Dead cyclist Upper Thames Street

woodford2barbican

All there is to it really. Looks like another cyclist & a site lorry. Body under black plastic. twisted bike in the road.

cjcp

Spoke to an officer at the west side of Blackfriars tunnel. Said the cyclist went between two lorries.

OldSkoolKona

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Im begining to think this forum could start put people off cycling/commuting. Very sad.

woodford2barbican

8th London cyclist to have died as the result of a collision with a HGV/LGV/lorry in 2008.

gabriel959

At least in London, in Cambridge I am yet to see anything like that.

downfader

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Im begining to think this forum could start put people off cycling/commuting. Very sad.

+1

Any newbies reading this - please check out the road techniques section on the main 'radar site.

STEFANOS4784

Between two site lorrys :shock:

woodford2barbican

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

Between two site lorrys :shock:

There is only one lorry stopped on the road - at least when I went past at 8.30 that was the case. Still only one lorry there now.

woodford2barbican

lifted from moving target...

"Unfortunately I can confirm this. Brief details: a female cyclist eastbound in nearside lane 20 yards past the junction of Southwark Bridge was run over and killed by an aggregates lorry earlier this morning."

biondino

Why is it always women? Is there a reason, or just coincidence?

Littigator

I read an article that said that because men are more assertive cyclists, i.e. stay further out from the kerb are more likley to push ahead at junctions etc, it actually makes them less likely to get involved in accidents,

It was in the Times, but I can't remember when, about 6 months ago.

Greg T

Grim Grim Grim.

I cycle that spot every day.

It's tricky - just east of the S. Bridge junction the cycle lane has multiple raised manhole covers in it, there are some rogue bollards / road work barriers hanging around there also. Drivers slow to turn across the carriageway in the right hand lane, those behind squeeze left - there are peds waiting (and not waiting) to cross at two sets of lights. It's a tight squuze for a bike and two lanes of traffic - once you throw the other stuff into the mix it can get nasty - I never ride in the cycle lane until I'm through the little underpass. You just get pinched too often

Crapaud

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Im begining to think this forum could start put people off cycling/commuting. Very sad.

It's better that these things are posted. I'd rather that a jittery newbie was put off of cycling and remained alive than boosted the KSI stats.

For those of sterner stuff: this is what can happen!! You gain little from filtering down the side of large vehicles, but you could lose everything. Don't do it! Be patient and wait behind for the vehicle to complete its manouver - it's not a race.

Cycling is not dangerous, but we can make it dangerous for ourselves.

Now that I've got that off my chest...

It's sad to hear of yet another death. Condolences to family and friends etc. ...

il_principe

Very very sad. The council need to take a long hard look at the road layout around Blackfriars; it has been a cycle accident blackspot for far too long now.

Perhaps they could start by actually harnessing the thoughts and experience of London commuters. It seems to me that most cycle "facilities" are built by people who know nothing about city cycling.

Now I am not saying that the cyclist was in the wrong here - not in anyway and I do not want to sepculate, but I am getting increasingly concerned by number of cyclists I see cycling dangerously every day - going up the inside of buses/HGVs, RLJ'ing etc. I just wish people would take more care, cycling in London does not have to be dangerous.

Littigator

Hear hear

It's a very upsetting and sad incident and I have to hold my hand up as someone that does a lot of filtering but as you said and others have said what's the rush and it does not have to be dangerous!

I'll be playing it much safer if I can from now on.

The poor family of that woman today.

Gavin Gilbert

I'm sad and angry. I've past that spot on nearly every commute for the past 12 years. The '20 yards' put the incident (and please make sure you refer to it as that!) pretty much right by the plastic bollards.

Of course we don't have the full facts so it is both wrong and disrespectful of us to speculate about the circumstances. But experience tells me exactly what could of happened.

I'm going down to the place in a few minutes to leave some flowers

STEFANOS4784

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/may/2 ... port.world

Maybe something will be done this time?
Looks like a right death trap.

cjcp

Gavin Gilbert wrote:

I'm going down to the place in a few minutes to leave some flowers

That's a nice touch. I'll do it on the way home. Perhaps it might draw attention to the danger that spot of road presents.

Ilovecycling

Hiya.I work oposite where this tragic fatality occured this morning.It was a man not a lady.Our cctv caught the accident and according to the health and safety officer who saw the footage there were two lorrys following one another .The cyclist slighty swerved(not out of the bike lane) and basicly the lorry "hovered" him up and he come out the back.the lorry behind stopped.I cycle here but do not use this stretch on upper thames street of bike lane.They had roadworks all the way along ,also motorbikes love to use the bike lane.(i have rang the police nearly every week about this).
Everyone here feels very sad for the mans family ...this is the second death near ny building ( the other being Sebastian in 2003 on the corner of southwark bridge).
Hopefully something will be done to make this road safer for EVERYONE.

woodford2barbican

Another one?

http://www.movingtargetzine.com/article ... igh-street

downfader

I see Macpherson is doing her bit for road safety! :evil:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... ebars.html

Gavin Gilbert

I can confirm the Lower Thames Street incident occured at the point where there is the raised and dangerous metalwork in the carriageway.

There is still the smell of disinfectant in the air. Awful.

md81544

Sad, sad, sad. If the report above is correct then it doesn't sound like the cyclist was at fault - if a lorry was trying to squeeze into a gap which didn't allow the cyclist room to manouever to avoid the myriad potholes and metal around there then that's dangerous driving, plain and simple.

always_tyred

Crapaud wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Im begining to think this forum could start put people off cycling/commuting. Very sad.

It's better that these things are posted. I'd rather that a jittery newbie was put off of cycling and remained alive than boosted the KSI stats.

For those of sterner stuff: this is what can happen!! You gain little from filtering down the side of large vehicles, but you could lose everything. Don't do it! Be patient and wait behind for the vehicle to complete its manouver - it's not a race.

Cycling is not dangerous, but we can make it dangerous for ourselves.

Now that I've got that off my chest...

It's sad to hear of yet another death. Condolences to family and friends etc. ...

Nice condolences at the end there, but haven't you just basically articulated your belief that anyone who dies cycling must have done so as a result of their own error? We had this last week from a few correspondants regarding that very disturbing report from Blackfriar's.

To me its no different from suggesting that anyone who dies of cancer shouldn't have smoked. That has some merit if they did indeed smoke, but you really do have to find out first if it was smoking related. See what I'm getting at?

kieronymous

Just checked out the site on Google Maps. Northbound carriageway right? Forgive the flippancy but OMG I'm glad I don't live in London. That's pure deathtrap. I'm not a highways engineer (drainage!) but: Dayum. No-brainer.

Check out how much room there is on the pavement. A more commited investment is required than some matey with a tin of paint. Like fences, new kerbs, dedicated lights, etc. Boris should send a few guys off to Holland to see how they do it. I volunteer!

Cyclist hits pedestrian: Couple bruises, maybe a broken bone. Car hits cyclist: Several broken bones, maybe a dead cyclist. Bus hits cyclist? Eeeesh.

Mr Town Planner, if all you're prepared to do is paint in a bike lane, PUT IT ON THE PAVEMENT. Certainly in this case.

Greg T

kieronymous wrote:

Just checked out the site on Google Maps. Northbound carriageway right?.

K - I don't think it was on the bridge. It was on Upper Thames St, just east of the junction with Southwark bridge going east.

toontra

I was knocked off my bike whilst in a cycle lane in Carlisle a few months ago. An overtaking HGV thought it would be better to squeeze through an impossibly narrow gap and risk killing me than wait a few seconds for oncoming traffic to clear. Luckily there were no railings and I fell onto the pavement without injury. The fecker didn't even stop.

So please, let's not assume it was the cyclists fault for filtering up the inside of a truck. In my own experience overtaking HGV's can be a menace, especially at pinch points.

SmellTheGlove

To see a headline like that on the forum made my heart sink. My trip is far from the Embankment but pelotoneers take care tonight.

Anyone on the Freewheel it might be appropriate to mark the spot on Sunday.

downfader

Always Tyred wrote:

Crapaud wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Im begining to think this forum could start put people off cycling/commuting. Very sad.

It's better that these things are posted. I'd rather that a jittery newbie was put off of cycling and remained alive than boosted the KSI stats.

For those of sterner stuff: this is what can happen!! You gain little from filtering down the side of large vehicles, but you could lose everything. Don't do it! Be patient and wait behind for the vehicle to complete its manouver - it's not a race.

Cycling is not dangerous, but we can make it dangerous for ourselves.

Now that I've got that off my chest...

It's sad to hear of yet another death. Condolences to family and friends etc. ...

Nice condolences at the end there, but haven't you just basically articulated your belief that anyone who dies cycling must have done so as a result of their own error? We had this last week from a few correspondants regarding that very disturbing report from Blackfriar's.

To me its no different from suggesting that anyone who dies of cancer shouldn't have smoked. That has some merit if they did indeed smoke, but you really do have to find out first if it was smoking related. See what I'm getting at?

Just as you did before I think you're reading too much into what someone has written.. admittedly they mentioned filtering when we dont know the circumstances, but it could have just been a warning rather than simply supposition of said cyclist's death. :?

number9

My comment's up:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... article.do