Why are so many of the cyclists killed in London women?

[Donger]

Avoiding gender behavioural stereotyping for a moment, might we actually be missing the obvious here? On average women are smaller than men. The statistics were, I believe, about deaths caused by collisions with HGVs (i.e.higher than average vehicles) ..... perhaps it is a case of the height of the cyclist in relation to the height/ angle of the vehicles' wing mirrors? Might some of the mirrors have been badly angled/adjusted, causing lower cyclists not to be seen?

 

[S.Giles]

Avoiding gender behavioural stereotyping for a moment, might we actually be missing the obvious here? On average women are smaller than men. The statistics were, I believe, about deaths caused by collisions with HGVs (i.e.higher than average vehicles) ..... perhaps it is a case of the height of the cyclist in relation to the height/ angle of the vehicles' wing mirrors? Might some of the mirrors have been badly angled/adjusted, causing lower cyclists not to be seen?

Wouldn't being sat on a bicycle tend to equalise the height difference?

I think there is probably a behavioural factor involved, but the nature/nurture debate could go on indefinitely without a resolution, and besides it has become unfashionable to attribute behavioural gender differences to nature.

 

[Donger]

Wouldn't being sat on a bicycle tend to equalise the height difference?

I think there is probably a behavioural factor involved, but the nature/nurture debate could go on indefinitely without a resolution, and besides it has become unfashionable to attribute behavioural gender differences to nature.

Smaller riders ride smaller bikes.

 

[Tin Pot]

I've always suspected that white middle aged men were less likely to be killed in cycling accidents.

So the cause is either racism or sexism.

I'm gonna go with outright misogyny. Who's with me?

 

[S.Giles]

So the cause is either racism or sexism.

...or ageism.

 

[Drago]

The title is surely misleading, I've never heard of a cyclist dying while inside a Woman from Hammersmith.

 

[Ticktockmy]

Window shopping and checking out what clothes other women are wearing.

 

[Hip Priest]

Women (speaking generally) are slower than men. Slower riders are more likely to be subject to the dreaded left hook.

 

[slowmotion]

The base is too small for any blips to be significant, beyond being horrible tragedies.

FFS

 

[Tojo]

If that were the case why is women's car insurance less (until that became illegal)?

I think women should get charged more for car insurance, because half the time there doing there war paint in the mirror of rummaging about in there handbags, handbag FFS, I've had smaller backpacks, and texting their mates from the night before to ask why they were walking bow legged and one of their hips feels weird when they got in the car that morning....

 

[steveindenmark]

Has there been any awareness or educational campaigns that highlights this issue and mentions women specifically?

There has been research which mentions women specifically but as in the UK, once they get the results, not a lot seems to be done with it. In the 60s, they used to show public awareness films in the UK. I remember them even now and so do many others. Surely, the government should be thinking about a Turning Left campaign.

 

[Drago]

Holding up any stats produced by the TRL is worrying, after they got caught crash testing a motorbike with the engine removed. This was presumably because it was cheap, but considering The motor was a load bearing member on that model it kind of entirely negated the experiment.

 

[hobbitonabike]

I ride with a group of women and when on a local busy A road I am the only one who rides on the actual road rather than on the left of the white line. I don't ride in the gutter as I just don't feel safe there. I stake my claim on the road as I am entitled to. By the same token I treat myself as a car. I don't filter down the side of standing traffic, I wait in line. I believe that if I treat myself as taking the space of a car then hopefully others will do the same. Realistically this doesn't always happen but I really am quite territorial about my road space!

 

[summerdays]

I think women do tend to be less assertive on the road. At a ASL if I look around me I'll usually be the woman who is furthest across away from the kerb. And I've ridden with women who I've tried to encourage to ride further out.

Someone further up the thread also mentioned their speed both in general and from stationary at the lights, which I think could be a factor.

 

[byegad]

I suspect the high number of lorry turning left fatalities is down to poor judgement of spatial factors, and lorry drivers not always signalling their intention to turn left so encouraging a cyclist to filter on the left.

I have seen far too many cyclists filter on the left at traffic lights and always think that I wouldn't do that!