2013-05-17 - Rider down, Holborn Circus

Twitter is awash with reports of a cyclist hit by a taxi at the junction of Holborn Circus. Sounds very nasty. Anyone able to corroborate? 3rd cyclist down in less than 24 hours :-(

Any links to citations on Twitter?

https://twitter.com/search?q=holborn%20circus&src=tyah

I walked past at 9.40 no sign of cyclist but collision team were out in force and a white mazooma mobile sponsored taxi was parked up on new fetter lane. Colleague thinks female taxi driver who didn't look too shaken up.

I passed shortly after 9 and the police had an area taped off. The bike (Fuji feather I believe) was on the pavement looking a little bent up and there was some blood on the edge of the road / curb / pavement, which was really not nice to see. No ambulance at the scene so the rider had already been whisked away.

I was pleased to see the indecent being treated seriously by the police and that getting to the bottom of what happened is clearly more important than the flow of traffic around a busy junciton.

Hope the rider is ok.

There are some reports it was a hit and run, according to twitter.

I'm really not surprised, I've been nearly hit there numerous times by vehicles that do not use their indicators and push through the roundabout when traffic lights are giving other entry points into the roundabout priority. As I tried to go around the cordoned off area and enter the roundabout on my green light I nearly got taken out by trucks and vans pushing in from the side. Which is probably how this cyclist got mowed down. And all this in front of a police officer who couldn't care less.

From the BBC London live feed:-

Cyclist crash 1019:
A cyclist has suffered serious injuries after a collision with a taxi at Holborn Circus in central London earlier today.
The 26-year-old man suffered head injuries and back pain and was taken to the major trauma centre at the Royal London Hospital.

I saw the aftermath of this. There was an ambulance on the scene and there was a bloke who looked more like a van or taxi driver than office worker being interviewed at the scene by a copper. He looked a bit shaky.

I'm not going to speculate about what happened but this is a horrendous junction, particularly the route I take into it up from Blackfriars road. There's often confusion about who has right of way.

Hi,

I work at Sainsburys on the corner. The guy who heads security gave first aid before the paramedics attended. By the sounds of it the cyclist was in a bad way and he did a really good job. He said the cyclist had put his head through the rear quarter light of the taxi. He and the paramedics could not stop the bleeding. It was a serious head wound. The cyclist had a helmet in their back pack.

Charlie

I ride through this intersection twice a day. Fucking hate it...people, cars, motos going everywhere. Hopefully when the new layout is done it makes life a bit easier.

Fingers crossed the ride heals up!