2018-09-19 Rider Down (fatality) St John St, EC1

The inquest is sitting:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/brilliant-childrens-doctor-killed-on-her-bike-took-up-cycling-after-77-bomb-attacks-a4208576.html

This is a description of what happened:

Coroner Mary Hassell said Lyreco driver Owen Turner had parked “badly” a metre from the kerb, creating a “hazard” with his Renault van. Mr Turner had refused to answer police questions and provided only a written statement to officers, claiming he had looked before opening his door and had not seen “anyone”. Ms Hassell said she did not accept his account. He was charged with opening his door “so as to injure or endanger” but was found dead at home in April, two days before he was due in court.

Ms Hassell said: “He didn’t look by turning behind him and looking over his shoulder, as he should have, and he didn’t look in his mirror. He didn’t look at all, and just opened his door.”

She said it would never be known whether the professor — wearing a white helmet and fluorescent body strap and “cycling exactly as she should have been” — had fallen after swerving to avoid the door or after being hit by it.

“Either way, she came off the bike because of the opening of the door,” the coroner said, in a narrative verdict. “That caused her to be sucked under the wheels of the cab. That was the cause of the collision, the cause of death … she didn’t stand a chance.”