The flowers are close to the left turn from Vernon Place into Southampton Row where (I think) three people have died in recent years. I remember the names of Wan-Chen McGuinness (2008) and Francis Golding (2013). Dorothy Elder (2011?) was killed at the same junction, but while turning right. Alan Neve was killed in High Holborn outside the Tube station.
I think some years ago it was found that two thirds of the traffic in the morning peak in Theobald's Road consisted of people on bikes. It's good that the contraflow bus lane now permits cycling, but really, as you imply, the one-way system here must be returned to two-way completely.
Needless to say, plenty of people are killed or injured on two-way streets, too. The crucial difference here is that the traffic lanes are much too narrow (there are four crammed in and the carriageway should take three at the most) and the junction as a whole is too wide.
The problem here is that the problematic left turn looks 'innocuous'--there's nothing wrong with the kerbline design here at all. Tight radii on corner are a good thing, as they force drivers to slow down. However, the combination with the narrowness of the left turn (and straight ahead) lane means that HGV drivers will swing out to the right (or even be wholly in the central lane, which is straight ahead only) before turning left. That was what happened in Francis Golding's case. It is something that HGVs often have to do to turn under tight conditions, and is just not a manoeuvre that a cyclist is likely to expect.
We have no reliable information as yet whether Federica's death was caused in a similar way.
I normally caution against banning turns, but the problem here is so clear and specific that just as an interim measure and as a matter of caution it might be desirable to temporarily ban this turn while a better layout is conceived. This would, of course, make it very difficult for lorry drivers to find any other route, and might have a negative knock-on effect on other streets in the area as drivers might rat-run, but it might well save a life (not that anyone could ever tell whether it was being saved or not if it is).
The flowers are close to the left turn from Vernon Place into Southampton Row where (I think) three people have died in recent years. I remember the names of Wan-Chen McGuinness (2008) and Francis Golding (2013). Dorothy Elder (2011?) was killed at the same junction, but while turning right. Alan Neve was killed in High Holborn outside the Tube station.
I think some years ago it was found that two thirds of the traffic in the morning peak in Theobald's Road consisted of people on bikes. It's good that the contraflow bus lane now permits cycling, but really, as you imply, the one-way system here must be returned to two-way completely.
Needless to say, plenty of people are killed or injured on two-way streets, too. The crucial difference here is that the traffic lanes are much too narrow (there are four crammed in and the carriageway should take three at the most) and the junction as a whole is too wide.
The problem here is that the problematic left turn looks 'innocuous'--there's nothing wrong with the kerbline design here at all. Tight radii on corner are a good thing, as they force drivers to slow down. However, the combination with the narrowness of the left turn (and straight ahead) lane means that HGV drivers will swing out to the right (or even be wholly in the central lane, which is straight ahead only) before turning left. That was what happened in Francis Golding's case. It is something that HGVs often have to do to turn under tight conditions, and is just not a manoeuvre that a cyclist is likely to expect.
We have no reliable information as yet whether Federica's death was caused in a similar way.
I normally caution against banning turns, but the problem here is so clear and specific that just as an interim measure and as a matter of caution it might be desirable to temporarily ban this turn while a better layout is conceived. This would, of course, make it very difficult for lorry drivers to find any other route, and might have a negative knock-on effect on other streets in the area as drivers might rat-run, but it might well save a life (not that anyone could ever tell whether it was being saved or not if it is).