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Cyclist killed in collision on London Bridge

Rider dies despite efforts of passers-by to resucitate him

A male cyclist has been killed following a collision with a car on London Bridge yesterday evening, reports Express Online.

Passers-by, one of them a doctor, tried to save the man’s life, but despite one administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and others going to the nearby Monument Underground station to obtain emergency equipment, their efforts were in vain.

One eyewitness told a reporter from Express Online at the scene that he “saw the cyclist go down in the road and then he was hit by a nearby car.”

According to City of London Police, the fatal incident took place at around 7.30pm and caused the bridge to be closed in both directions.

A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said: "Despite the best efforts of our staff and members of the public at the scene, the patient, a man reported to be in his 30s, sadly died.

"We would like to thank everyone at the scene who did what they could to help - a doctor who started CPR while we were on our way and another passer-by who rushed to Monument Tube station to collect a defibrillator.

"We are sorry there was not a better outcome," he added.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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15 comments

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workhard | 9 years ago
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Latest version of this tragic tangle of events seems to be cyclist heading one way, hit/clipped central reservation, why we know not, crossed same and was hit by car going t'other way.

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A V Lowe | 9 years ago
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Let's hope a clear statement of fact (and at that time of day there should be plenty of CCTV on buses and buildings to provide the unambiguous record of what happened) before we all start hypothesising on what happened.

Southbound on to London Bridge has a very tangled traffic flow - 2 lanes with poor discipline coming down from Liverpool Street or 1.5 lanes from Tower Bridge for main flows where some may be heading towards the Bank and Cannon Street, many cut over on the corner turning on to the bridge. Southbound the traffic island and turn-down to Upper Thames Street, create a messy cross-lane movement by buses at the approach to the traffic signals 3 narrow lanes 2 right 1 left turning.

Mention of the defibrillator at Monument Station has prompted me to check out the locations for defibrillators at stations and other public places I pass through, so that if the need arises I can rapidly get the nearest unit to a patient requiring one on the street.

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Paul_C | 9 years ago
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in Holland, mistakes don't result in loss of breathing privileges... the infrastructure allows a mistake to have a reasonable safe outcome not an encounter with a fast moving squishing machine...

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climber | 9 years ago
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Another terrible tragedy.
But, again, the Daily Mail headline here clearly infers that the death was caused by a collision. With what?
The only information provided is that the one witness saw "the cyclist go down in the road and then he was hit by a nearby car."

What did the other witnesses see?

I'm collecting these as it's a fairly feeble attempt at presenting fact.

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comm88 | 9 years ago
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So very sad ... gone in seconds and all it takes is a simple mistake, a slip, a pothole, a second's loss of concentration and if you go down in heavy town traffic, your chances are not good ... fit as you are and careful as you may have been. But a massive, massive up for all the people who kindly stopped and gave their time to help. A tragic outcome for all, but it is immensely reassuring to know that the streets are still alive with people who actually do care for and about others and are willing to lend a hand. Huge respect to all involved, with deeply felt sadness for the loss suffered by the poor cyclist's family and friends.

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Beatnik69 | 9 years ago
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My condolences to his family.

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Un | 9 years ago
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The article clearly says near Monument which from Liverpool street station is the worst stretch of road in London. There are potholes and craters and huge bumps from years of construction and neglect. The road only smooths out about 25 yards onto London Bridge.

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sm replied to Un | 9 years ago
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Un wrote:

There are potholes and craters and huge bumps from years of construction and neglect. The road only smooths out about 25 yards onto London Bridge.

Not sure if you are referring to the bridge here as you head south? I ride the bridge every working day, whilst there are some potholes as you make your way onto the bridge they are pretty minimal. More ridges and bumps than holes.

And nothing in the article suggests this happened near monument station or which side of the road they were on. The station is mentioned only in reference to where they went for equipment.

If the witness statement is true, it highlights the need for drivers to give cyclists more space to avoid such incidents. London Bridge is a three lane road so I see no need as to why a car would be so close to a cyclist. Anyhow, whatever the cause, a sad occasion.

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AyBee replied to sm | 9 years ago
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sm][quote=Un wrote:

If the witness statement is true, it highlights the need for drivers to give cyclists more space to avoid such incidents. London Bridge is a three lane road so I see no need as to why a car would be so close to a cyclist. Anyhow, whatever the cause, a sad occasion.

Please get your facts straight before you start blaming cars (happens far too much on here). The cyclist was travelling north, hit the central reservation and fell into the path of the car travelling south. Sounds like a freak incident and not a lot the car could do. RIP to the cyclist and hope the car driver doesn't have too many sleepless nights!

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sm replied to AyBee | 9 years ago
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AyBee wrote:

Please get your facts straight before you start blaming cars (happens far too much on here).

You'll note the first word in my statement was IF and I blamed nobody. Thank you for the updated details, as you say, freak accident by the sounds of it.

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mrmo replied to sm | 9 years ago
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sm wrote:

If the witness statement is true, it highlights the need for drivers to give cyclists more space to avoid such incidents. London Bridge is a three lane road so I see no need as to why a car would be so close to a cyclist. Anyhow, whatever the cause, a sad occasion.

exactly, case law gives cyclists the right to wobble room, that car drivers believe that traveling within inches is acceptable needs to be dealt with.

Regardless of details, it sounds like the cyclist had a heart attack and was then hit by a car. The former, these things happen, the later, that should never happen! What does the highway code say about leaving space? What are the insurance assumptions if you run into the back of a car? The car was simply too close.

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goggy | 9 years ago
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There are no potholes on London Bridge as far as I can recall...

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Stumps | 9 years ago
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Purely going on the above it sounds like he may have had a heart attack whilst on the bike if members of the public have gone to a nearby tube station, possibly to get a defib for him and the Dr doing cpr ?

Regardless though its very sad and i hope he didn't suffer.

EDIT: read it again and it mentions the defib, sorry.

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zanf | 9 years ago
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Quote:

One eyewitness told a reporter from Express Online at the scene that he “saw the cyclist go down in the road and then he was hit by a nearby car.”

Did the bike slip from under them or did they hit a pothole then?

Terrible news either way.

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mrmo | 9 years ago
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RIP

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