The trouble with trucks and cyclists...

"I saw this incident today. The poor girl was on a bike and I heard her scream as she went under the truck. I was at the lights heading towards Oxford Street on a bike just a few metres away. I called the ambulance. I'm a bit traumatised by it all to be honest... "

"..I was one of the cyclists who was with her until the ambulance arrived. It was horrendous and completely shocking."

"I felt pretty sick and shaky and had to sit down for a while after.  Massive, massive respect to two other female cyclists who spoke with and held the poor girl's hand while waiting for the ambulance. It wasn't a pretty scene but they looked very calm and composed which I hope would have been some reassurance..."

"When I was talking to the emergency services they kept asking me questions like - is she trapped above or below the knee? Can she breathe? Is she having trouble breathing?"

"...while we were there she was fully conscious - breathing and able to talk. I'll spare the details but she was trapped above the knee. Although we were trying to keep her calm, hold her hand and talk to her, we felt so helpless as there was absolutely nothing else we could do..."

So speak the witnesses to another shocking lorry-on-cyclist collision in London last week. "Veronika" was riding across the Marble Arch gyratory during the morning rush hour last Tuesday when an armoured banking truck and her bike came together.  She suffered terrible, life-changing injuries and is still in intensive care.  Those who helped her as she lay in the road spoke of the horror of their experience on the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed forum.  My personal prayers and best wishes go out to them, and of course to Veronika and her family and loved ones, and I hope that she is receiving the very best of care.

Regular readers to this blog will know that the lorry issue is an ongoing cause of mine - there can be no doubt that there is no greater risk to London's cyclists.  Things have been quiet recently; it seems, somewhat macabrely, as though there have been fewer deaths of late than is usual (as if even one is acceptable) and subsequently the heat has gone off the issue in the mainstream press and political circles somewhat.  But this is false thinking - the threat to cyclist's lives from these vehicles is not going to go away.  Last year trucks caused 69% of London cyclist deaths.  In 2008 it was 88%.

In November a new study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) found that lorries were involved in 43% of all London cyclist deaths between '92 and '06.  Dr Andrei Morgan from the LSHTM's public health department said; "This unnecessary death toll cannot be ignored any longer. At a time when we are seeking to encourage more people to cycle, both for health and environmental reasons, this is not good enough."

This follows a similar study in the British Medical Journal in 1994 which looked at the cause of death of cyclists in London between 1985 and 1992 and came to the same conclusion; "In inner London, in relation to their traffic volume, HGVs are estimated to cause 30 times as many cyclists deaths as cars and five times as many as buses. Until the factors leading to this excess risk are understood, a ban on HGVs in urban areas should be considered."

Dr Morgan said: "The shocking thing is that there is no evidence of any change since this study was published, despite many changes in cycling behaviour."

Those 2 studies, which come to the same conclusion, represent 25 years of needless deaths on London's roads at the hands of Heavy Goods Vehicles.

Meanwhile Mayor Boris Johnson has made noises, kind of, perhaps, that he might consider banning retail lorries from central London on air pollution grounds and would consider building distribution centres to receive heavy goods vehicles straight from the motorway network.  That little soundite was made on the hoof at Mayor's Question Time at the end of October - nothing has been said since.

Meanwhile, the firm which employed killer lorry driver Dennis Putz - the drink driving criminal who had some 20 previous driving convictions when he ran down cyclist Catriona Patel whilst under the influence of alcohol and whilst using his mobile phone - has been involved in another fatal collision.  This time it's a passenger in a cab which was struck by a Thames Materials truck after it smashed through the central reservation on the A4.  The driver is being questioned on suspicion of death by dangerous driving, driving while unfit and possession of a controlled substance.  This is the same firm - with whose 32-tonne trucks we 'share the road' - who the Traffic Commissioner tried to shut down in 2002 so concerned were they with the volume of convictions and inspection failures that the firm carried.  The order was overturned on appeal due to faulty paperwork, and the firm's trucks have gone on to kill since then.

And let us not forget, as has been highlighted here before, the inherent criminality of the road haulage industry here in London; 70% of ALL the lorries inspected by the Met Police Commercial Vehicles Inspection Unit since 2005 have been found to have some form of illegal defect; overloading, underinflated tyres, faulty tachographs, drivers exceeding their legal hour limit, drivers being illegal workers or unlicensed, doors held together with wire coat hangers as they speed down narrow residential streets; that sort of thing.  Something worth remembering, methinks, next time someone tries to tell you how essential to the city's economy all those trucks full of plastic spoons and bottled water are.

 

The message to cyclists to keep well away from trucks has been communicated clearly for some time now, yet it doesn't seem to be having an effect on the relentless death and serious injury rates.  When you're up against a 32-tonne truck driven by a drunk criminal on a mobile there's only so much you can do to protect yourself anyway.  What is to be done? What indeed.

 

Back over at the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed Forum those lovely fixed gear riders are helping lorry safety campaigners get a motion passed at the EU enforcing stricter design standards be implemented on all new heavy goods vehicles.  It's a very big ask, but one worth asking.  If you did one thing useful today it would be to read this and help them with their letter campaign.

 

In the meantime, the Police who are investigating Veronika's collision on Marble Arch are seeking witnesses.  If you were near the junction of Bayswater and Edgeware Road at about 08.50 last Tuesday the 7th December please call the dedicated witness line on 020 8941 9011.

 

 

I do not believe we should have to share the road with criminal drivers and criminal companies and I do believe that more should be done about this issue as a matter of absolute urgency.  Until then, dear readers, if you are at a junction in front of a truck position yourself as far forward as possible and establish eye contact with the driver to ensure they are aware of your presence.  If you are approaching a truck from behind (stationary or otherwise) do not undertake it on the left and avoid overtaking on the right unless you have a clear view and are able to make eye contact with the driver in his mirrors (ring your bell if necessary)  If you are in any doubt whatsoever, wait at the back of the vehicle, keeping well clear, even if it means stopping other cyclists in turn passing you.  Ride safe, readers.

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