Blood on the streets

filled out. and then realised that my responses were the spittle flecked, invective laden, green ink kind, rather than the "youramericanlovers" sensible prose...

Boris needs cycle training. It's official.

After my ride this morning I'm thinking the HGV ban OR have HGVs piloted by specialist drivers within the CBD.
I got passed by a MASSIVE rig one Euston Road - I was riding in the centre of the bus lane and this double trailered moving truck overtook half in the bus lane and with enough speed to shunt me to the side. Mental. I had my rear lights burning too - I was not invisible. You'd think with the current high rate of fatalities drivers would be more cautious. Not shaken by it as it was close, but I knew he was behind me - did not expect him to pass that fast especially in rain and traffic. Plus he's plates were obscured by grime. Dodgy. I'm rambling but the point being WTF was he doing driving like that and why did he even need to be on the roads at that time. Craziness.

Get plates, report them to the company in question and roadsafe.
Maybe they'll do something, maybe they won't but if enough people make enough noise something will change.

Done

done.

hope they read all the comments as these are likely to be more useful than the scores out of 5 for various things, although obviosuly more labour intensive to analyse

Does anyone know the estimated numbers on cyclist injuries and near misses? I am thinking that the unreported incidents and non-fatal accidents are as important to talk about than deaths.

Has this number risen? Surely with an increase in cycling in London this would be a pretty high figure. I imagine A & E's are seeing cyclists hobbling in for numerous injuries?

Separately on ASL, I read somewhere that police are reluctant to push ASL infringements because the punishment seems rather harsh. Maybe a review of offences needs review. Unhelpful to have fines/laws that don't fit the crime...

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/20/how-safe-are-worlds-cities-for-cyclists

Pretty interesting.

Head of Road Peace on R4 Today just now. Good piece. Called out victim blaming of cyclists.

Start about 08:45 to hear it.

https://www.gov.uk/general-rules-all-drivers-riders-103-to-158/general-advice-144-to-158
possibly posted already but this states ( 151 ) that drivers should be aware of cyclists filtering, aka ' undertaking' on the left...therefore 'undertaking' in slow moving traffic is not illegal ...just do it sensibly!

Could drivers be responding aggressively what with all this press? I feel like people who are driving seem to want to do that, quite purposefully, directly at me of late.

Head of Road Peace on R4 Today just now. Good piece. Called out victim blaming of cyclists.

Start about 08:45 to hear it.

The splendid Cynthia Barlow.

Could drivers be responding aggressively what with all this press? I feel like people who are driving seem to want to do that, quite purposefully, directly at me of late.

It's definitely felt like that this week.

I should say, not everyone! But noticeably more this week.

The splendid Cynthia Barlow.

Most wonderful human being.

Roadpeace is brilliant. We should all join.

Could drivers be responding aggressively what with all this press? I feel like people who are driving seem to want to do that, quite purposefully, directly at me of late.

I felt like that the whole year. I thought lorry drivers get encouraged to
not give a shit since every report just reassures them that nothing
will happen to them if they kill somebody.

Paedos are not to blame, kids should wear chastity pants.

Much like drivers are not to blame, cyclists should wear helmets.

yeah - the analogy doesn't really work chaps, let it go.

Here's another charming victim blaming pile of crap. Care to add your comments chaps?
http://www.motherwifeme.com/london-cyclists-safety/

that last bit? i don't think anyone has said that. ever.

It depends what you mean by 'responsibility'. I take responsibility for my safety while riding a bike by looking over my shoulder, correct road positioning and generally treating every driver with suspicion. That's responsibility in my book.

Well that's quite the back-water of the internet isn't it? I can only assume she knows how easy cyclists are to wind up and is baiting them into commenting so it makes her viewing figures look impressive. The article is of no substance & says nothing that hasn't been said before.

On a related note I am getting a bit annoyed at how wearing a helmet/high vis is being treated the same as following traffic signals & having lights. People on both sides need to realise one set is law & the other is conjecture. Not to mention behavior, etiquette & road positioning which are arguably the most important aspect of getting through london (via any mode of transport).

I am not sure what I detest more... victim blaming or the fact that a significant number of cyclists seem unable to accept that they have to take some responsibility for their own safety.

I couldn't agree more.

Well she's got almost 4,000 people lapping up her twaddle on Twitter, sadly. Absolutely agree re: road behaviour, positioning and lights. These are the things that really matter when it comes to safety (especially the first two). For some reason, commentators are obsessed with hi-vis, helmets and now... headphones! I despair...

Well fuck , just had a really dangerous overtake from a truck carrying a dumper on the back .
He had a 4th mirror , rear facing camera ( he was close enough for me to see the lense) and a fuckton of stay back stickers so no excuses really he felt as I slowed to queue in traffic before the lights that he must at all costs overtake and as he passed with >1 foot of room and he almost took out a car .
as I passed the cab I gave him eye contact which ended up with him swearing and ranting in the cab ( this was all after showing poor driving consistently from a mile or so when I'd been near him )
So I called up the transport manager for the company (won't name them ) and explained the situation and his previous poor driving and then how I was pleased to see that they had fitted the 4th mirror , camera ect and how they were being let down by his driving when they'd obviously put the effort in and instead of the response I expected after when I'd told him I was cycling and him sounding utterly belligerent he said that if when he spoke to the driver he was told the same thing but from his point of view then it would be unlikely he'd drive for them again.

you dropped this. ---> **. **