first cyclist of 2011 to die in london?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12135980

Seems unusual that so far this is the first cyclist to die in London in a cycling incident?

Sad news though, a great boxer in his time.

doh, stupid BBC website showing me year old news! Still, sad news all the same.

16 this year. Lets hope there are no more:
http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/secure/a-chance-to-remember-the-cyclists-killed-in-london-this-year/

Really sad, and makes you think!

I’m sh*t scared of road riding – specially in rush hour..

doh, stupid BBC website showing me year old news! Still, sad news all the same.

The bbc most read links are a bit skewed by the SPOTY piece showing sports people that died in the last year. It seems that people have come away from the programme thinking how did he/she die and turned to the website to look it up. There were three old news stories relating to the deaths of sports people at one point last night.

Is ‘death by careless driving’ different to ‘death by dangerous driving?

It’s pretty terrible that this stuff happens though.

16.
holy crap, i am actually a bit shocked by that.

How can it be reduced? Does anyone know how to get involved in campaigning in this respect?

I go by, I think, 2 ghost bikes every day, one by King’s Cross and one on Kingsland Road. Saw a horrific sight in Oxford once (where a ghost bike soon followed), and I also once saw on Old Street roundabout a bike with police tape all around it, an empty HGV, and the contents of the victim’s bag strewn all over the road but she lived. Also as a courier I once had to pick up another courier in my company’s teeth, call him an emergency dentist and deliver his package after a taxi hit him.

A colleague in my office nearly died in a collision with a car on his road, was in a coma for weeks and is now unlikely to ride again.

I had my arm broken by a van outside my office – the van didn’t stop.

In light of the above, are these deaths a systemic issue or just a series of unconnected tragedies? I don’t think this question even needs to be asked…

Cyclists in London 2x more likely to die than in a Dutch city according to a report I read on (I think) Bikebiz recently.
I assume that’s done on percentages of users and fatalities. Not good at all, but considering the infrastructure they have in Holland and how bad London traffic is to cycle in (it feels better than it was a few yrs ago though, to this semi-regular visitor), I’d have guessed it would be higher at 4 or even 5x.

How can it be reduced? Does anyone know how to get involved in campaigning in this respect?

Have a look at London Cycling Campaign. There have been a couple of “flash ride” demos this year organised via Twitter/Facebook that have had over 2000 cyclists involved – the last big one was about the DfT plan to redesign Blackfriars Bridge, another notorious cycle accident blackspot. There were two deaths in about 3 weeks at Bow roundabout in the East End as well, both involving lorries and highlighted cos it was on a section of the Cycle SuperHighway network. There was a candlelit vigil there a couple of weeks after the second death.

Follow Carlton Reid on Twitter (@carltonreid), he’s the editor of the bike industry website BikeBiz and a vocal critic of car-centric schemes, crap provision for cyclists and pedetrians etc etc, you can pick up a lot of what demos etc are going on via him.

Done

The problems in London are real, but –

My commute in London felt OK after 6 months of cycling in Brussels. London traffic, plus cobbles, plus wet tramlines.

London needs sorting out though…not sure how…fewer cars basically

How can it be reduced? Does anyone know how to get involved in campaigning in this respect?

Yep LCC – LCC are better in terms of campaigning than the CTC (i’m a member of both)

also there is a disproportional number of women killed and high number of HGVs and generally the 10m 8 wheelers (not artics that CTC etc are banging on about not being lengthened) and also higher number of incidents involve a woman cyclist and a HGV turning left at a junction across them.

part of the solution is better awareness for cyclists as well as physical road improvements and driver training – see people trying to squeeze up the inside of wagons every day… madness…

Why women cyclists, do you think?

All I can contribute is an anecdote from yesterday morning’s commute, namely, my lane was full of heavy traffic and the oncoming lane was empty, so I rode in the oncoming lane. Just barely – I was over the line by about 6 inches. As you do, from time to time, unfortunately. It’s just a reality.

I then saw a person in the oncoming lane (who happened to be a woman) cycle straight at me, slowly and purposefully, forcing me to dodge, when she had the entire lane to move around in, shouting at me “it’s my right of way!”.

She was technically right, of course, but it’s this kind of attitude – whining, “but I’m in the right…!” that’ll get you killed. I don’t know if that’s a gendered thing or what.

“Right of way” is important but in practice the only absolute rule in London cycling is to avoid large metal objects coming straight at you…

I always view 8 wheelers much as imagine cavemen viewed a tyrannosaurus

spend as little time any where near then and def not in front of them!

Why women cyclists, do you think?

My observation is that women tend to be a lot more passive and will just sit alongside vehicles rather than being butch and macho, riding to the front of the queue and taking control of their bit of road. Generally.

I think the advance stop boxes at lights encourage cyclists up the inside of vehicles, you’re then in a very dangerous place if you don’t quite get to the box by the time the lights change and there’s a wagon going left.

Overtake down the outside if you can / must, or just stay in line at lights? Depends how quick you get up to speed and rider preference, but I do wonder how many lorry-left accidents have been caused by new riders thinking they’re doing the right thing by filtering up the left to the front.

I think that jhw has just meet someone who doesn’t care that he’s core business.
A lot of women are killed because they don’t ride with confidence that they should be where they are and have a tendency to ride up the inside of hgv’s which then drive over them.

I used to go to Holland on business during the 90’s and I would stay in Amsterdam which is fun to drive into due to the bikes and trams. If you hit a cyclist or if they ride into you it is always the cars fault and the police would prosecute/fine you no questions. It certainly makes you very aware of who or what is around you. Its too easy for car drivers to get away with bad driving in the UK.

Perhaps over time public opinion on cycling generally will change enough to encourage the government to do something about it. Cycling is the UK is still not regarded as ‘cool’. I feel it changing, slowly. Just look at last night’s sport’s personality of the year.. And like the man himself said, it’s not even an olympic year.

The thing is London is experiencing a MASSIVE upsurge in cycling, it’s huge. Add the Boris Bikes into the mix as well and basically anyone can grab a bike and off they go, maybe not knowing the streets that well (a tourist perhaps).

While London drivers are undoubtedly more aware of cyclists than in most other areas of the UK (due to the sheer number of cyclists around now) there is still the issues that the streets are too narrow and too busy; the penalties are for bad driving or being involved in an accident are feeble; everyone is in a permanent rush; there’s a massive range of ability from the couriers who can get through any gap at speed and know the timing of lights and traffic right through to people who don’t know where they’re going and barely know how to ride a bike…

Perhaps over time public opinion on cycling generally will change enough to encourage the government to do something about it. Cycling is the UK is still not regarded as ‘cool’. I feel it changing, slowly. Just look at last night’s sport’s personality of the year.. And like the man himself said, it’s not even an olympic year.

That is part of the problem in the UK – cycling is seen as something you specifically do as a hobby by wearing lycra or baggies and a back pack.. you only have to looks at how most shops stock and sell bikes.. they sell to suit peoples hobby

cycling to go to shops, get around, not for sport/fun etc is just not considered normal… particularly out of London

Dunno about London, I have issues with people on rural somerset A-roads flashing past at 50mph-60mph leaving me barely an arms width. Even more frustrating when there’s nothing coming the other way so the opposite lane is empty even. I also particularly love the slipstream style overtake where they whip by and back in barely metres clear of you, I don’t see how any amount of taking up the lane and riding assertively is going to solve that.

I actually feel quite safe (realtively speaking) in the centre of Bristol as you can maintain pace with the traffic, take up a lane and generally be a bit bossy. It’s out of town I hate cycling now.

Perhaps I’m being paranoid but it’s hard not to think that someone is going to kill me in the next 10 years if I keep cycling on the roads just outside of town. I’ve all but given up riding a road bike.

I think the advance stop boxes at lights encourage cyclists up the inside of vehicles, you’re then in a very dangerous place if you don’t quite get to the box by the time the lights change and there’s a wagon going left.

Overtake down the outside if you can / must, or just stay in line at lights? Depends how quick you get up to speed and rider preference, but I do wonder how many lorry-left accidents have been caused by new riders thinking they’re doing the right thing by filtering up the left to the front.

+1
I read these reports and wonder why the rider was in a position to be inside a left turning lorry in the first place. Obviously there’s no accounting for the idiots who’ll accelerate alongside you and then try and turn left, and in the real world it’s sometimes easier said than done to stop this by taking primary. But I wonder if people are letting trucks get alongside them too easily, or putting themselves in trouble moving up alongside them when they’re stationary. Like Jameso I think ASLs don’t help with this.