2009-03-20 - Rider Down, Uxbridge Road + Askew Road

Erm, don't you need an additional special license to drive HGV's. What kind of license do you need to ride a bicycle? How can you possibly say they are poorly trained .. is this some anecdotal shit or something.

I think if what you're saying is true there would be a shitload more accidents involving lorries. I bet the accident rate is coming down even though there is more heavy traffic and more riders than there ever has been.

Dunno if there is more hgv traffic, or what its impact would be, but it is generally thought that increased cycling traffic brings accident rates down rather than up. So a decrease in accident rates would not mean that hgv's were less dangerous . The interesting change would be in the percentage of accidents involving hgvs - if this has gone up or down.

I could believe (with oliver) that many hgv drivers are poorly trained if they do not need to renew their licences regularly. So it could be plausible that the training someone received 30 odd years ago would not be sufficient today. But this is just wild interweb speculation as I have no idea if they need to renew or not.