London Bridge

[Brains]

11.30 - Industrial cleaning team now on site

 

[Jake]

yikes, what time did this happen, any ideas?

 

[Brains]

yikes, what time did this happen, any ideas?

Guess around 8-8.30

 

[CotterPin]

got a link?

Here

 

[Jake]

ok, thanks, just going to check in with other half then

 

[very-near]

This story has appeared on a m/bike site I use

When I walked into work this morning
London Bridge had been shut off for road users.

Police, ambulance and fire engines there...

buses have been abandoned down the side

and all the cyclists and some motorcylists are pushing their bikes on the pedestrian paths...


This all sent shivers down my spine! and made me feel slightly tearful...

Only to later hear even worse news


From BBC news

A3 London - London Bridge closed both ways due to accident , a bus, a lorry, a motorbike and a cyclist involved between A200 Tooley Street and A10 Eastcheap, congestion to A3201 Marshalsea Road. Diversion in operation - via Southwark Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge or Tower Bridge

Last updated: 18th August 2009 at 09:29



Apparently the bus pulled away from the bus stop, into the biker who went flying across the central reservation into a cyclist...



Someone I know said

"i have just walked across london bridge to the city at about 10.20 , and back again just now.

There was a yellow 794 ducati against the bus. on the floor, not a pretty sight. No rider to be seen, but plenty of police taken notes, witnesses and marking./ measuring bits and pieces - never a good sign !!
There was also a very bent cycle.

On my way back, the bus had gone, the bike was upright against a barrier and they were collecting bits from the floor, plastic bits and biker jacker and rucksack.... asked a PC if the rider was ok, he looked at me in "that way" and said "doesnt look good".

Gave me a shiver. hope he / she is ok."

 

[Origamist]

In London, it is extremely rare for the police to close a road except for a fatality. Wherever possible, congruent with safety requirements, roads remain open - even while the ambulance is loading the injured or dead.

After all, it is important not to inconvenience all those important motorists in their little tin boxes.

This post may contain traces of sarcasm.

Roads will be often closed when there are difficulties extricating or dealing with injured parties at the scene. The recent Southwark Bridge HGV/Cyclist collision for example.

 

[very-near]

The story is on Bike Radar as well

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/view...start=20&sid=06946eaeb0834aea5c11c7f6c24f79ac

 

[Brains]

London Bridge now open in both directions

 

[Origamist]

But as a total percentage of the accidents, those requiring road closure are very low. The police don't close roads unless it is absolutely necessary - because they then get loads of flak from the poor, inconvenienced motorists.

That is my understanding too, but it's not only fatalities that lead to road closures.

 

[stoptherock]

I would suggest a motorcyclist who veers over three lanes and across a raised central reservation after a collision with a vehicle travelling in the same direction was going too fast.

 

[benborp]

That is impossible to know. I have seen motorcycles in low speed accidents travel a considerable distance from the impact. I've seen a riderless bike pick itself up and career down the road with a stuck throttle.

 

[stoptherock]

For information only- a bus pulling away from a bus stop is doing less than 10 mph. The bus is on the nearside lane of three lanes, the central reservation is 8 feet wide and raised.

So the motorcyclist would have travelled for sixty feet after a minor collision, not possible unless travelling at speed.

A Ducati 748 can get to 60 in 3.1 seconds from rest. I've seen motorbikes do 60mph over these bridges. Reports say a cyclist was killed.
http://www.londonfgss.com/member1555.html

 

[stoptherock]

Following traffic is obliged by the Highway Code to give way to buses pulling away from a stop.

There's a photo of the scene in the London paper, the motorbike hit the cyclist and he died.

 

[Theseus]

STR, you do not know all the facts about this case. Please stop jumping to conclusions based on partial evidence.