Third Cyclist Fatality London’s Roads

 A cyclist wearing a helmet and high-visibility vest was crushed to death by a 40-tonne tipper truck in the third fatality on London’s roads in just four days.

Road tax

Many cyclist's often report that the aggressive attitude displayed by motorists towards them, it is often justified by the ignorance of the driver in believing that they pay "road tax", and cyclist's don't,  but there is no such thing as road tax, no one pays  road tax.

Time and time again aggressive and dangerous driver's throw out the same abuse "I pay road tax," but road tax was abolished in 1937 and replaced by the Vehicle Excise Duty, of which the process was started by Winston Churchill.

Road maintenance is paid for by local and general taxation. The problem is a lot of government agencies and the post office alike generally now call it road tax so people as a rule stay ignorant to the fact, and it subconsciously gives selfish and inconsiderate driver's, who once they've committed an act that near on kills some innocent cyclist, an excuse as if even if what they believe were true,  that it in it self would justify the fact that they just near on killed someone. 

The term road tax implies your being taxed to use the roads, and the money goes straight back into the roads, "and that's just not true." The term road tax in it's self is not dangerous, but the fact that it fuels a certain type of driver with ammunition to believe that they have more rights on the road than other road user's such pedestrians, horse-riders and cyclists, is in it self dangerous, so government agency's ought to address this fact, and educate people to the fact's and take this pathetic excuse for bad manner's and pure bloody mindedness.

The Vehicle Excise licence historically is a tax on cars and not roads, and it goes straight to the general  treasury and not on maintaining or building roads, in fact today's Vehicle Exercise Duty is an emission's tax based on emissions produced by individual vehicle's, the higher the emission's the higher the tax bracket .

Society as a rule needs to change, we all pay for the roads and that's a fact, and people need to learn how to say sorry and take ownership when they make a mistake, we're all human and as so we all occasionally mess up, accidents happen, but that's no excuse for bad attitudes of which cost's lives.

A young woman driver who stupidly bragged on twitter in May 2013 about hitting a cyclist, #bloodycyclists "don't pay road tax", was found guilty last November and fined a total £637, £337 fine and £300 court cost's, and seven point's added to her licence again just monetising the situation. It may sound harsh but had she been given a custodial sentence, the time would have given her a reality check and time to reflect on the seriousness of what she'd actually done, as well as sending out a message to future driver's of this type of attitude.  She described the tweet as her "biggest regret" but went on to say "I was quite angry about his mannerism and... that he was on my side of the road and it seemed somehow disrespectful."

The fact that the tweet went viral shows the level of outrage felt by the general public, screen shots were taken and tweeted to @NorwichPoliceUk and she was charged and found guilty of two of three charges. She went on to say in a TV interview on ITV's Daybreak programme, that she regrets the tweet and didn't drive badly. The picture to the right was tweeted by her self suggesting that the photo was taken at the time of the incident.

 

This was the reply tweet by Norwich Police, she went on to suffer cyber bullying of which we do not condone, however it does demonstrate the level of disgust felt.

The young lady has since closed the twitter account down hence we're reporting using the images, as said earlier, we're not condoning bullying in any format, but this doe's show the attitude demonstrated by far to many driver's towards cyclist's.

tour de france 2014 Route

Tour de France 2014 Route

Thanks Jonathan

Jonathan was kind enough to stop and allow us take a picture of him, with one of Boris's yellow tour de France bike's in Vitoria yesterday evening , have you seen one yet, if so where about's ?

 

 



 

 

I don't recall cycling ever being so popular home here in the UK, with the success's of Bradley Wiggins becoming the first Briton to win Le Tour in 2012 followed by a gold medal time trial performance in London, along with all the other recent great cycling success's in London, by team GB they really gave the UK something to be proud of.  What a great time for cycling in the UK, let the good time's roll.

 

This iconic event will go through some of our most beautiful countryside that Britain has to offer and will start with it's Grand Départ from Leeds to Harrogate, On Saturday the 5th of July in stage 1 , on to Sunday 6th July for stage 2, York to Sheffield right the way down with stage 3 beginning in Cambridge going through Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Essex , it will finish on The Mall in London.  

 

With that said wouldn't it be a great legacy if from this iconic event, we could find something that would reduce the cyclist accident and fatality rate throughout the UK.

 

 

 

 

 For full details of the routs go to the official tour site letour, and for more London cycling events go to the Londoncyclist.

Cycle Eye and New low-level traffic lights for cyclists

New low-level traffic lights designed for cyclists have been authorised for use following safety trials, Transport Minister Stephen Hammond has announced.

 

 

More than 80% of cyclists favoured the use of low-level signals during the track-based trials of the system, which works by repeating the signal displayed on main traffic lights at the eye level of cyclists.

The clearance means that Transport for London (TfL) can now install the lights at Bow Roundabout – the first time the lights have been used in the UK.

Initially the system will be piloted at Bow but the Department for Transport (DfT) is working with TfL to extend it to a further 11 sites in London. The further 11 sites are listed below.

The lights will give cyclists improved, clearer signals to ensure they have the information they need at the junction. Research is currently underway that will give DfT the evidence to consider approving the use of these lights to provide an “early start” for cyclists.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and TfL have been trialling a range of measures to improve the safety of cyclists, including new designs for roundabouts and bus stop bypasses.

TfL is also working on delivering the ‘Quietways’, a network of high-quality, low-traffic back streets which form part of the Mayor’s vision for cycling. The department will work with TfL on the traffic signing needed to help implement these, starting in summer 2014.

The department is driving forward regulatory changes to give TfL and other authorities the freedom to implement new and innovative junction designs to help cyclists.

TfL has also been working closely with the department to develop a new junction design that will be used as standard by road planners. This design will include a ‘two-stage’ right turn for cyclists as used in other European countries.

The two-stage right turn saves cyclists from attempting to turn across several lanes of traffic. This ‘turn left to turn right’ idea allows bikes to turn left into a dedicated area in advance of the main traffic before completing the turn by going straight across the junction when the lights next change.

It is important that any changes to junctions help keep cyclists safe, and to that end TfL will be launching off-street trials of this new junction early next year. DfT will support these as the department continues to work closely with local authorities to improve cycling safety.

The government is also currently considering options for the enforcement of mandatory cycle lanes by local authorities.

Transport Minister Stephen Hammond said:

The government wants to see cycling made safer and we welcome innovative designs from local authorities.

 

Over the last few years we’ve worked very closely with Transport for London to deliver better infrastructure for cyclists. Transport for London are working hard on proposals to make cycling safer and these low-level lights mean that cyclists will have dedicated traffic lights that give them the information they need.

There is always more that we can do and there is a lot of research underway into further measures that we can look at.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said:

This is very good news for cyclists in London, and across the country. Just one of a number of new safety measures we’ve been discussing with the government, this new piece of infrastructure forms a key element of our cycling vision for London. We look forward to continuing to work together on many more measures to help make cycling even safer, more attractive and convenient for Londoners.

Leon Daniels, managing director of surface transport at TfL said:

Low level cycle signals are common place in certain parts of Europe and we are keen to make them common place in London. These new signals, which will be a further improvement to the innovative traffic signals at Bow, will provide cyclists with a better eye-level view as to which stage the traffic signals are at.

Working closely with the Department for Transport, we will work to have these on-street during January 2014, and should the technology prove to be successful, further trials will be carried out across London throughout 2014.

 

The 11 further sites TfL have identified for future low-level lights systems are:

Queen Street Place and Upper Thames Street

Euston Road and Pancras Road

Holloway Road and Madras Place and Fieldway Crescent

City Road and Colebrooke Row

Owen Street and Goswell Road

Cable Street and Dock Street and Royal Mint Street

Cable Street and Cannon Street Road

London Road, Princes Street and Ontario Street

St Georges Road, Princess Street and Elliots Row

Clapham Common Northside and Cedars Avenue

Clapham Common Southside and Narbonne Avenue

Cycle Eye Some of the newest and the most innovative technology being developed in the UK is coming from companies who are being supported by a partnership of universities, to view go too the BBC's Click here.

 

Knee jerk reactions don't work!

As we all know there has been a spate of tragic cyclist deaths on London's roads recently including 6 in two weeks during the past month. So the police were posted to specific junctions issuing fines and penalty points to both drivers and cyclists who broke safety rules to make them aware of the dangers of their behavior and to use them to set an example to others. A short term reaction with little or no long term effect. It wasn't long ago that we also heard some drivers pleading ignorance about the purpose and use of cycle box / blue box in front of traffic lights and there was a suggestion that drivers entering and abusing these protected cyclist areas would be fined, another apparent 'kneejerk'
As you can see, it didn't work!

 

October 2013 North London

 

Read the story of what the love of a mother Cynthia Barlow,  for her daughter can do in her own words, taken from the Sun Written by EMILY FAIRBAIRN Published: 05th December 2012.

 

"My daughter Alex was 26 when she was killed. Her life was just beginning. She had a masters degree, a great job at a law firm in the City and a boyfriend who she loved. Then, as she cycled to work one sunny morning, a cement mixer lorry turned across her path and knocked her down. The police came to my office to tell me my daughter was dead. I couldn’t take it in; she was my only child, my whole world.

"I’d been talking to her just the night before. The firm she worked at was having a staff party that week and as it was her and her boyfriend’s one year anniversary they were going to make something special out of it. She was telling me what she was going to wear and how she was having her hair done. I just couldn’t make sense of the fact she was gone.
"It was at least a year before I found out what had happened to her that terrible day. The driver was to be prosecuted for careless driving, and I wasn’t allowed to see any evidence in case it prejudiced the trial. "For the same reason, the driver didn’t have to answer any questions at the inquest. After the trial and inquest, at which the driver was acquitted, I became suicidally depressed. One day I was out for a walk with a colleague and literally bumped into the lorry driver’s barrister. I don’t know if he recognized me but I certainly recognized him."I started crying and didn’t stop crying for three days, and just shut myself in the house. After that time my mind was a lot clearer and I realised that the reason I felt like that was because I was blaming myself. I felt like I had let my daughter down, by not doing enough to stand up for her.
"That’s when I decided to hire a private traffic investigator, who went through all the evidence to establish what had happened. From the CCTV footage, he discovered that Alex had definitely seen the lorry. "She had stopped earlier to let it pass, but caught up with it at the traffic lights. The lights were changing to green as she approached and she carried on forward. "The lorry only started indicating to turn left when Alex was already alongside it, so she never saw its signal. How was she supposed to know it was about to turn?
"I bought £500 worth of shares in Ready Mix Concrete; enough to entitle me to attend their Annual General Meeting. I planned to look the directors in the eye and tell them how their lorry killed my daughter.
"On the day of the meeting, I was shaking like a leaf. Luckily, I had a friend with me who grabbed me by the arm and pushed me to stand up, when I was handed a microphone so I couldn’t let my nerves get the better of me. "I told the audience all about Alex, and what changes I wanted made so that deaths like hers would be prevented in the future.
"When I finished, there was complete silence in the room. I don’t know what I expected - but it wasn’t that.
"RMC contacted me soon afterwards and asked for a meeting. Since then, we have established a very productive relationship.
"Today Cemex (the company that took over RMC) is the industry leader when it comes to cycle safety. Their lorries are fitted with sensors which detect cyclists within two metres of the lorry when it turns left.
"An audible warning outside the lorry tells cyclists that it is turning and an alarm sounds inside the cab to alert the driver to unexpected obstructions. Extra mirrors are fitted to try to give a view of the blind spots around the cab. "Simple changes, but they have saved lives. I am pleased to say that many of the other major firms have followed suit.
"But I’m not stopping now. I am campaigning for a change in the law to make cycle safety measures for construction vehicles compulsory.
"There is still a problem with subcontractors, owner-drivers who have no obligation to fit these safety devices. Some say it is too expensive. But if it saves even one life, the £500 upfront cost looks like a small price to pay."

Prudential RideLondon 2014 Ballot Entries Form

After the great succes of the first RideLondon 2013, the 2014 RideLondon application form opened online on Monday 20/08/13.

For home domestic riders go to Prudential RideLondon-Surrey and click the ballot for the 2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 is now open link in the red banner at the top. 

For international cyclists interested in the 2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, you can register your details with Sports Tours International at the Events Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 Entries International and they will inform you of the 2014 event when it is announced.
Good Luck ;~)

CYCLIST KILLED DAY AFTER RIDELONDON

A Cyclist has died after colliding with a lorry in Archway north London the day after RideLondon.

The incident happened at around 9.40am on the A1 Archway Road, between Highgate and Archway gyratory.  Despite extensive efforts from the London Ambulance Service, the man, believed to be in his 40s, died at the scene.  He is the sixth cyclist to be killed on London's roads this year and the fourth with a collision with a HGV, and his death comes within hours of the two-day RideLondon cycling event, which aimed to encourage more people to cycle in the capital with the roads closed of to the usual traffic to negotiate, for more details on this story go to the evening standard.

This accident comes within weeks of the London Cycling Campaign calling for protest ride in wake of Boris Bike death on cycle Superhighway 2.  Get this story from evening standard.

Dutch Style Roundabouts

New technologies that could improve cycle safety in the capital, are being tested in Crowthorneunder near Bracknell. The TRL in  Policy TP8 Walking and Cycling.  This is a policy which could eventually be rolled out nationally.  The city's cycling commissioner has said that Roundabouts like the ones used in the Netherlands, separating cars from cyclists could be used in London as early as next year.  Read the Press release for Dutch Style Roundabouts for UK  below.

Dutch style roundabouts at work

Press release for Dutch Style Roundabouts for UK 

Dutch style roundabouts and low level cycle signals trialled on suitability for use in the UK, subject to Government approval. The new technology could be on our streets as soon as 2014.

Transport for London(TfL) has begun a major cycle safety research project to trial new and innovative junction layouts and traffic technology that, if successful, could be introduced in London and potentially more widely across the UK.

The trials, which are being carried out for TfL by the TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) in Wokingham, will examine a range of suggestions such as “Dutch style” roundabouts and low level cycle signals to assess their suitability for introduction on the UK's roads, subject to Department for Transport (DfT) approval.

The work to trial these innovative methods forms a key part of the Mayor’s wider Vision for cycling in London. During the next ten years, more than £913m will be spent on transforming the capital through new cycle routes and better provisions for cyclists.

During the trials, hundreds of cyclists and drivers of different types of vehicles will be observed travelling through different designs and configurations of junctions and road layouts to see whether the changes would help improve road safety for all road users. Subject to the outcome of these trials, TfL would work with the DfT to trial some of these innovative methods on London’s roads during 2014.

Future trials will also look at how people respond to different road markings which are used across Europe to see whether there is any benefit in introducing these to the UK’s roads.

The Mayor and TfL are also actively engaging with Government for wider changes to regulations, such as allowing better enforcement of cycle lanes and advanced stop lines, to further improve cycle safety.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “I want London to lead the way in improving conditions for cyclists and the work being carried out at the Transport Research Laboratory shows what can be done if you think outside of the box. Making our capital safer for those on two wheels is a real priority and I am eager to see what exciting innovations come out of these trials.”

Local Transport Minister Norman Baker said: “We are always interested in innovative ideas to improve safety for cyclists and that is why we are working closely with TfL and others to develop, test and now trial low level cycle signals. Cycling is a safe activity and we are determined to make it safer, we have provided an additional £15 million to fund improvements to cycle infrastructure in the capital as well as making it easier for councils to put in place 20 mph zones and install cycle safety mirrors.  I look forward to seeing how these latest experimental designs perform in the trials.”

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL said: “TfL has an incredible history of being at the forefront of delivering innovation, through the New Bus for London, Pedestrian Countdown and ‘Trixi’ Mirrors to name but a few examples. These highly ambitious new trials will help lead to safer streets for cyclists and further cement London’s position as a truly world class cycling city.”

TfL continues to carrying out major and substantial improvements at and around the worst junctions across London to ensure they remain safe for all cyclists. Work on the next key junctions will begin shortly, with improvements at Bow Roundabout and a 20mph speed limit at Waterloo roundabout due to be delivered in summer 2013.

In addition, TfL is continuing to deliver a wide ranging package of measures to improve provisions for cyclists across London. Work to install a further 100 blind spot cycle safety mirrors across central London was completed in March 2013, and further work is underway to identify locations for additional mirrors and cycle parking across the TfL Road Network during 2013/14.

You can see how this trial is being inplimated in Crowthorneunder near by Bracknell by going to the BBC News here.

 

Boris Bike accident with a Lorry

Man air-lifted to hospital after 'Boris Bike' collision with a Lorry.He was airlifted to hospital, the man said to be in his twenties, was being treated for multiple injuries this afternoon following the incident at around 1pm at the junction of Grays Inn Road and Theobalds Road.  Police said the man was in a critical condition.  The incident involve a HGV vehicle. Serious incidents involving Boris bikes are thankfully extremely rare.  I'll update you as I get any news, meanwhile for more info go to itv news.

 The scene on Grays Inn Road, which is still closed.

woman cyclist killed

A woman cyclist was killed by Construction lorry during the rush hour in central London today as horrified commuters looked on.

The cyclist, who was in her mid thirties, was knocked off her bike by a tipper truck turning left onto Victoria Street.
Police and ambulance workers arrived within three minutes but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of a red and blue construction site lorry was interviewed by police but he was not arrested.

The street was closed in both directions after the incident at 8.25am causing huge traffic delays in central London.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said today he wants to ban HGVs from London unless they are fitted with cycle-safety measures, including 'skirts' and special mirrors.   For full story go to Eveing Standard.

 See London's new Bike Friendly Lorry here.

Transport Minister Norman Baker

  Transport minister Norman Baker announced £40 million to improve safety for cyclists on roads across England. The schemes, will have a £20 million government grant plus £20 million local authority match-funding.

 He says, "Cycling is healthy and reduces congestion so it is welcome news that more and more people are taking to two wheels.  "Ensuring this funding is targeted where improvements will make a real difference to cyclists is just one way we are ensuring this trend continues".

In South Gloucestershire, £275,000 improvements will be made to the A38 Gloucester Road. £100,000 of that will come from the Government while South Gloucestershire council will make up the rest.  In Bath, £322,100 will be spent on the Two Tunnels path, Northern Link. £252,100 from Government funds and £70,000 from Bath & North East Somerset Council.  In Bristol, £260,000 will be used to make Baldwin Street safer, half from the Government and half from the council. £500,000 will be used for a cycle path by the Gloucester Road, the funding again split between the Government and Bristol City Council.  

Very welcome news but obviously theirs a lot more work to be done. More updates to come on areas bookmarked for improvements.

This Guy's are lucky to be alive!

 

Beware Cyclist

May the Force be with You...
This driver uses the force when driving across roundabout's,

 I mean why bother to stop?

Cycle Safety

Insufficient Evidence

If this is insufficient evidence to bring charges of driving with undue care and attention, or dangerous driving  of some sort, then we're all in trouble!  What do YOU THINK? Post your thoughts.

Regardless of any cycling safety campaign, if the law doesn't protect us in all areas of the law, we're all in trouble!
Feel free to post a comment, your thoughts etc on the comments link below this post. 0r tweet it at twitter.com/@UkSaferCycling.

London Gets New Bike-Friendly Lorry !

First look at the bike friendly lorry from twitter.com/@UkSaferCycling

                                     

 

The hope for this new type of  Cycle - Friendly - lorry is to prevent more story's like this!

Although a tragic story there are no graphic images. 

 

For the low down of how this Lorry will help to reduce deaths, and make the UK Safer for Cycling visit the  Guardian blog here.

Safer Cycling

Cycle Angel

 We post and use video's to ask why is cycling so much safer in other European countries?
Post your comment on the links below or tweet them at
 twitter.com/@UkSaferCycling.