2013-12-12 - Rider Down, Beech Street EC2

Dammit's experience of a female whom managed to put her foot on the HGV's bumper would be the closet.

That was terrifying for me- God alone knows what it was like for her.

The wheels of a HGV shouldn't be getting that close to the kerb, not when that much space is available. I wouldn't be surprised if this is another victim of the culture of expediency on our roads.

look at the aerial point of view in the first posted image, he probably had to turn that sharply to avoid the traffic light pole in the center island as he entered the turning. it's immediately to the right of the cab where he's stopped.

not saying it excuses it, if anything highlights the infrastructure isn't always suited for such large vehicles.

Only from a left lane manouver. If they had straddled the two lanes then a far safer turn would have been possible. It would have been slower, and a bit more awkward to execute but it would have been safer.

You're right that the design of the junction is exemplary in the failure of design to afford safety to vulnerable road users.

The real issues is headphone, not HGV

#boris

That's that really pointless bit of cycle lane that can't be accessed properly by bikes because of the massive raised curb.

Edit - maybe it's not there. can't tell properly from the pic

I did go past, but my testimony was rendered redundant by the time I got back to the office.

In order to make the turn the truck had to go quite deep into the corner- i.e. as it is a right angle he had to turn left when a significant portion of the vehicle was past the apex.

The vehicle was parked with the rear wheel on top of the bike, on top of the apex of the corner where it clearly swung in during the turn.

As TSK points out, he could have turned from the right hand lane I guess, but that would probably have been just as, if not more than, as surprising to the person on the bike.

The cab was festooned with mirrors- it appeared to me that the driver would have been able to see the Boripede if he'd looked for them.

Hard to say without speculating about what happened, which we categorically don't know, but if a HGV straddles the two lanes, indicates left and slowly makes a turning manouver then a cyclist shouldn't be surprised by it's actions as it is already acting outside of the norm of vehicle movements.

Probably best if any further discussion on this subject takes place on the campaigning threads.

i went past, bloody scary! the back wheel was under, cyclists lucky if reports say they are not seriously injured. those trucks are lethal!

Now I can see the photo, I realise that the witness I spoke to was wrong.

That is more or less a spoil lorry.

Very glad, that it finished this way and no one was seriously hurt.

I still think the rider might be crying
They just spent £500 to hire a boris bike for a single journey.

Assuming they don't it back and docked...
Standard Days Charge = £50
Fine for exceeding 24hr limit = £150
Non-refundable deposit for a totaled Boris Bike = £300

All I know, that the bike was back at the BCH workshop soon after the collision. It's all logged on the system and I doubt very much, that anyone will try to make money out of this accident.

I'm assuming they've caused no damage to that tank/lorry.
Otherwise they'd be in line to cover the £250 excess on any insurance claim too.

Not sure if i like the Boris bike scheme or not..
Not willing to risk £750 eachtime I ride one to find out.

dimi3 works for them so he knows what he's talking about

Now I can see the photo, I realise that the witness I spoke to was wrong.

That is more or less a spoil lorry.
The critical factor is that it is a 4 axle lorry built on an off road style high chassis. In this case a tipper but the same applies to most concrete mixers and large skip loaders.
The driver probably started the turn from the right side of the lanes, most drivers would have the back wheels six inches closer to the curb.

Either through luck or the proper level of skill the driver has seen the cycle in the mirrors and been going slow enough to stop before going over the bike. If the lorry had a safer low level cab the crash might not have happened and if the lorry had side guards the cycle and bike would have been pushed away from the rear wheels.