye contact - not always easy if you're 'towing' another rider.

If she was going north, intent on turning right in to Abbeville Road then getting out in to the middle of the road to make the right turn would have left her horribly exposed to fast traffic. I would give it a go if there was nothing behind me, but I'd not take anybody else that way.

The 'cycle route' markings are bollocks - just like the ones on Kings Avenue. If they are supposed to offer some kind of advice about the best way to get from Tooting Common to Clapham Common then they are sadly awry.

It's odd - it was the words 'Poynders Road' that leapt out at me. That is a bit of a worry going west, particularly as the carriageway narrows from two lanes to one.

 

[Riverman]

I think it may be useful to also display data on people killed driving in London. The problem with these maps is they give the false impression that cycling is somehow quite dangerous when really in comparison to driving cars/motorbikes it's not at all.

 

[redfalo]

I think it may be useful to also display data on people killed driving in London. The problem with these maps is they give the false impression that cycling is somehow quite dangerous when really in comparison to driving cars/motorbikes it's not at all.

You have a point. I feel a little bit uneasy about the big message this data give, as I discussed in my initial blog post on the data: (http://cycling-intel...angerous-is-it/):

I was hesitating to publish this information. On the one hand, this kind of transparency puts pressure on politicians to improve cycling safety. They also might help cyclists to avoid accident hot spots. ( I’ve personally learned a number of lessons. I’m going to write about them later on.)
On the other hand, this kind of information easily available in one place might fuel the notion that cycling is too dangerous. I don’t want to do the same kind of fear mongering that I’ve just recently criticised.

However, a comparison of the absolute number of car passengers and cyclists would be misleading. In a given year, the number killed car passengers is - recalled from memory - about 5 times bigger than the number of killed cyclists.

However, according to TfL figures only 2% of all daily trips in London are made on a bicycle, while 37% are conducted by "private transport" (i.e. cars).

Hence, unfortunately, the mortality risk of cyclists IS much bigger than that of car passengers.

On the other hand, in absolute terms, the probability to have a fatal cycling accident in London is - fortunately - very, very low: in the long-term average (1986-2010), 17.2 cyclists die each year, but we have 500.000 bicycle trips PER DAY in London.

 

[Origamist]

This sounds horrific. I use this bit of road 2/3 times a week and it is problematic for a number of reasons. I'll lay some flowers down there tonight.

RIP

 

[redfalo]

This sounds horrific. I use this bit of road 2/3 times a week and it is problematic for a number of reasons. I'll lay some flowers down there tonight.

RIP

could you maybe make some pictures of the junction and mail them to me? o dot storbeck at gmail dot com

 

[Richard Mann]

I wanted to get a deeper understanding of cycling safety in London. This is why I’ve started to collect data on severe and fatal cycling accidents in London since 2006. I've created a spreadsheet on Google Docs and a map showing detailed information about 58 fatal cycling accidents that happened in Greater London since 2006. Data includes information on the type of vehicles involved.

I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.

 

[redfalo]

I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.

I'm happy to crowd-source this project :-) If we could gather a few people who collect this information, I would love to include it to the spreadsheet. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to collect this stuff myself.


My gut feeling says that at least 80% of the crashes happen on A roads.

 

[Origamist]

could you maybe make some pictures of the junction and mail them to me? o dot storbeck at gmail dot com

Olaf, I'll go home and get my vid camera and film the junction from all three approaches and send you the link.

 

[redfalo]

Olaf, I'll go home and get my vid camera and film the junction from all three approaches and send you the link.

much appreciated, many thanks!

 

[dellzeqq]

I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.

that's a very good point, and one that had never occurred to me. Olaf is right - the great majority of casualties are on A roads, but, tellingly there more than 50% are on TfL roads, and, perhaps even more tellingly, a large number are on junctions between TfL roads and borough roads.

The Cavendish Road/Poynders Road/Abbeville Road arrangement is a case in point. Borough road meets TfL road meets borough road.

 

[redfalo]

that's a very good point, and one that had never occurred to me. Olaf is right - the great majority of casualties are on A roads, but, tellingly there more than 50% are on TfL roads, and, perhaps even more tellingly, a large number are on junctions between TfL roads and borough roads.

The Cavendish Road/Poynders Road/Abbeville Road arrangement is a case in point. Borough road meets TfL road meets borough road.

Actually, having moved to London from Germany almost 2 years ago, I'm still struggling to understand the administrative system with regard to roads in London. I think it is completely bollocks to have two different authorities being responsible for the roads.

From my point of view, creating a safe cycling infrastructure quite often means having alternative routes that are NOT on A roads /TfL roads. The Old Street Roundabout and the issue wrt to a contra flow system on Bath street (more details here: http://cycling-intel...ction-of-death/) is a case in point. The Old Street Roundabout is a TfL road, but Islington Council is responsible for Bath Street and would have to pay for the re-design.

You have to look at these issues from a holistic perspective, IMHO. Having two different authorities dealing with different sections of the road network seems to be a big obstacle.

 

[Origamist]

I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.

Richard, these reports give you the Borough/TLRN breakdown for a couple of years:

P.11
http://www.lscp.org.uk/lrsu/www/downloads/publications/PC-Cas-Factsheet-Final-1986-2007.pdf

p.12
http://www.lscp.org.uk/lrsu/www/dow...isions_and_casualties_Greater_London_2010.pdf

I'd hazard that the vast majority of the fatalities take place on 30mph limit roads.

 

[redfalo]

I can't work out whether she was going northbound or southbound.

Dell, from another eyewitness who wrote a comment on my blog I glean that she was southbound (assumed that she was not cycling on the wrong side of the road). Nigel writes:

Turning from “The Ave” by Clapham Common onto “Cavendish road” on the A205 the white van was no more than 80 meters in front of us. His speed\distance was relative to ours up to the bend with the pedestrian crossing. We drive slowly so in my view the white van was not speeding!

He went out of our sights for no more than a fraction of a second as he took the bend before us. In that time we heard an unbelievable loud bang. Then, (as the road ahead was now in view) we saw the van in the middle of the road and the woman in the air being projected forward at height. She fell to the ground and her lower half seemed to go under the van. The van came to a halt meters from her, the bike in a hundred pieces and that’s were time stopped…