Awareness Raising Spoke Cards Campaign Project?

has anyone seen this yet?

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157155471475?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleController

just incase the link does not work...

Feature: As cycle deaths on London roads mount up, a cyclist and a lorry driver swap places to see who's in the wrong Tuesday, 30 September 2008.

September has been one of the bloodiest on record for cycle deaths on London roads with lorries involved in three out of four fatalities. But who's in the wrong? Peter Knight asks a cyclist and lorry driver to swap roles to find out.

London's cycling death toll has reached a quarter of all cycling fatalities recorded last year, in just one month. September's deadly tally has seen four cyclists killed, three from collisions with lorries, in what safety campaigners describe as an ‘unprecedented' spate of deaths.

The latest fatality occurred last week when a 31-year-old cyclist collided with a lorry making a left turn in Holborn.

But why are lorries and bicycles such a deadly combination on the capital’s roads?

To create a greater understanding of what each has to endure, we persuaded a cyclist and lorry driver to swap roles. After spending a morning at the Wincanton lorry depot in Greenford, West London, have either changed their minds?

The cyclist

Flying the cyclists’ flag is writer and cycle instructor Susan Greenwoood, 29. ‘Luckily I’ve steered clear of lorries,” she says, “but I know from watching a cyclist die on the road that I wouldn’t stand a chance.” This time last year Susan looked on in horror as a fellow cyclist was killed under the wheels of a left-turning lorry in Bermondsey. “The cyclist was side by side with the lorry at the lights but because the driver hadn’t seen her she was pushed against the railings as it made a left turn. It was a harrowing sight, which shook me up for days.”

“When a lorry is at the lights there's no excuse for not looking in the mirrors if it means the difference between life and death for a cyclist.”

But after spending a morning in the cab of a 32-tonne HGV Susan has begun to appreciate a lorry driver’s blind spots.

“The major thing I realised is that when a lorry has started turning, a cyclist is literally invisible to the driver.

“I always used to assume that lorry drivers were unthinking idiots but I can now appreciate how many things the driver has to think about when he’s on the road.

“But I still think they drive too fast and as for blind spots, I really don't think there are that many before they start making the turn - there are four mirrors for heaven's sakes!”

The lorry driver

Firmly in the 18-wheeled camp is Wincanton lorry driver Tony Barton, 28. Tony’s been inching his 40-tonne articulated HGV through London’s streets for the past eight years.

“Cyclists must take responsibility for their own actions, they often don’t realise when they’re in a lorry’s blind spots,” he says.

“The worst spot is when a cyclist is hanging on the left side of the cab, under the mirrors. At that point, it’s very difficult to spot them. Also when a lorry is turning, because the cab and trailer are moving separately, it creates a blind spot at the tail end of the lorry.”

To appreciate the narrow gap that Susan says is typical between a lorry and a kerb, Tony had a wobbly pedal down the side of his artic.

“I felt unnerved by being so close to the lorry, pinned against the wall. I know what it’s like to have a lorry thunder past in a car, so I can imagine that for a cyclist it’s ten times worse. Having spoken to Susan, I also appreciate now why cyclists swerve on the road, often to avoid potholes and glass, which a driver can’t see.”

Amazingly buses have been involved in only one cycling death in the past two years. Surprising given that buses and cyclists are locked in a constant struggle for the kerb. Lorries however were involved in over half of cycling fatalities last year (nine out of 15).

“It all comes down to blind spots says Tony. “A bus driver is surrounded by windows and can see through the clear doors if a cyclist is on their left side. They’re also lower down which means they don’t need mirrors to see everything in front of them.”

Cynthia's story

Cycling on her morning commute six years ago to the City law firm where she worked, Alex McVitty’s journey began like any other. But as the 26-year-old was pedalling along London Wall a cement mixer made a left turn in front of her. The driver hadn’t seen her. As she collided with the lorry, Alex was dragged under the trailer and died instantly.

Racked with grief and anger her mother Cynthia, 64, went to the scene of her daughter’s death.

“I stood at the corner of the road where Alex had died, watching all the lorries go by. I just couldn’t understand how a lorry could not see Alex. She was a sensible and experienced cyclist.”

Driven by frustration Cynthia bought £500 of shares in Cemex, so she could speak at their AGM about her daughter’s death. So moved and shocked by Cynthia’s story were they that Cemex, pledged to install its fleet with side sensors.

The sensors bleep when an object or person gets too close to the lorry and Cemex driver Niall Corbett is convinced it has saved lives.

“The sensor went off as I made a left turn near Wembley Stadium six months ago. My eyes shot over to the mirrors and I slammed on the brakes. Like a bat out of hell, a cyclist whizzed by as if nothing had happened. I was left shaking. He was barely a metre away from certain death.”

Cynthia is now chair of road safety charity, RoadPeace.

**Deadly September

Monday 8th**
Lisa Pontecorvo, 64, was killed in collision with a Mercedes concrete mixer on a Holloway Road junction in Islington at 5.30pm.

Thursday 18th
Nick Wright, a 40-year-old father-of-two, died after a morning collision with a truck as he cycled to work along Upper Thames Street in the City.

Thursday 18th
Later that day at around 8.30pm Graham Thwaites, 51, was killed in Orpington after colliding with a blue Mitsubishi Shogun at a junction.

Wednesday 24th
Wan-Chen McGuiness, a 31-year-old woman, was killed as a lorry made a left turn in Holborn at around 6.30 in the morning at a junction between Southampton Row and Vernon Place.