Cyclist down in Deptford

Rich158

Just on my way to site going through Deptford Cross and there's a he'll of a traffic jamb and a truck with a mangled bike under it in the middle of the junction. I hope to god whoever was on it is still alive!

A very sobering sight, I regularly cycle through that junction

deptfordmarmoset

Damn, when you say Deptford Cross do you mean Deptford Broadway or down on the other end of the High Street?

Rich158

Under Deptford station, whichever end that is

ariba

i came through at about 0830-0835. The cyclist was being put into the ambulance.

I didn't see the bike under the truck.

Hope they are okay.

deptfordmarmoset

I just spoke to a WPC from Deptford Police Station at the scene. It's not a fatality, thank god - but the woman has sustained leg injuries. Both cyclist and construction HGV - no side guard - were turning right from Deptford Broadway into Deptford Church Street. The filter lane is only just wide enough for a lorry so I can't visualise how a cyclist could have been alongside it.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hne ... 97.22,,0,5

I took a couple of pictures of what was left of the bike but they're probably a bit too scary to upload unless you're expecting it.

Paul E

I went past it quite late at about 8:55 or so and the bike was still under the lorry almost under the back wheels and pretty much mangled.

I can't visualise how she ended up like that either, I go through there everytime I ride to work too and if I can't filter to the front I take up a position in the centre of the lane and accelerate with the traffic till over the junction.

Headhuunter

God, that's one of my regular routes except that today I went along OKR instead. I may have actually seen if I'd done that route as that's about the time I go along that way! Good luck to the poor woman...

cyclopsbiker

Hope she's ok.

Shocking, I turn right there everyday....I somehow seem to get the lights on red each time and filter to the front, ensure the front vehicle has seen me then take a really wide turn so you don't unintentionally cut up the vehicle as you turn right. I'd never filter up the side of a truck there though as its unlikely they'd see you. think the road markings have changed since this picture, or my memory has let me down...but there's a metal manhole cover (rectangular) and I always aim to be on the left of it so reminds me to stay wide.

all the best for a speedy recovery

deptfordmarmoset

cyclopsbiker wrote:

Hope she's ok.

Shocking, I turn right there everyday....I somehow seem to get the lights on red each time and filter to the front, ensure the front vehicle has seen me then take a really wide turn so you don't unintentionally cut up the vehicle as you turn right. I'd never filter up the side of a truck there though as its unlikely they'd see you. think the road markings have changed since this picture, or my memory has let me down...but there's a metal manhole cover (rectangular) and I always aim to be on the left of it so reminds me to stay wide.

all the best for a speedy recovery

I know the junction well and you're right, that's the most obvious way - take it wide so you don't cycle in the path of other vehicles also turning right. And if you're certain you can get to the front and be seen, you want to be filtering on the left because the traffic is turning right.

noodles71

I was expecting a lot worse after seeing what what left of the bike. I thought she had been heading south and someone ran the light. It's a puzzle to me too how you could get yourself into the position unless she was too late filtering and the light changed before she could get past the truck. Normally it's the eastbound traffic turning north into Depford Church St 20 metres further on that fails to see you. Had that happen half a dozen times there in the past few years.

Don't want to sound like I'm being a smarta*se but........ NEVER PASS A TRUCK THAT COULD BE TURNING.

deptfordmarmoset

Don't want to sound like I'm being a smarta*se but........ NEVER PASS A TRUCK THAT COULD BE TURNING.

http://deptfordmarmoset.blogspot.com/20 ... d-bad.html

MonkeyMonster

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Don't want to sound like I'm being a smarta*se but........ NEVER PASS A TRUCK THAT COULD BE TURNING.

http://deptfordmarmoset.blogspot.com/20 ... d-bad.html

Yikes, its well under there...

Glad she sustained only leg injuries!

mese13

I passed this at about 8.15 this morning & would love to know exactly what happened here. Without meaning to sound callous, if it was unfortunately due to poor positioning vis a vis the (huge) lorry, then that's one matter, and perhaps signage at the junction could remind cyclists not to get stuck on the inside of big vehicles. From other comments, it is clear that this was not a red light jumping incident. Good. If it was the lorry driver's fault, then I'd like to know what he did wrong, so I can try to avoid the same fate next time I pass that way.

Sobering indeed. I plodded into work after seeing the aftermath. All the best for a good recovery.

deptfordmarmoset

mese13 wrote:

I passed this at about 8.15 this morning & would love to know exactly what happened here. Without meaning to sound callous, if it was unfortunately due to poor positioning vis a vis the (huge) lorry, then that's one matter, and perhaps signage at the junction could remind cyclists not to get stuck on the inside of big vehicles. From other comments, it is clear that this was not a red light jumping incident. Good. If it was the lorry driver's fault, then I'd like to know what he did wrong, so I can try to avoid the same fate next time I pass that way.

Sobering indeed. I plodded into work after seeing the aftermath. All the best for a good recovery.

I suppose we all have to speculate about how these things happen and who is at fault and how it could be avoided because we all have to think about our best survival strategies. There was an account from a different PC given to a lfgss forum member that it was a red light jumper - but I can't visualise how it could have been that unless they'd both RLJd...it looked much more like filtering on the right alongside a right-turning lorry. Sobering though, very sobering.

Rich158

Tbh I'm just glad this wasn't a fatality, but my thoughts go out to the cyclist whoever she was. That's a nasty junction and wherever the fault lies it's just another unfortunate lesson that we should stay well clear of any large vehicle that's turning. It was very sobering to see a mangled bike under a lorry and certainly made me think about how safely I ride on the commute home.

mese13

This section of the A2 is truly treacherous. There was the cyclist down on Wednesday 1 Sept, and then I saw 2 motorbikes + a ped down on Friday 3 Sept early evening directly under the DLR station.

Yesterday morning I witnessed a stomach-turning ding dong between a roadie and a green Friars Pride truck, inbetween Wickes and Deptford Bridge in which the truck driver was LITERALLY trying to kill the cyclist, first trying to squash him into the curb, then forcing the cyclist out into oncoming traffic when the roadie tried to overtake. Utterly psychopathic.

Just take it steadily and look after yourselves.

il_principe

A lot of 'rider down' threads today. Thanks Bob Crow for making London Transport safer for all of us.

Clever Pun

I cross through that jct too from south-north and saw the truck but nothing else, but the truck hadn't turned that much at the time (from what I can remember)

glad she's alive

Gussio

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Don't want to sound like I'm being a smarta*se but........ NEVER PASS A TRUCK THAT COULD BE TURNING.

http://deptfordmarmoset.blogspot.com/20 ... d-bad.html

Horrible.

Congrats on becoming a granddad