Truck drivers forum perspective of cyclist fatality.

[Brandane]

The other question - Is it a vehicle of an inappropriate size for a tight urban environment

That's a whole new thread. As long as the vehicle is within any height/weight/width restrictions, then there shouldn't be a problem. Taking both lanes at smaller roundabouts and other tight turns is necessary, it's not possible to do otherwise.

 

[Brandane]

If haulage firms cannot come up with voluntary solutions then banning large vehicles from the center of our cities during peak or maybe even daytime hours (as in Dublin and Paris) must be considered

I look forward to this happening. No more having to manouevre gingerly around parked cars, traffic jams and all the other chaos of city centres that we have to put up with on a daily basis.
Not so sure that the various small businesses where we routinely collect and deliver to will welcome the news that they're going to have to employ a night shift though.

 

[Mugshot]

Nice bit of selective reading there. I think what is being said is that the design of lorries currently on the road isn't going to change any time soon. The design will no doubt evolve as needs change, and if the designers/law makers identify a need for extra glass panels or whatever to improve a drivers field of vision, then it will happen.
That's a long way off though. The current new lorries will be on the roads for years to come.

Unfortunately I think much of this thread has been a lesson in selective reading.
I'll ask again, what's a possible solution? If it's cyclist education, what does that involve? TV, newspaper and magazine adverts, how about big signs warning road users on the approach to historically bad junctions, maybe the signs could list the KSIs, redesign the worst junctions? Of course all this has a cost, so who pays? From what you've been saying it doesn't sound as though the haulage industry are going to be too keen on contributing.

 

[Brandane]

You glibly say "shouldn't be a problem" and then immediately describe one.

What's the problem? You cover the lanes you need on approach so that it's obvious what your intentions are.
If there IS a problem, it is with road design, where roundabouts have been made too small. I'm not talking cities either; trunk roads throughout the country have them.

 

[Brandane]

I'll ask again, what's a possible solution?

How many times? As far as I'm concerned the solution is two pronged. Drivers give cyclists space; and cyclists return the favour and give lorries space. That means not going up their nearside.

 

[Mugshot]

How many times? As far as I'm concerned the solution is two pronged. Drivers give cyclists space; and cyclists return the favour and give lorries space. That means not going up their nearside.

How many times? How do you tackle the education you believe both parties need?

 

[theclaud]

What's the problem? You cover the lanes you need on approach so that it's obvious what your intentions are.
If there IS a problem, it is with road design, where roundabouts have been made too small. I'm not talking cities either; trunk roads throughout the country have them.

In other situations where vehicles are too big to use the infrastructure as designed, they are obliged to have flashing lights, additional signs, escorts, additional speed restrictions etc, in recognition of the additional danger they present. With urban lorries, on the other hand, we are simply expected to get out of their way as they swing dangerously across multiple lanes.

 

[Brandane]

In other situations where vehicles are too big to use the infrastructure as designed, they are obliged to have flashing lights, additional signs, escorts, additional speed restrictions etc, in recognition of the additional danger they present. With urban lorries, on the other hand, we are simply expected to get out of their way as they swing dangerously across multiple lanes.

Those additional restrictions apply whenever vehicles exceed a specified weight/height/width/length.
If a vehicle is within those limits then the infrastructure has been deemed to be sufficient unless there are signs to indicate otherwise.
If they "swing dangerously across multiple lanes" then that is bad driving rather than any design fault. I can take multiple lanes at junctions and make my intentions obvious to any road user who has been cycling/driving for more than 5 minutes.

 

[Brandane]

When you as a lorry driver come up to a red traffic light with a cyclist stopped at it, how far back do you stop?

Same as I would a car, i.e. I can see the whole bike plus a few feet of tarmac.

 

[glenn forger]

If they "swing dangerously across multiple lanes" then that is bad driving rather than any design fault.

That's exactly what the driver did in the Bloomsbury cyclist fatality. He face no charges. He swung right over into the right lane before turning left, killing the cyclist.

newmercman wrote used to run along the gutter in traffic to stop the suicidal self propelled gang from putting themselves into danger, it used to piss them off, but pissed off is better than squashed I reckon.

That's the same driver who wants a sticker saying he's not responsible for any cyclist who overtakes the lorry and gets killed. He's admitted using his vehicle to block filtering riders.

 

[Brandane]

How many times? How do you tackle the education you believe both parties need?

To be honest I have far greater concerns with the haulage industry than the cyclist problem. I don't drive in London, where the problem seems to be concentrated. Cyclists in Glasgow and elsewhere in Scotland are generally not an issue. We are a rare breed and tend to avoid cities anyway.
My priorities and therefore solution searches are to do with other matters.

 

[Brandane]

So how come all the others pull up alongside?

Ask them, and see my last post.

 

[Mugshot]

I don't drive in London, where the problem seems to be concentrated. Cyclists in Glasgow and elsewhere in Scotland are generally not an issue.

Now I find that interesting, do you think it's the cyclists or the drivers that make the difference?

 

[Mugshot]

???? If cyclists are not an issue to drivers in my (outside London) experience; what is it you are asking?

Do the cyclists you encounter act differently around HGVs or do the HGV drivers act differently around cyclists? I think you've said in this thread that you do have experience of driving in London, and you also feel that London is where the problems are concentrated, so is it London cyclists or London drivers that are creating the problem?

 

[Brandane]

Now I find that interesting, do you think it's the cyclists or the drivers that make the difference?

I think it's the LACK of cyclists that makes the difference! There simply aren't enough of them in Glasgow or Scotland in general for it to be an issue.
Makes the cycling more pleasant too; drivers don't seem so wound up about cyclists. Or maybe I'm reading too much on here about conflict in other parts of the country, which IME isn't so bad. I've even survived cycling in London!