Boxer Gary Mason dies in cycling collision

paul_smith_srcc

I know that junction well as it was on my commute home when I cycled from BikePlus, one of the stop lines is in the path that vehicles often take; as in the google maps picture of the area below. At that angle a rider could be in the blind spot of the car driver’s windscreen pillar, plus the riders lights would be side on especially if the cyclist was turning right away from the oncoming vehicle. I don’t know what the actual circumstances were, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Gary was on the stop line where that car, shown more clearly in the lower picture was.

I would often get off my bike at that junction, as I was sensitive to the fact that the white lines, especially in the dark are not as obvious in the from a drivers eye view as they are from above as in that picture of course; the route that the many motorists take are the same as in that picture below. Drivers often have their attention focused on the oncoming traffic, especially as the latter are normally accelerating after crossing a busy junction. As such the car turning right may, to make the turn, also be accelerating in attempt to make the gap in the traffic; only then may they realise they have a cyclist broadside onto them….…..; I’ve always disliked that junction!

I repeat, I’m not saying that’s what infact did happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.




Red circles Gary’s possible route with yellow his planned route
Red arrow the car’s possible route, yellow their planned route. Even if that wasn't what actually happened that is a common route and as such it's often a problem at that junction!


Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

meanredspider

What a mess of a junction!

If, as has been suggested, the bike had no lights either, it's possible to see how there were a number of contributing factors to this tragedy.

That junction is shocking though.

paul_smith_srcc

meanredspider wrote:

What a mess of a junction!

If, as has been suggested, the bike had no lights either, it's possible to see how there were a number of contributing factors to this tragedy.

That junction is shocking though.

An accident waiting to happen as far as I'm concerned. Sadly it may take an accident like this and arguably as high profile as this for the problem to be both highlighted to those responsible for the road layout and then hopefully something done to improve what is indeed a "shocking junction"; after all it's fine for me to say that to say that it's been "an accident waiting to happen" but all the time it had been working as far as the authorites we concerned then I assume their attention wouldn't have been focused on amending it (edit to that last statement, it appears they did know ). I recall at that very junction I would angle my front light at the oncoming traffic relevant to that situation, even though my normal positioning to turn right would have had the wheel directed in the opposite direction.

The pictures I have seen of the bike are not conclusive as to if lights were fitted or not, I dare say the authorities will have noted this. Even if they were fitted, along with front and rear reflectors, their effectiveness is less from the side; this is one example where side reflectors, wheel and tyres being the most common, as well as reflective side panels on clothing could be beneficial.

Many garments incorporate reflective pannels these days as part of their design, some have quite a focus on this very feature and especially for commuting I like to hunt these out, that’s me in my jacket below and you can see that even though bright yellow it‘s the reflective strips that are most effective. I also wear overshoes with a long reflective strip, have two (at least) independent good quality front and rear lights, but I don’t have either wheel reflectors or tyres with a reflective strip as I have always thought there were very few occasions where they would be relevant in what I considered dangerous conditions; although still a relevant train of thought as normally you will have crossed the path into a safer zone of a vehicle broadside on by the time it reaches you, I confess I’m thinking about addressing that now.



Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

meanredspider

Yes - if I rode in more traffice, I'd be tempted to wear more of the very high-reflective stuff. As it is, my helmet lights have side lights plus looking in the direction of traffic tends to catch their attention as my front lid light is very bright. All of my clothing (incl gloves and boots) also has reflective tags. None of my route has street lighting so the contrast between my lighting and the background is very high.

Finally. and probably most importantly, I cross no junctions so my risk of being T-boned from the side is very limited.

paul_smith_srcc

meanredspider wrote:

Yes - if I rode in more traffice, I'd be tempted to wear more of the very high-reflective stuff. As it is, my helmet lights have side lights plus looking in the direction of traffic tends to catch their attention as my front lid light is very bright. All of my clothing (incl gloves and boots) also has reflective tags. None of my route has street lighting so the contrast between my lighting and the background is very high.

Finally. and probably most importantly, I cross no junctions so my risk of being T-boned from the side is very limited.

like the helmet debate there are many conflicting opinions regarding cycling and visibility; in the end we come to our own conclusions and make our own choices based on that.

My personal take on this is that I notice cyclists wearing bright coloured kit, especially in daylight in the country lanes, more than I notice riders wearing darker kit. At night I definitely notice reflectors and reflective clothing, plus quality lighting over those who ride with dim lighting, I especially notice when a rider is using more than one front and rear, especially if well spaced, recently this includes helmet lighting, the extra height this offers has been very noticeable and has made quite an impression, especially as I currently don’t use one!

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

meanredspider

Yup - I got lid lights partly to be more visible over hedges and blind summits (see below - my ride is a bit more up & down than most I guess). My lights are bright (possibly too bright in some situations). I'm sure I have enough reflectors and wear bright clothing (dayglo or yellow). I think it's my responsibility to be seen.

Pross

antooony wrote:

RichardSwt wrote:

It's also a 30mph limit, but quite a wide bit of road and after the frustrations of either coming through Wallington (bit of a bottle neck), or waiting at the frequent jams at the round-about in the opposite direction (another bottle neck), people tend to go much faster than they should down that part of road.

The whole stretch of that road is awful, the 2 junctions there are dangerous and as you head towards the mini round-about its a very narrow road and littered with pot holes. I use this route quite often and dread it. The council would be better off putting 2 large roundabouts in place of the junctions, would not only slow down the speeding traffic but also make it a safer place to cycle and drive.

A sad loss to the community.

Roundabouts are the location of the greatest number of cycling accidents in England & Wales.

From the Google images it would seem the easiest way of improving that junction (without having seen any accident stats) would be to put an island in the hatched area to stop people cutting across the junction.

paul_smith_srcc

Pross wrote:

........ it would seem the easiest way of improving that junction (without having seen any accident stats) would be to put an island in the hatched area to stop people cutting across the junction.

As someone very familiar with that junction I would second that; not that I profess to be an expert in such things, but to me that would seen the most logical way forward.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk