You are reading a single comment by @willski and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
Skülly
@willski
Hello, I'm not sure if this warrants its own thread, so I have decided to start here.
On August 6th last year, I crashed on the new cycle lane going north at Kennington, on the junction of Kennington park road, and Kennington road. A section of the cycle lane is raised, and a section is not and it's hard to tell the difference. I hit the kerb and landed on my left side, breaking my hip. I have been commuting on this route for 15 years and negotiated this junctions 1000s of times with no problems before this new lane was introduced.
Breaking your hip is much worse than breaking your leg. I was on crutches for 3 months, walking stick for another 3 months and have only been cycling again for a few weeks. There is still a small risk that my hip will die and need to be replaced.
My problem is with TFL. Here is what has happened;
I reported the accident via their website upon discharge from hospital. This was ignored.
I wrote to the CEO of surface transport, Leon Daniels and received no reply.
I raised an FOI request asking how many cycling complaints had been ignored. Suddenly a reply. I was told their would be a full investigation, that standards of safety are high, and that there would be a full safety audit of the oval triangle cycle tracks in January 2016.
The full investigation has never materialised - at least no one has been in touch with me, and I fail to understand how the investigation is full without that.
In April 2016, I asked for a copy of the safety audit and a list of changes made as a result. I was told that the audit has been delayed, and that I would hear in "a few weeks". To date I have heard nothing.
My confidence in TFL and this process is rock bottom. It's just appalling. The tracks are badly designed and dangerous. Moreover, TFL provide no proper way for reporting accidents, and clearly have no process for managing or handling. The emails are all polite, but the inaction is verging on negligent.
I have limited energy to pursue this as it makes me angry and sad. I am genuinely concerned however that there will be a serious accident caused by the new facilities, and I would like this to be taken seriously.
Any suggestions as to which brick wall to bang my head on next?