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Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Cyclist killed in collision with tipper truck in London this morning
A female cyclist has died following a collision with a tipper truck near Lambeth Bridge in central London this morning.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 09:33hrs on Thursday, 9 April to Millbank at the junction with Horseferry Road following reports of a lorry in collision with a cyclist.
"Officers and London's Air Ambulance attended.
"The cyclist, a 55-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:03hrs."
The force later added: "The 40-year-old driver of the tipper lorry stopped at the scene. He was not arrested.
"Officers believe they know the identity of the woman, but await formal identification. Next of kin have not yet been informed. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course."
A witness told the Evening Standard: "The front wheel of the bike was completely squashed under the front wheels of the lorry. The bike was on the lorry's left."
Another said: "The lorry was stopped on the roundabout at the junction of the bridge and Millbank, and the bike was under the front left wheel. The front wheel was trapped under the lorry".
Other witnesses reported from the scene on Twitter.
Matt Barbett tweeted: "I'm looking at a bike under the wheels of a dump truck on Millbank. Another cycling casualty. Unacceptable. The authorities need to step up."
Coral De Ville said: "I can see the police, ambulance and the horrible tent over the body from my office. It's so horribly sad."
The as-yet-unnamed rider is the fifth cyclist to die on London's streets this year. Heavy goods vehicles have been involved in all five deaths.
Cycling advocacy group Stop Killing Cyclists is organising a vigil and die-in at the site on Monday April 20. The protest will meet at 6pm for 6.30pm on Lambeth Bridge.
Stop Killing Cyclists co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy called for the resignation of Martin Low, City Commissioner of Transportation at Westminster City Council, the borough in which the junction is located.
McCarthy said: "[Transport for London] proposed some very modest and not even adequate safety improvements to this awful roundabout junction in October 2012.
"Westminster City Council opposed even these safety improvements."
Following consultation on the proposed changes, Transport for London said: "Having considered responses to consultation, and following concerns voiced by Westminster City Council, we have decided not to proceed with these planned initial improvements at Lambeth Bridge northern roundabout."
McCarthy said: "What is actually needed is the total abolition of the roundabout, replacement with a traditional traffic light junction and the installation of protected left hand turns on each corner to ensure safety of pedestrians and cyclists.
"Martin Low should immediately resign in my opinion."
Update: police appeal
Police are appealing for witnesses to this collision.
Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Catford on 020 8285 1574.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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22 comments
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: ... "The 40-year-old driver of the tipper lorry ... was not arrested."
Standard.
Driver kills bike rider, caught red-handed, is not arrested.
The cops just do not give a shit whether people on bikes are killed, just as long as the killer uses a motor vehicle to carry out the act.
I wonder whether the cops will bother referring this to the CPS? Or will the driver get out of it by making sure they use the magic words: "Didn't see the cyclist". Maybe the driver already did so, at the scene, and that is why the cops didn't detain the driver?
I went to a lecture of hers once, incredibly talented person. RIP Moira.
@alexb - absolutely spot on. Safety is the deciding feature in every work environment other than the roads. Safety is systematically marginalised on the roads for the sake of motor vehicles' convenience. I suspect 'they' justify the status quo because motor vehicles have progressed massively for occupant safety - which used to be the major cause of injury - but clearly vulnerable road users don't have that same benefit.
Looks like a pretty high-profile victim. Trending on Twitter right now:
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-arts-visionary-moira-gemmil...
That roundabout is particularly bad, it should never have been two lanes wide as all the roads off it are one lane.
It should be replaced by either a proper dutch style roundabout or a four way traffic light controlled junction. the TfL plan was a poor effort at improving it.
So sad. Although I don't know the victim, my best wishes go to their friends & family for the coming days, weeks and years ahead.
Don't take uneccesary risks. Stay safe, and be respectful and aware of all road users.
Westminster Council is a problem. As the rest of London and the boroughs around it are slowly adapting, the disparity appears more and more extreme.
I will try to attend the vigil on the 20th. Condolences to all.
There is an on-going bottleneck at the north exit to this junction, where a pedestrian crossing often causes traffic to tail back onto the roundabout. I travel this route every morning and often see cyclists (myself included) attempting to thread their way between stationery traffic.
It is a nasty, nasty, junction, only rivalled by the roundabout on the south side of Lambeth Bridge. I believe that this is the only roundabout on a bridge junction on the north embankment......
As other posters, rest in peace and condolences to the family.
I have been crossing there for the last 4 years twice a day as I work in the building next to the roundabout.
Also, my brother had an accident exactly the same place a couple of month ago (he works in the same building). Luckily he escaped with minor injuries.
As far as I can see the most important thing for a cyclist to remember is to make sure that you make eye contact with the driver. If you can't see them they will not see you either and it is likely that you will be hit as you move across in the blind spot.
Perhaps unrelated to this incident, but how do I make eye-contact with a driver who is behind me without losing touch with what is happening ahead of me as I ride toward a junction/roundabout?
I'm thinking I need a big sign that says "Please don't kill me" on my back.
I meant this to the actual situation which was that the poor girl ended up under the left front wheel. Knowing this roundabout I assume she had the same type of accident what my brother went through (couple of near misses for me as I do not cross on front of the car even if I have the priority unless I made eye contact with the driver) when he was not seen by the driver when entering the roundabout and when the driver actually looked he was already in the driver's blind spot.
I am not blaming the victim, I just thought worth mentioning as it helped a great deal to stay alive commuting in Westminster for over 4 years now. After all, as a cyclist you have no protection other than your judgement.
RIP. This bears the all too familiar hallmarks of so many needless cycling deaths in our cities. I know that stretch well and the sudden narrowing of the road is jarring in how vulnerable one feels after the comparative luxury of the blue route stretch from Chelsea to Vauxhall Bridges.
I don't know what to say except try to be safe out there, and for goodness sake take the opportunity to point out the risks that others are putting themselves under if you feel able to.
The proportion of cycling casualties who are women or more vulnerable and less confident cyclists is alarming, and suggests if nothing else that government road sense education needs to be significantly stepped up.
Awful. I've been coming through this way the last 2 mornings. From this roundabout onwards towards Westminster the journey suddenly becomes a lot less safe that's for sure.
Passed this on my lunch run. Incredibly difficult scene to take in. Cycle safe out there people. RIP to deceased and condolences to their family #space4cycling
OMG not another.
RIP.
An all to familiar story this. Regardless of what all the facts are, something needs to change so that this kind of accidemt becomes a rarity.
I'd love to see the risk assessment process that values a life saved as a higher cost than a motorist's convenience.
To be fair, all risk assessments are really cost/benefit, the way to make roads safer is to ban everything, as this will never happen you have to draw a line somewhere.
alexb wrote:
"I'd love to see the risk assessment process that values a life saved as a higher cost than a motorist's convenience."
mrmo wrote:
"To be fair, all risk assessments are really cost/benefit, the way to make roads safer is to ban everything, as this will never happen you have to draw a line somewhere. "
Except that if you work routinely in a "Health and Safety Environment" which I do, you will know that you are not allowed to just disregard something on a cost basis, unless the counter argument (do nothing, because it will really cost a lot of money) is really strong.
The normal process goes like this either:
Try to replace the process (i.e. remove the risk)
Change the process to reduce the risk
Provide some form of protection so that the risk remains, but the "operator" is isolated from the risk
If you do nothing, then you need to have a damned good reason why not.
If the consequences of that decision lead to death, then you would normally have a full HSE site inspection and audit hanging around your neck, with the promise of truly enormous fines and prison sentences for directors and responsible managers if they find non-compliance.
Oh, except that this is a public road....so all bets are off and the Police/CPS do the inspection, with the Coroner giving comment later on.
https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/streets/betterjunctions-lambethbridgeno...
"The proposed early benefit scheme at Lambeth Bridge northern roundabout was designed to provide improvements for cyclists, whilst also allowing TfL to continue exploring further, more radical improvements to improve facilities at this location. .... following concerns voiced by Westminster Council, we have decided not to proceed with these planned initial improvements at Lambeth Bridge northern roundabout."
Westminster council are a 'king disgrace.
That may or may not be the case, but beware of the cherry-picked quote - i'd recommend you read the whole consultation report (it's not long) including the full text near that quote, viz
(emphasis mine)
Their objections, some of which do seem dubious, were not the only ones and the decision to not proceed with the "initial improvements" does not mean nothing is being done. None of this makes this incident any less horrific and saddening of course, but perhaps we can hope it at least might encourage them to hurry up with putting in effective measures. Great pity the idiots didn't consult people who might know what those might have been before now...