2010-07-27 - Rider Down Parliament Square

Good to hear that the cyclist is still alive, let's all hope he heals up soon.

@Tonga, thanks for coming back to us to clear up any confusion.

Maybe a fairly serious injury like this right outside Parliament will help to highlight the danger lorries pose to cyclists in central London.

+1 Best wishes to the cyclist

Good news that this wasn't a 'RIP'! I hope the rider recovers quickly.

I ride through Parliament Square and over Westminster Bridge every day. It's too hairy around there...something needs to get done (bike lanes?)

Just had a look at the Flickr photos: was the cyclist on the inside of the lorry?

i'll definately take a little extra care when playing chicken with buses when im running the square tomorrow.

So very glad to hear he's alive. Had the same confirmed by a police contact of mine. Very relieved.

Still shocked this has had zero coverage in the media. The cycle hire scheme has launched and on the same day ANOTHER cyclist has been hit by a lorry and it's not reportable anywhere? We know that lorries account for about half the cyclist deaths in London. 70% of these in the morning rush hours. Why not stop lorries from entering our city before 10am? How are the media not on this?! It's fucking disgusting and irresponsible.

Perhaps there was a blackout as a cyclist knocked down in outside the houses of parliament by a cement mixer, if true, would normally have been jumped on by the media.

I don't think so--much as news reporting is normally selective and often manipulative, unfortunately serious injuries are generally not considered 'newsworthy', except by local papers. This crash was all over the forums, and the BBC certainly noticed (second post):

http://londonbikers.com/forums/Topic722101-38-1.aspx

I expect that it would be reported in a local Westminster paper (if there is such a thing). However, for national titles it's usually only deaths that 'count' unless it involves a celebrity. :(

While it's obviously better that he didn't die than if he had died, it's worth stressing that this still sounds like a very serious and potentially life-changing injury.