2010-03-24 - Rider Down, Junction of Southgate and Northchurch in Hackney

Do yo mean that there were two police cars with sirens, one after the other? Which one was in front? What direction were they going?

The first car I saw was an unmarked heading from the Tesco toward the Northgate. That one didn't haev lights on but it did have a siren blaring. Was going terrifyingly fast, even for a pursuit.

Then I saw the silver panda car blasting down the same direction about two minutes afterwards.

It's always fucking scum causing problems, god i hate chavy scummy cunts.

Hope the rider pulls through okay...

It's always fucking scum causing problems, god i hate chavy scummy cunts.

Hope the rider pulls through okay...

The chavy cunt may have caused the incident but it was the police that caused the accident.
I see police cars going down mile end road at stupid speeds all the time, and usually 5 minutes from another one going the same speed in the opposite direction. It makes me wander of the kind of cooperation they have.
But definitely all the best for the cyclist, hope they recover soon.

Ah, I thought this had passed under the radar, but of course it hasn't.

Hackney Cyclists and Islington Cyclists' Action Group have long called for improvements to this junction. In particular, the mini-roundabout simply doesn't work, as at many other junctions, owing to the fact that flows on Southgate Road are far more dominant, which makes the mini-roundabout function exactly like a priority junction in practice, although people think that mini-roundabout rules apply--but if you watch motorists at mini-roundabouts, you soon realise that a large proportion of them simply don't know those rules or don't follow them.

It is a problem all around London how to arrange junctions at which a shared pedestrian or cycle alignment meets streets open to through motor traffic. The problem here is compounded by it being a bus route, which slightly limits traffic calming options. However, it's not rocket science. It may be one of those cases where things have to get worse to get better. :(

i wonder whether those emergency services driving fast arrangements are causing more trouble than they are worth.

I think the figure is that around 1% of crashes or fatalities (can't remember which) are caused by speeding emergency vehicles. From memory, that mostly related to vehicles mounting the footway and hitting pedestrians.

It is distressing to hear about these crashes all the time, but I do think it's better than when they weren't being reported on at all.

hi all -
i just saw this post -

One of my very close friends' father is the man who was hit by the police car.

I went to the hospital a few weeks ago to visit, he has been stabilized but he is in a coma. He had several broken ribs, and other bones, and his jaw was broken in a dozen places.

The doctor's don't know whether he will pull through, it is pretty uncertain at this point because from what I understand there is no way to really assess the damage to the brain.

I'm partially writing now because I know the family wants to get in contact with any witnesses.

Since it happened outside the pub they are going to ask there if they can use it to call for witnesses. But as we can see from this thread there may be some people on here who were witness to the accident. If you did see something please don't hesitate to contact me by PM and I will get you in touch with the family. This would be an amazing help to them in a pretty grim situation.

As you can probably deduce this accident is not only tragic in the sense that there is a beloved friend / father / husband / brother in a coma but it is also a bit controversial because of police involvement. The police will do their best to protect their own, and from what I understand the family must do the same to make sure if things go to trial the proceedings are fair and truthful.

Any help would be great. Thanks for reading.

Oh, how awful. I didn't realise that he was in a critical condition! There is a huge problem with the reporting of serious crashes in that everyone breathes a sigh of relief that the victim didn't die and moves on, when the consequences of such crashes can take years of rehabilitation or be fatal in the longer term (and they won't be recorded as fatal collisions in the statistics).

I wasn't a witness, but bumping this in the hope that someone may come forward.

All the best to your friend's father and his family. It's one of the worst things possible to have to go through. :(

Oh, and koai, are there any non-forum contact details that potential witnesses can use to get in touch (e.g., an e-mail address set up for the purpose)? I'd like to put out the appeal to LCC mailing lists.

thanks a lot oliver!

I will definitely get back to you about that when I've spoken to my friend.

really appreciate it.

Also posted in Guardian bike blog thread

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/may/10/cycling-police

Quotation:

                                                         **Family  of cyclist in police car collision calls for witnesses**

                                                       Cyclist  seriously  injured in collision with police car in Islington

                                                                                                                                                                             Donald MacLeod, a friend and former  colleague of the bike blog  team (and many others at the Guardian) was [knocked  off his bike and seriously injured](http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23818847-cyclist-critical-after-being-hit-by-police-car-on-way-to-shooting.do) while  on his way home from work  on 24th March. He remains in intensive care  at the Royal London Hospital  in Whitechapel.

He was hit at the junction Southgate Road and Northchurch Road in Islington by a police car that was responding to a shooting on a nearby council estate. The site of the collision is close to the Northgate pub.

The exact circumstances of the incident are not clear and Donald's wife is calling for witnesses to what happened. Please contact the family's solicitor Nigel Davison of Housemans Solicitors at nd@housemans.co.uk if you have any information.

We wish Donald a swift recovery.

Thanks, atticus.

The cyclist in question won his claim against the police, who claimed that he was not on Southgate Road, but came out of a side road instead.

I witnessed on behalf of the cyclist in court, due to my post on this website, which was found by Mr MacLeod's lawyer. I am so pleased for the family - though of course they never should've been put through this in the first place.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/03/met-liable-cyclist-police-car-donald-macleod

I remember coming across this accident quite clearly still, particularly as the roundabout just before this has become part of my daily commute.

That the car was going 55mph makes sense now. I remember seeing it smashed into a brick wall some way off from the ambulance.

Best wishes for Donald, I really hope he recovers, even just a little more.

A report on Donald's current condition, prompted by the desperately sad occasion of this crash, likewise a crash with police involvement.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/sep/01/ex-guardian-journalist-still-pursuing-damages-after-2010-police-car-crash

So sad to hear that he is making such a slow recovery.

Gosh, what an awful story that is for him and his family. Thanks for posting Oliver.

And rep to Bleak Reference for supplying crucial evidence while police try to wriggle out of it.