2010-05-22 - Rider Down/Fatality, Vauxhall Bridge Rd

Awful news. My thoughts are with his loved ones.

Ride safe people.

Drummond Gate is on the North side of the river, not the location of the google link from Oliver and Sem. Drummond Gate also has a left filter from Vauxhall Br. Rd. but I am not sure exactly where the crash happened and which way the cyclist and lorry were intending to go.

Thanks, Charlie, fail on my part. I always forget that you have to go for the 'Link' box and not the URL in the URL box. Corrected now. (But sem meant the Vauxhall Cross bit.)

[QUOTE=sem;1423226]also....
*
'Police were called at around 11.30am to reports that** a cyclist had collided with a lorry *at the junction of Vauxhall Bridge Road and Drummond Gate.'

a cyclist collided with a lorry? Or the lorry collided with the cyclist? Again, a classic case of poor journalism...........no facts......all substantiated, and if at a junction, whether the cyclist WAS along the left of the vehicle or not - a lorry turning left onto a cyclist in the wrong position is still technically a lorry colliding with a cyclist. Unless he came flying along the road straight into the back / side of the lorry? Still - not enough information to justify this statement.

Getting really weary of this. QUOTE]

RIP

so so sad. this really needs to stop.

i'm not defending the journalist, but a month or so after my accident the London paper called me - they wanted to interview me. I called my family liason officer to ask if it may affect the police case if i did. she said i could, but that i had to be very careful and could only use a similar phrase for legal reasons.... i decided not to do the interview in case i said something that could compromise the case. i still can't say anything much!

Missed it.

RIP, Everton.

Drummond Gate is on the North side of the river, not the location of the google link from Oliver and Sem. Drummond Gate also has a left filter from Vauxhall Br. Rd. but I am not sure exactly where the crash happened and which way the cyclist and lorry were intending to go.

Yeah not where it happened at all - I was just pointing out that the entire stretch of road from there all the way to the station is pretty insane at the best of times.

Jemjah - that is interesting! Wise choice I reckon, and glad you came out alive xx

For all we know, the paper were told the cyclist did collide with the lorry, and perhaps he actually did. But for the moment it seems representative of the 'car culture' language which lays blame where it is perhaps not due.

each time i drop in to the board there seems to be tragic news
R.I.P Everton

each time i drop in to the board there seems to be tragic news
R.I.P Everton
Yeah, this is the area of the forum for all the bad news. The only glimmer of hope is that while cycling in London has doubled in the last eight years the number of these tragedies has not changed much at all.

It seems that the lorry involved was a cement mixer, going north, which hit the cyclist going in the same direction. Somewhere near the junction with John Islip Street.

Another cement mixer? That's just great :o( There must be a correlation as to why it's usually construction vehicles (tipper trucks, cement mixers, skip wagons) as oppose say to a Tesco lorry. Charlie, do you have data on this that you might care to share?

I have only just joined the forum - how sad it is to have to share the pain of the poor guy's family and friends all the while knowing that it could potentially happen to any one of us.....if Boris Johnson has already publicly admitted that the build up to the Olympics will see a marked increase in Heavy Goods Traffic that will in turn inevitably lead to more cyclist deaths then it's time for THEM to act as no amount of cycle training can ultimately protect you from a poorly driven Cement Mixer or Skip Lorry

R.I.P.

Another cement mixer? That's just great :o( There must be a correlation as to why it's usually construction vehicles (tipper trucks, cement mixers, skip wagons) as oppose say to a Tesco lorry. Charlie, do you have data on this that you might care to share?
This is one of the things we are looking at in Transport for London's Cycle Safety Working Group. We don't have hard data but my guess is that over 3/4 of the HGV related fatalities involve these sort of lorries. It may be that there are just more of them on the road in Central London than other lorries. Another factor is the high cab and driving position, in my opinion they are unneccesarily high. Many of the vehicles used are designed to an 'off road' spec and are unsuitable for urban work. It is similar to the 'chelsea tractor' phenomenon but the consequences are far worse.

RIP Everton Smith.

@the recent comments^
I think there is a striking difference between an LGV driver and a construction driver. I feel that a lot of contstruction vehicles are driven more dangerously, faster and with less regard for more vulnerable road users than transport goods vehicles. This is only speculation based on my experience. I am even more wary of the Conway/Clancy Docwra/London Cement/skip lorry type of drivers than I am of goods vehicle drivers.

Totally agree with Skully re the difference between LGV drivers and "construction" drivers who belt along in all kinds of weather and take un necessary risks with other peoples lives/safety....

@lcc it's great that you are looking at this seriously....but cab position is only a factor.....a driver in a truck with a "Cyclists Beware" sign tacked to the tailgate cannot be allowed to drive as though that sign is some sort of magic talisman that exonerates him from his duty to drive responsibly.

+1 about the questionable driving skills, although I'd actually like to see more of those signs on the back of trucks. There are still a lot of cyclists out there who don't recognise the dangers involved around these kind of vehicles.

@Charlie Do let us know what you might discover. I'm also keen to help with the working group on this specific issue if you need volunteers. If you're going to be at CM tonight maybe we can have a quick chat about it?

I can't handle expressing commiserations every time a cyclist gets hit by a truck anymore, I want to be proactive in doing something (anything!) about it. I suspect a lot of people on here feel the same. It's an issue we've just got to keep plugging away at.

RIP Everton Smith.

@the recent comments^
I think there is a striking difference between an LGV driver and a construction driver. I feel that a lot of contstruction vehicles are driven more dangerously, faster and with less regard for more vulnerable road users than transport goods vehicles. This is only speculation based on my experience. I am even more wary of the Conway/Clancy Docwra/London Cement/skip lorry type of drivers than I am of goods vehicle drivers.

Are construction drivers always drivers, or are they construction workers who are liscenced to drive big vehicles?
I think LGV's are more aware because their whole livelyhood is driving, and if they get points etc, they're effectively un-employable, whereas the construction drivers would have other work as primary work, and thus do not care?

I can't handle expressing commiserations every time a cyclist gets hit by a truck anymore, I want to be proactive in doing something (anything!) about it. I suspect a lot of people on here feel the same. It's an issue we've just got to keep plugging away at.

http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1845

RIP Everton

http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1845

RIP Everton

Just seen the video clip on this page. I've only ever crossed Vauxhall bridge at quiet times so I hadn't realised how dangerous it is. Something needs to be done urgently, the cycle lane is so narrow, it gives me the "willies" jast watching bikes being overtaken so closely. Another fatality on our streets! As time goes by there are so many that they barely make headlines anymore.

My condolenses to the family and friends.

Another cement mixer? That's just great :o( There must be a correlation as to why it's usually construction vehicles (tipper trucks, cement mixers, skip wagons) as oppose say to a Tesco lorry. Charlie, do you have data on this that you might care to share?

This is one of the things we are looking at in Transport for London's Cycle Safety Working Group. We don't have hard data but my guess is that over 3/4 of the HGV related fatalities involve these sort of lorries. It may be that there are just more of them on the road in Central London than other lorries. Another factor is the high cab and driving position, in my opinion they are unneccesarily high. Many of the vehicles used are designed to an 'off road' spec and are unsuitable for urban work. It is similar to the 'chelsea tractor' phenomenon but the consequences are far worse.

At a very quick guess I suspect, in part at least, Tesco lorries, etc. will be using the same roads week after week whereas the likes of cement and skip trucks will be delivering to new (to them) locations and thus using less familiar routes. I don't suggest this is the only reason but I'm sure it must factor in somewhere.

RIP Everton Smith

Also Tesco lorries typically deliver to large out of town stores, or due to parking restrictions for their in-city branches deliver late at night/early morning, or with smaller vehicles.

Keep the vehicle out of the city and there is a much lower risk of being in a collision with it.

RIP Everton Smith... I hate crossing Vauxhall Bridge, the southbound cycle lane is well sketchy, especially when it's windy, guaranteed buzzing territory... :[

RIP Everton, my thoughts are with everyone who knew you, this is more horrible news.

That video made my skin crawl.

RIP Everton, thoughts & prayers to family & friends

Shit! R.I.P.

I ride this route everyday and take the left to avoid Vauxhall bridge road. (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Drummond+Gate,+Westminster,+London+SW1V,+United+Kingdom&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hl=en&cd=1&geocode=FW6qEQMdh_39_w&split=0&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=6.881357,14.941406&hq=&hnear=Drummond+Gate,+London+SW1V,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.489335,-0.131031&spn=0.001192,0.002411&z=19&layer=c&cbll=51.489408,-0.131184&panoid=IrVINRddOmODRGX3OAFPpw&cbp=12,284.6,,0,11.11) You can't ride this cycle lane at all because of the left turn and have to ride the middle of the road.