Fifth London Cyclist dies in nine days

BBC News - Cyclist dies after Whitechapel Road bus collision

This is becoming a joke , about time they had a full review of cyclist safety.

We are spending billions on hs2 and crap all on cycling transport systems.

About time that buffoon of a mayor went.

Rant over......

We are spending in London Cakey, between £24 and £52 millions annually for a decade now, but the age and structure of London means the best solution, separation, is impossible in most areas.

 

The best solution lies in cyclists taking responsibility for their own safety as I've posted on this link, something many are not doing at present as can be seen anywhere in London daily. Depending on others for one's own safety is stupid, we don't just step out into the road without looking, relying on drivers to brake in time, so why should the equivalent be ok when on a bike?

Well they might be taking £ 2?-5? Million, but its not getting spent on roads, that's just Boris's champagne bill ;-) . Let's try more pedestrian and cyclist ONLY space by taking a lane out of EVERY main road for it. Now that would be a 'superhighway' :-D

Further to the Mobile Phone Blocker while engine running idea, let me try another 2 ;-)

Ban Loud Stereos and Video Displays in all vehicles to reduce driver distraction. Mikey

Well they might be taking £ 2?-5? Million, but its not getting spent on roads, that's just Boris's champagne bill ;-) . Let's try more pedestrian and cyclist ONLY space by taking a lane out of EVERY main road for it. Now that would be a 'superhighway' :-D

 

No, the figures I gave are actually being spent on cycling facilities, but for space reasons it can't all go into extra road facilities. Of course we can't just take away lanes like that, London's economy would collapse and there would be no jobs to cycle to.

Further to the Mobile Phone Blocker while engine running idea, let me try another 2 ;-)

Ban Loud Stereos and Video Displays in all vehicles to reduce driver distraction. Mikey

 

100% agreed Mike, I'm totally opposed to all ICE (in car entertainment) and displays. There's all the driver "entertainment" needed the other side of the windscreen where almost all the attention should be focused.

 

Many years ago a radio in a car was an extra and it annoys me that I get a radio/CD/MP3 unit I don't want in new cars I buy.

flecc re your comment,( we dont just step out onto the road without looking) many people do , many times i have seen this, next time you go to cross the road at a crossing and there people there( make as if your about to cross by putting one foot on the road but step back , and just watch how many people just start to cross without looking but follow like sheep

True John, of course I should have said if sensible we don't step out - - - -

 

But I was just illustrating the principle of the need to look out for oneself and not depend on others.

I think people will add their own distractions whatever is provided as standard in a car. Mobile phones, sweets, MP3 players, application of lipstick, not to mention the distractions for women drivers......

Ooh, Rustic, now you've gone and done it ;-) course we know you mean it tongue in cheek :-P

Oh, and the next idea should mention is not original, make all hgv cabs at same height and strength as bike rider & frame. Then watch them drive just as careful as we ride :-D Mikey

Well, I meant that money's not all being spent on the 'cycling facilities', lots being 'diverted'. Why d'you 'spose the same hole in the road has to be mended 3 times plus? Coz it's bodged. And in the same way ineffectual blue paint is sprayed around at 'vast cost' when we need sensible design for sensible riders.

Did anyone say Toucan crossings? Well done that person at the back.

Well, I meant that money's not all being spent on the 'cycling facilities', lots being 'diverted'.

 

The cycling budget is spent on cycling, not mending holes in the road, but not all directly on the roads. Some goes on bike stands and shelters for example. I suppose it's arguable that bikes locked to stands are cyclists not having accidents so a positive safety feature.

Flecc always blames the cyclist.

Flecc always blames the cyclist.

 

No, I blame the many cyclists who ask for trouble by doing silly things.

 

I don't blame the cyclists who are the victims of other bad road users, but I don't post about those other road users in here since they won't be reading in here, making the effort useless.

Flecc always blames the cyclist.

 

That's a bit rough Andy - I'd say what Flecc does is to point out that the cyclist owes it to themself to assume everyone else on the road is out to kill them, and to ride accordingly.

 

There are always going to be cases where the cyclist could have done nothing to stop an accident, but there are many more (IMHO) where a bit of defensive riding and awareness would have avoided one. I speak as someone who's cycled in London for 40 years and had my share of near-misses and worse.

Lots of red tape and statistics collected before they ever reshape a road, just as many proposed changes fail as those that happen.

 

Some of the biggest cycle safe changes have been removing railings and making good the curb/pavement as they take them out. I remember watching the process outside my house from people standing about counting traffic to planning notices going up to the railings being pulled down. Being able to jump to the safety of the pavement as my bike is crushed instead of being crushed with it isn't my first choice of things to do but I never say never.

 

Another thing is putting in millions of really crappy advanced stop boxes for cyclists, I have ranted on here before but they are the most useless and ignored things ever. I often think "it's amber so I should stop, the car behind me is going to jump the lights at the last second so I will die in that box if I slam the brakes on now". I'm sure in a perfect world they might work but the truth about it is they are just rubbish, the retro fitted ones more so as you then often can't see the lights if you are at the front of the badly added advanced stop box. A handful work well, mostly the ones on the cycle super highways but I could talk for days about the ones implemented badly. Another golden one is where the road is too narrow for a cyclist and a car side by side so the filler path for the cyclist is mid lane and always covered by a car(so much fail).

 

Some of the routes are amazingly well planned and work really well, the routes around elephant and castle to avoid the horid roundabout is one I can't thank tfl enough for but I often turn off to follow the little blue signs and see others zoom into the mess that is elephant and castle.

 

Free maps/cycle maps if you need/want them. I almost always carry map 14 in my bag, has helped many times when roads have been closed or I have gotten a phone call to say change direction/route with little warning and the first route that springs to mind isn't one I like.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/11682.aspx

 

I think the news are enjoying stirring the pot with the "just some blue lines" comment, the vast majority of motorists try to avoid driving on the blue/green lines and the ones who don't you simply don't pass unless it's safe to do so. Similar stuff like putting up a "beware speed cameras" sign without a speed camera can reduce speeding on roads.

Yes, the cycling budget items have been a very mixed bag of good and bad. Often it's well meaning, the cycling superhighways were thought of as a big advance in catering for cyclists and the authorities have undoubtedly been so shocked at the outcome they just don't know what to do next. When a genuinely well meant thing goes so badly wrong, it's little wonder they are paralysed into fear of doing anything.

'Assembly Members will vote on Monday 24 February 2013 on a motion proposed by AM Jenny Jones, which calls on Boris Johnson to increase cycling spending from £104 million to £145 million'. Woo hoo!, apparently this would take it up to 2% which is the proportion of journeys done on bikes.

London Cycling Campaign | LCC calls on London Assembly to back motion calling for £41 million increase in cycling budget. lots more on LCC re protest rides about deaths, SMIDSY! Sorry, sneezed again. Mikey

'Assembly Members will vote on Monday 24 February 2013 on a motion proposed by AM Jenny Jones, which calls on Boris Johnson to increase cycling spending from £104 million to £145 million'. Woo hoo!, apparently this would take it up to 2% which is the proportion of journeys done on bikes.

London Cycling Campaign | LCC calls on London Assembly to back motion calling for £41 million increase in cycling budget. lots more on LCC re protest rides about deaths, SMIDSY! Sorry, sneezed again. Mikey

Flecc always blames the cyclist.

No, he doesn't. However, it's hardly surprising that someone might think that, when you see the utter idiocy displayed by some riders.

I also assume the cycling stop box is for cars to use . Never seen it enforced yet ?

What I also find strange is how the motor vehicle driver cannot wait 10 secs to safely pass .

The fact I have 3 cars and 3 motor bikes does not stop me getting abuse about not paying road tax.

Sadly cyclists will still lose their lives , and the blonde chimp from London blames the cyclist without full facts.

I assume the "blonde chimp" reference is to Boris Johnson? I'm certainly no fan of his and don't think him fitted for high office, but he is a very regular London cyclist and has been for many years. So I think he probably has the same relevant facts as any other London cyclist.

 

Like me and the majority of other cyclists, his years of London cycling haven't seriously injured or killed him, showing clearly that these accidents are under the control of the cyclist. They are avoidable and that's why I constantly post on the subject.

 

Of course drivers can very often be rightly criticised, but criticising drivers won't save any cyclist's life. Only cyclists themselves can do that by avoiding well known high risks. Hence my concentration on the cyclists, to try to save their lives.

London Cycling Campaign | Mayor's Cycle SuperHighway 2 extension the first step towards Going Dutch for London cyclists. Segregated bike path made by taking a lane off the road each way. A good token, but obviously too little, too late! Oh Boris, pls feel free to spout a quip in Latin as you pass downed riders.

#Idea: How about a White Ghost Bike Badge, with funds to families of the fallen...... Mikey

London Cycling Campaign | Mayor's Cycle SuperHighway 2 extension the first step towards Going Dutch for London cyclists. Segregated bike path made by taking a lane off the road each way. A good token, but obviously too little, too late! Oh Boris, pls feel free to spout a quip in Latin as you pass downed riders.

#Idea: How about a White Ghost Bike Badge, with funds to families of the fallen...... Mikey

 

Still just as dangerous Mike, the accidents on the superhighways occur at the left turns, and they can't be segregated by kerbs of course! Vehicles will still left turn across cyclist's paths and cyclists who don't see that about to occur will still be run over.

 

This separation only works when going completely Dutch, by giving the bikes priority at junctions, vehicles having to wait for them. So this separation as it stands is just a waste of money and a cause of unnecessary motor vehicle traffic jams.

 

Meanwhile I propose a new name, Cycling Superhypeways.

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