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Cyclist fatalities in London - what's going on?



Bry Nylon

Test your smoke alarm
Helpful Moderator
Jul 21, 2003
19,782
Playing snooker
Is it simply an appalling run of appalling circumstances - wrong place wrong time? Or is it an inevitable consequence of encouraging more cycling in a major capital city?

Is 5 deaths in 9 days the sort of statistic, with all the associated tragedy for those involved, that we are going to have to get used to? Personally, for all his grandstanding on other issues, I can't help but feel that this something the Mayor needs to get a grip of. It's becoming carnage on an almost daily basis.
 


jonny.rainbow

Well-known member
Oct 29, 2005
6,576
It's the consequence of spending nothing more than the cost of 50 or so tins of paint on a "cycle super highway."
 


Barrel of Fun

Abort, retry, fail
It seems to be inevitable with more and more people opting for the cheaper/ethical choice. TFL has encouraged people to cycle or walk to ease congestion (certainly on the Northern Line), haven't they

I've been out of London for a fair while now. Do they encourage you to wear a helmet on Boris bikes? I don't think I ever saw someone wearing the correct gear to ride one of those bikes.
 


MissGull

New member
Apr 1, 2013
1,994
Sometimes the cyclists are at fault. The amount I see after dark with no lights on, or during the day without helmets, on their phones, cycling with one hand, with headphones and no awareness. Going through red lights, not signalling at junctions.
 


beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,265
a cluster could be a freak stat, whats the monthly or year trend? there might be a yearly blip around the first weeks after the clock change. also may be unfortunate series of fatalities due the circumstances and number of collisions is no different.
 




Bry Nylon

Test your smoke alarm
Helpful Moderator
Jul 21, 2003
19,782
Playing snooker
It seems to be inevitable with more and more people opting for the cheaper/ethical choice. TFL has encouraged people to cycle or walk to ease congestion (certainly on the Northern Line), haven't they

I've been out of London for a fair while now. Do they encourage you to wear a helmet on Boris bikes? I don't think I ever saw someone wearing the correct gear to ride one of those bikes.

Not sure about the helmets, but having read the reports with regard to the recent fatalities, the casualties have been involved in collisions with HGVs or buses and described as having suffered major abdominal / head trauma and were declared dead at the scene. Not sure helmets would have made much difference in these cases, although I would never suggest not wearing one when on a bike.
 


fat old seagull

New member
Sep 8, 2005
5,239
Rural Ringmer
It surely is a bit of all sorts, more cyclists is going to mean more accidents, that's a certainty. The sudden increase in fatalities is I guess the law of averages kicking in. If 52 cyclists are going to die on Londons streets every year they're not going to occur at one a week. Trouble is perhaps motorists in general aren't looking out for bicycles, and they aren't as easy to see as buses. Whilst there are also the occasional cyclist who seem to have a death wish and imagine that a helmet is going to guarantee their safety.
 


Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
73,381
West west west Sussex
As already said it could be any one of 101 different reasons, with everyone looking at some degree of blame.

More cyclists doesn't have to mean more accidents.
What more cyclists should mean is better provision of safety for the cyclist and drivers.

sadly that's just not going to happen.
 




Bry Nylon

Test your smoke alarm
Helpful Moderator
Jul 21, 2003
19,782
Playing snooker
Sometimes the cyclists are at fault. The amount I see after dark with no lights on, or during the day without helmets, on their phones, cycling with one hand, with headphones and no awareness. Going through red lights, not signalling at junctions.

I don't drive in London, but around here I do regularly encounter cyclists wearing headphones, which just seems like a death wish.

I have also attended my fair share of incidents involving cyclists trapped under heavy vehicles over the years and it is generally a fairly one-sided contest.
 


cloud

Well-known member
Jun 12, 2011
3,028
Here, there and everywhere
I live in London, and cyclists on Boris bike don't wear helmets.

Part of the problem is the number of building sites, with the resulting lorries and vehicles which are a liability at times. Just round the corner from here a lorry took a corner without realising there was a cyclist on the inside.
 


beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,265
has to be noted, and ive seen this many times, cyclist dont help themselves undertaking up to junctions with cars clearly signalling left. alot of focus seems to be on them jumping lights but i think this is overlooked. of course there's blame on vehicles too, overtaking then turning left see all too often.
 




Butch Willykins

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2011
2,532
Shoreham-by-Sea
has to be noted, and ive seen this many times, cyclist dont help themselves undertaking up to junctions with cars clearly signalling left. alot of focus seems to be on them jumping lights but i think this is overlooked. of course there's blame on vehicles too, overtaking then turning left see all too often.

Totally this. The left turn seems to be a real problem as it inevitably involves cutting across the cyclists route. I drive in London 2-3 times a week and it's shocking the amount of cyclists that filter down the inside of cars clearly turning left. I feel a lot of cyclists, who perhaps have never had driving lessons or passed a driving test, lack the anticipation skills of other road users.
 


HawkTheSeagull

New member
Jan 31, 2012
9,122
Eastbourne
Sometimes the cyclists are at fault. The amount I see after dark with no lights on, or during the day without helmets, on their phones, cycling with one hand, with headphones and no awareness. Going through red lights, not signalling at junctions.

It was reported that the bus vs cyclist in Croydon was caused by the cyclist cutting up the bus on a tram line - a tram was very close too.
 


Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ

Hove / Παρος
Apr 7, 2006
6,522
Hove / Παρος
I used to work in an office with Franics Golding, who was killed in Holborn last week. Very sad to hear of his passing, didn't know him well but he was a proper old school eccentric English gent. He refused to work on a computer and used his typewriter for everything (this was about 5 years ago!) :lolol: Equally sad to hear of the other deaths, been a cyclist in London for many years myself :(
 








seagully

Cock-knobs!
Jun 30, 2006
2,953
Battle
At the end of the day, you get idiots in all walks of life. Idiot cyclists, idiot drivers. It is somewhat stupid and rather naive to blame either party completely. I cycle to work myself and never jump red lights, always signal correctly and don't filter through traffic coming up to junctions, yet I have still been involved in several near misses and had vitriol directed at me from some drivers. Other drivers however are very respectful and give a wide berth and pass safely.
 


The Spanish

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2008
6,477
P
Too many of the stupid, self obsessed, 'I own the road', cyclists everywhere.

who does own the road mate?

this is a thread about people being killed in road accidents. in accidents generally people have made mistakes. those people now have shattered families. what a silly post. i am being polite here. but i am holding back. dont really know why. nasty post in the circumstances i would think about it if i was you.
 




The Spanish

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2008
6,477
P
Sometimes the cyclists are at fault. The amount I see after dark with no lights on, or during the day without helmets, on their phones, cycling with one hand, with headphones and no awareness. Going through red lights, not signalling at junctions.

staggering amount of uninsured drivers in london also. i would rather be hit by a bike with no lights than one of the countless untaxed uninsured drivers in london.
 


wellquickwoody

Many More Voting Years
NSC Patreon
Aug 10, 2007
13,585
Melbourne
a cluster could be a freak stat, whats the monthly or year trend? there might be a yearly blip around the first weeks after the clock change. also may be unfortunate series of fatalities due the circumstances and number of collisions is no different.

Good point about the clocks. I have been trying to regularly cycle to work this year,mainly for health reasons. The cold doesn't put me off, but darkness has completely curtailed my two wheel commute, it just ain't safe out there. Leisure rides only at the weekends till April then.
 



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