2015-10-04 Rider Down junction Old St / Central St (North)

This just happened under my office window, I ran over when I heard screams. Female rider, left-turning Tesco truck. She was conscious but injured. Medics have taken her away now. Praying she's OK.

"Can't confirm it but I saw someone on Twitter saying she didn't make it." from the comments on the road.cc post... fingers crossed they're wrong!

That comment came from Islington Cllr Claudia Webbe:

https://twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe

I don't know what her sources were but I hope she's mistaken. The cyclist was with her boyfriend at the time of the accident and he was trying to comfort her as the medics did their thing. It was heartbreaking.

Cllr Webbe now saying early reports of a fatality were not true... Hope she pulls through OK.

Confirmed as "critical, not fatal".

Indeed rider pull through. Hope you are okay.

We heard the sirens screeching on Old Street earlier today when riding to Islington after we got off the train at Blackfriars from Herne Hill Cross race.

road.cc piece here:

http://road.cc/content/news/166669-london-cyclist-sustains-life-threatening-injuries-hgv-crash

It sounds very bad and ominous.

Report in today's Standard. Wish they'd disable comments...
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/old-street-cycle-crash-woman-53-fights-for-life-as-tesco-lorry-driver-arrested-over-islington-a3082596.html

A new report suggests she has lost a leg. Horrible if true.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/female-cyclist-52-loses-leg-in-old-street-lorry-crash-a3082896.html

FFS that is really horrible....

That's consistent with what I saw.

.

@Object

@user58281 You are speculating a lot here and this is inappropriate for this part of the forum. Speculation can and has in the had an impact on the progress of road traffic investigations and the subsequent progress of cases through courts. You may think your speculation is fair and reasonable but that doesn't mean it can't have an impact and it would be very wrong for something said in haste here to have an affect on what happens to the victim in the future.

With regards to no arrests being made, I don't know what happened in this instance but I have posted about this in the past. Whether or not an arrest is made at the scene of a collision has absolutely no bearing on the investigation of the collision or any subsequent police, legal or civil action. The decision on whether to arrest is down to officers on the scene or by the direct order of their superior. The act of arrest is not usually performed unless there is either a very clear indication of criminality (the simple existence of a collision, no matter how severe, does not automatically constitute this) or there is fair reason to suspect that the driver is an immediate or imminent flight risk. Making an arrest as a matter of course can and has led to cases being dismissed in court due to allegations of procedural failings. Police officers are placed under a burden to contribute to the legal and judicial process to help prevent this from happening so descisions on whether or not to arrest on the scene are well considered by the officers on the scene. Not making an arrest there doesn't preclude an arrest being made at a later time. If you demand that every driver involved in a collision is arrested at the scene then you are contributing to the erosion of the quality of the legal process which is already failing vulnerable road users.

According to the Standard's report, the driver was arrested. When I looked at the scene, seconds after the incident, I couldn't see anyone who was obviously the driver. There's some speculation about who he was and what he got up to on the road.cc comments thread but it doesn't resonate with what I saw.

In any case, as others have said, speculation here isn't going to help the cause of justice, nor provide any comfort to the victim, whose pain and injury I keep returning to in my thoughts.

Anyone who saw the collision this please contact Tom Lynch at MET police.

Contact info

1 Attachment

@Sharkstar

I've dropped him an email...

Thanks.

So it turns out that the victim is Keith Bontrager's wife, Julie Dinsdale:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclist-to-sue-tesco-after-losing-her-leg-in-lorry-crush-a3236516.html

This must be the same collision, even though the article says it was 'at Old Street roundabout'.

I knew Keith Bontrager had links to London, but not that it was through his wife.

Hope you're successful in your legal action, Julie. Such a horrible thing to have happened.

It's the same collision. Really hope you're able to do the marathon again Julie, count me in as a sponsor if you do it for charity.

Fined £625 and given five points on his licence after pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention ...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/19/cyclist-julie-dinsdale-lost-leg-lorry-collision-driver-625-fine

Just been reading this, yet another court ruling that essentially to drivers they won't suffer serious repercussions from killing/maiming a cyclist. Appalling from the courts, she lost a leg FFS and her life was changed forever.