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."