2011-10-03 - Rider Down/Fatality, Kings Cross

The railling must have been moved sometime between the Googlecar visit and the ghost bike being placed. Was just a guess.

Sorry, I see what you're saying.

So sad. My heart goes out to the family and friends of this poor cyclist.

Every time a rider down thread pops up my stomach churns and I fear it'll be someone I know.

I always get the same feeling. Though, even if I don't know them, it is still somebody elses friend/daughter/son/father/etc.

London roads agency could face corporate manslaughter charge over cyclist’s death

이민주 rip ㅠㅠ

Sgt Kingston said that Ms Lee was not wearing a helmet or fluorescent clothes, as is advised by the Highway Code.

Unbelievable.

A report by the Met Police’s road accident investigation unit said Mr Gibbs could not have expected to see Ms Lee because she was so close to the front of the lorry at the lights. There is roughly a two-metre blindspot directly in front of lorries, the inquest heard.

Gibbs could have spent £30 on a mirror to remove the blind spot, or he could have leaned forward to check there wasn't anyone in front of him. He did neither.

The Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to charge Mr Gibbs with any criminal offence.

http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2013/dec/boyfriend-comes-face-face-driver-tipper-truck-killed-his-girlfriendand-they-hug#comment-89645

the fact that she was riding a fixed gear bike was also to blame for being killed a man truck driving who couldn't be arsed to look over his shoulder.

http://www.roadjustice.org.uk/case-study/woman-cyclist-13th-die-year-london-41011

CCTV footage shown to the court revealed how a No 45 bus and a minicab had stopped in the green “advanced stopped zone” box reserved for cyclists to give them a head-start at the traffic lights on Gray’s Inn road where the collision took place.

No ticket for them, no charges for the driver who killed her, just one of those things.

Unbelievable.

Gibbs could have spent £30 on a mirror to remove the blind spot, or he could have leaned forward to check there wasn't anyone in front of him. He did neither.

http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2013/dec/boyfriend-comes-face-face-driver-tipper-truck-killed-his-girlfriendand-they-hug#comment-89645

2m? TWO meters on London's road is massive!! How many that have made this report would be patient enough to allow Ms Lee to make the journey she needed riding this far out without anger or spoilt entitlement??

GTF

Is there any mention of whom got there first? If driver got there after Ms Lee then he should not be allowed on to the roads ever again. If Ms Lee got there after the driver then those responsible for putting the magic pigment on the left need to be questioned- especially as they DO NOT CYCLE and have ignored the advice of those that do know better.

The lorry was brand new and did have a class VI forward mirror but as the lorry was stopped just behind a bus and Deep Lee was forward and to the side of the bus they couldn't prove that she was in sight before moving off. Once he was moving he would not have seen anything useful in the mirror. Of course he might have seen her in the right side mirrors in the 4 or 5 seconds it took her to cycle past while he was stopped.

As mentioned above I do not understand why these factors:

Ms Lee had a fixed gear bike. She wouldn’t have moved off quickly. If it had been a geared bike she might have got away quicker.”

Sgt Kingston said that Ms Lee was not wearing a helmet or fluorescent clothes, as is advised by the Highway Code.

...have any relevance to this. Repeatedly mentioning such victim blaming points either when reporting such incidents or when investigating them are to the detriment of future real road safety in that they leave an element of blame in people's minds suggesting that by a riders choice of attire they had it coming. This stuff is what leads drivers to 'punish' riders. (as oft stated it's like suggesting that a women is to blame when a man violently rapes her because she was wearing a short skirt )

another report about the court ruling

citation

seems to be mainly based on the Camden New Journal piece though.

the comments: don't.

Another article;

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cycle-death-inquest-boyfriend-hugs-driver-of-32-tonne-tipper-truck-that-killed-his-girlfriend-9016543.html

He make it sound like there's no other way of preventing it from happening other than shit like cycle lane.

He make it sound like there's no other way of preventing it from happening other than shit like cycle lane.

Well quite - surely if anyone had done the route "hundreds" of times and was aware there was "nothing" in the way of cycle provision, there's an argument that they should take extra care to keep a look out for cyclists filtering, and double check when moving off.

Far more relevant than the usual helmet / fluoro observations.

Here's another report about the inquest on Deep Lee's death:
Deep Lee Coroner’s Inquest – A chance missed

Disclaimer: It's a guest post by Andrea Casalotti on my own blog.