Person down Oval 29/06/09

That's really brave thing to do, the lorry's driver partner to post on here.

My deepest apologies to both of the families.

My partner was the driver of the Lorry which was in the accident on Monday where sadly a woman cyclist died. I have read all the posts about this and some have been quite upsetting as a lot of comments have been way off the mark. My partner had not been drinking all night, he was safely tucked up in bed at 9pm watching TV with a cup of tea. He is an experienced HGV driver of 20yrs and has never had an accident. The cyclist came up on his left side and has sais he simply did not see her,he did check his mirror but she was in his blind spot. I have researched this and a lot of accidents have happened this way. He was arrested, this would be normal practise after an accident of this nature, the police are now conducting an investigation. He is traumatised and our lives will never be the same again. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this terrible time.

Julie, I hope you and your husband are ok. As a cyclist who was lucky to survive a similar accident last year, I feel very strongly about these accidents. I know that your husband, like the driver involved in my accident, did not go out intending to hit a cyclist, it was a tragic accident. All those involved have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

We need to stop placing blame, (and yes I know that some drivers should not be driving cars or HGVs, but that is not going to change) and find a solution. And it should start with educating ALL road users.

Julie, I hope you and your husband are ok.

Ditto

We need to........................find a solution. And it should start with educating ALL road users.

Agreed.

Can I just say, that years ago in Kilburn High Road, an articulated lorry driver ran over an old lady, who crossed in the street, instead of at the pedestrian crossing (not even 30 yards away). The old lady was in a bad way, and the lorry's wheels had removed her leg from knee down. I was first on the scene, and provided first aid, while talking to Emergency Services on the mobile.

After the medics and police turned up, I went to see the driver. He hadn't moved. He was in total shock, as white as a sheet, and couldn't even move his legs. His only words were, "I've just driven all the way back from Norway, and I was almost home." I got him a cup of tea with 6 sugars.

Police deduced his speed to be less than 20 mph.

That driver took it very badly. He was nearly in tears. The lady survived, even though she was already in her 70s-80s.

Julie, thank you very much for posting, and I hope your partner will be okay.

My partner was the driver of the Lorry which was in the accident on Monday where sadly a woman cyclist died. I have read all the posts about this and some have been quite upsetting as a lot of comments have been way off the mark. My partner had not been drinking all night, he was safely tucked up in bed at 9pm watching TV with a cup of tea. He is an experienced HGV driver of 20yrs and has never had an accident. The cyclist came up on his left side and has sais he simply did not see her,he did check his mirror but she was in his blind spot. I have researched this and a lot of accidents have happened this way. He was arrested, this would be normal practise after an accident of this nature, the police are now conducting an investigation. He is traumatised and our lives will never be the same again. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this terrible time.

As has been said: very brave to post here.
|However, 20 years behind the HGV wheel, so he knows all about blind spots. I have driven HGV's over the years and spent lots of time adjusting mirrors to account for "blind spots". Can't get them all, but you can reduce them to the point where a bit of bum shuffling makes rearward vision coverage 90%. And I was always aware of the other 10%.
Now I ain't passin judgment. I wasn't there so I can't say. But I do agree with many of the posts here: It is obviously a problem that driver/cyclist education/training is not addressing. How many more will die before road users and the powers that be take notice?

Sorry to hijack this thread but I can't start threads yet. Just wanted to bring attention to two accidents this afternoon. Borough High Street - cyclist and a lorry and also Kirkdale in Sydenham - cyclist and a bus.

Hope both cyclists make a recovery. Not a good week.

does anyone know any more about these cyclists? hope they are ok

Slack journalism at it's anti cyclist best, from thelondonpaper yesterday:

"....the 39yo fell under the HGV outside Oval Tube Station on Monday morning"

You what, cyclists do not just fall under lorrys!

In the same article, they later write "the driver has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving"

So which one is it then? She fell, or was killed by dangerous driving?

Melts!

Graham, initial newspaper reports of collisions very frequently have such unthinking comment on the actual events. You often read 'the cyclist collided with the motor vehicle', for instance.

Graham, initial newspaper reports of collisions very frequently have such unthinking comment on the actual events. You often read 'the cyclist collided with the motor vehicle', for instance.

I know, again, slack one sided journalism. They never just write 'a cyclist was knocked off by...." which is the obvious quote

^ Not at all. The language used is very precise. To say 'knocked off' apportions blame when none has been established before an investigation. To do this and print it is libellous. It's only done this way to protect the innocent.

But saying 'fell' implys just that. Like I said people don't just fall under HGVs

More on the victim:

http://tinyurl.com/mxpcpa

:(

But saying 'fell' implys just that. Like I said people don't just fall under HGVs

It's not a great choice, but then it was 'thelondonpaper' and it does absolve blame until blame has been established through a proper investigation. If somebody falls it suggests it's an accident, which at this point it is. A tragic one nonetheless.

Anyway, I'm not meaning to derail the thread just pointing out why certain words are used by the press in these circumstances.

Hi all,

I'm new on here so im rummaging around and trying to find topics i can post in with relevance.

Anyway I had two bikes stolen Wednesday 24th June so I was back on London Transport last week and this week and my journey to work is from Camberwell to Battersea - I go thru Oval to get to Vauxhall.

I was on a bus and just as we were approaching Oval the traffic stopped for a period of over 10mins then the driver was informed of the accident up ahead so he opened the doors to let us off so we could get on with our journey to work.

Unfortunately my only option from the bus was to walk to Oval and get a train to Vauxhall and when I reached Oval I did not like what I saw - Loads of police, ambulance and fire brigade.

It is one of many accidents I have seen as Cyclist and Pedestrian but one thing that is weird... it does not put me off Cycling one bit but it does make me more aware of other idiots on the road...

Hope people come forward so the HGV driver may get prosecuted...

Not terribly appropriate mate. Try showing a bit of respect eh?

Sorry... meant to say

"Anyway I had two bikes STOLEN Wednesday 24th June so I was back on London Transport last week and this week and my journey to work is from Camberwell to Battersea - I go thru Oval to get to Vauxhall."

you can edit your post if you press the 'edit' button
you may find it useful

of all the places to try and bump up your nursery posts, seriously?

Email received from DS Tony Tobin (tony. tobin @ met. police. uk):

*I am investigating a fatal cycle collision involving a HGV Tipper lorry at the Oval, Kennington at just after 08:30 on Monday 29th June 2009.

I can see there are some blogs on this site. If anyone actually witnessed the collision or events leading up to the collision can they please contact Met. Police, Hampton Collision Investigation Unit on 0208 941 9011.

Thank you.*

Anyway I had two bikes Wednesday 24th June

"Anyway I had two bikes STOLEN Wednesday 24th June

Both are true, sadly. :(

Sorry to all if I caused offence - maybe my wording was not appropriate and sorry if it seems i was using this thread to 'bump' up my post total...

I thought the post was of relevance as I was on a bus shortly before it happend and had to go to the oval station to progress with my journey.

I feel terrible at upsetting you lot as i am new and don't want to start off on here in a bad way to massive apologies all round.

As for the edit button I never noticed it at first as they are tiny but I now see them.

As for my original post I got a message on my profile asking me to delete the post i made - i'm not able to do so - could someone please remove the posts I made if they are going to make things bad on here please?

Again I'm sorry...

Both are true, sadly. :(

Not sure what you mean?

Sorry to all if I caused offence - maybe my wording was not appropriate and sorry if it seems i was using this thread to 'bump' up my post total...

I thought the post was of relevance as I was on a bus shortly before it happend and had to go to the oval station to progress with my journey.

I feel terrible at upsetting you lot as i am new and don't want to start off on here in a bad way to massive apologies all round.

As for the edit button I never noticed it at first as they are tiny but I now see them.

As for my original post I got a message on my profile asking me to delete the post i made - i'm not able to do so - could someone please remove the posts I made if they are going to make things bad on here please?

Again I'm sorry...

It's OK youngie, feelings are running high because of the extreme sensitivity of the situation. If you do want to delete or edit your post further just click on the 'edit' button in the bottom right corner of your post, if you do this you will also find a 'delete' button on the page that comes up giving you the option to delete the whole post if you wish to.

It's OK youngie, feelings are running high because of the extreme sensitivity of the situation. If you do want to delete or edit your post further just click on the 'edit' button in the bottom right corner of your post, if you do this you will also find a 'delete' button on the page that comes up giving you the option to delete the whole post if you wish to.

Cheers fella - again I'm sorry!

I have edited the post - some of the info/text i put in was not needed... - can the guy who quoted the original post please remove the quote?

BTW im used to most forums but this one is a little different so again sorry for not noticing the post options...

Anyway has anyone come forward to give evidence to the accident? I hope they get some witnesses - drivers like that need to be punished.

RIP

Email received from DS Tony Tobin (tony. tobin @ met. police. uk):

I am investigating a fatal cycle collision involving a HGV Tipper lorry at the Oval, Kennington at just after 08:30 on Monday 29th June 2009.

I can see there are some blogs on this site. If anyone actually witnessed the collision or events leading up to the collision can they please contact Met. Police, Hampton Collision Investigation Unit on 0208 941 9011.

Thank you.

This incident was mentioned on BBC London News this morning as well, appealing for witnesses.

I didn't see the posts objecting to youngie's posts earlier, but when I saw them they were already immediately relevant to the topic of this thread--and I'm pretty sure that I saw them before they were edited. Yes, s/he does mention the stolen bikes in passing, but I thought that was quite legitimate, given that the theft was the reason why s/he was on the bus stopped at the scene of the collison? Maybe I missed something.