Lorries in London, it'd be alright if cyclists just saw their point of view.

Impatience in a Hgv can be very frightening. A foreign HGV the other day tried to accelerate and squeeze past a car on left side at (I think) junction of bishopsgate going into wormwood st. He did it with such disregard, that he mounted the kerb and there was the real potenital for him to tip over. Cyclist that was on his outside would have bee mincemeat, doesn't bear thinking about. I just think there should be restrictions during the day on these hgv's that have limited knowledge of driving in london.

At the junction of commercial st and whitechapel road. The lights were green for the left turn and red for the straight on. I pull up behind a tipper truck blocking the ASL when this nutter on a blue bike overtakes me and squeezes between the right of the truck and the pedestrian railings. It is a tiny gap and as the lights changed he's pretty much stuck. Luckily the driver has seen him and so he manages to escape, but it really could have been very nasty. The guy seemed completely oblivious as to the danger he'd just put himself in

I saw similar on junction of Tooley Street and Tower Bridge Road this morning.

A lady wanting to turn right onto the bridge placed herself right in the middle and up against the side of a lorry turning right from the opposite direction onto Tower Bridge road.

I slowed and shouted at her to get out of the way of the lorry as I could see the wheels starting to drag round. As I did so I nearly got hit from behind by a roadie undertaking me at speed. Hairy on two counts.

Although that weird and spastic cycles only traffic light and reservation gap to get onto the Bridge is fucking crapola. One of the worst examples of cycle-route planning I know of.

This thread makes for interesting reading, so BUMP.

Sad that things have gotten worse, not better.

i am not sure that things have got worse.

but there is still an awful long way to go.

(and yes some riders do some crazy things. but i suppose not as crazy as thinking it is safe to drive in a built up area).

Agree with what you said but your last statement entrenches the us and them attitudes when tackling these issues imo. If you're sat in 2tonnes of metal of course it feels much safer than putting a child seat on and riding around London in peak hours with the nipper.

Agree with what you said but your last statement entrenches the us and them attitudes when tackling these issues imo. If you're sat in 2tonnes of metal of course it feels much safer than putting a child seat on and riding around London in peak hours with the nipper.

.....but less safe for everybody else.....

.....possibly even more of an issue if you factor in that many (most) people cant afford 2 tons of metal.

:-)

I'll bump a few old lorry threads with this very welcome news.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/row-over-plan-for-compulsory-glass-panels-in-lorry-doors-to-protect-cyclists-a3168596.html

It's the most welcome development that direct vision lorries are now coming closer to reality, as these measures (and the even more welcome, later step of gradually replacing the lorry fleet with lower lorries (like bin lorries) where possible).

Once complete (which, admittedly, will take years), this will virtually eliminate cyclist left hooks from lorries.

Obviously, a newspaper has to try and construct some kind of row here, but the cost to businesses is going to be very small indeed compared to the harm that can be avoided, and all drivers who have tried driving one of the new lorries or one with a partially transparent door have been said to have loved it.