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Camden collision leads to fresh infrastructure criticisms

Calls for improved infrastructure at junction of busiest London cycling street that saw Look Mum No Hands employee lose part of his leg

The third serious collision in three years at a notorious junction on Clerkenwell Road, Camden, has left a woman fighting for her life and Camden Council under the microscope.

The woman whose condition was described as "critical" to the Camden New Journal was hit by a minicab on the junction between Clerkenwell Road and Theobalds Road; the latter being officially named London's busiest street for cycling in 2013.

> Cyclists make up a quarter of London traffic, official census finds

This isn't the first time that a cyclist has come to harm at this particular junction and the Camden branch of the London Cycling Campaign appear to be growing impatient.

In 2013 Dag Lindberg was crushed by a lorry very close to where Friday's incident took place,  while in December 2015 Pablo Freudenthal Heath had to have part of his leg removed following an incident at the Greys Inn Road junction on Clerkenwell Rd mere meters from the Theobalds Rd junction.

Camden collision junction - image via Google Maps.PNG

Camden collision junction - image via Google Maps

 

Mr Lindberg responded to his substantial injuries, which left him needing help showering and moving, by writing two separate letters to then-Mayor Boris Johnson, whose replies stated that he could not help.

Mr Freudenthal Heath was a keen London cyclist who worked in famous Old Street bike shop Look Mum No Hands, but has since given up cycling in London, and has not returned to work at the shop.

There are calls for cars to be banned from Clerkenwell Road and Theobalds Road, though members of Camden Council are said to still be mulling over the proposed "Clerkenwell Boulevard" plans.

Theobald's road layout impression via the Camden New Journal.jpg

Theobald's road layout impression via the Camden New Journal

 

That's despite pressure from the Camden branch of the London Cycling Campaign, Camden Cyclists, whose representative Angela Hobsbaum told the Camden New Journal that "every time there is a collision, they will get a bit more worried about it and hopefully one day something will happen."

Camden Cyclists have been involved with the development of plans for change on Theobalds Road which have seen fatalities on its stretch from Farringdon to Holborn.

Following Camden Cyclists' representations the council has sent its ideas on to Transport for London for consultation before final plans are drawn up.

Fears over future road infrastructure improvements within London's inner boroughs are on the rise following the announcement in February that the capital's cycling budget is set to more than halve by 2020.

Boroughs like Camden are at most risk of continued infrastructure issues having been deemed ineligible for a share of the £100 million 'Mini-Holland' fund that was granted to eight outer boroughs in 2013, leaving the council to fend for themselves.

In the face of further funding cuts in the coming years, those fears seem fairly well founded.

> London cycling funding to be more-than halved by 2020

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5 comments

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severs1966 | 7 years ago
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"every time there is a collision, they will get a bit more worried about it and hopefully one day something will happen."

Or in other words, those in power are waiting until "enough" innocent people have been killed before they close-the-stable-door-after-the-horse-has-bolted. Not worth spending money unless they get a few fatalities first.

"Prevention is better than cure" is not a mantra recognised by the car-worshipping councillors.

Avatar
A V Lowe | 7 years ago
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As the road authority Camden are required by law to produce a report on a serious RTC (Section 39.3.a.(i) RTA 1988), so we should have 3 reports, which should tell us exactly the facts, and make recommendations  on what measures should be taken to prevent any future crashes.  So I'd ask  Camden, will someone need to do an FoI request or will you make these reports freely available on-line?

Now after the reports are produced Camden has another legal duty .. to tell itself what measures need to be taken to improve the safety of the road at this point (now spot the massive flaw in the legislation here).  So another FoI perhaps to drag this out.  What action has Camden taken or proposed to be taken to prevent any future RTC's (Section 39.3.b.(i))    

This of course is not the first example - we have, just 1 Km to the West the case of 2 deaths at the same junction, through the same sequence of events, both with large vehicles just 5 years apart, making a manouevre which just 2% of ALL the traffic at this junction makes.  The hazard us that the left turn is over 90 degrees, and the kerb corner radius is approximately 4 metres.  A large vehicle has a minumum radius requirement of 6 metres to turn left without running over the kerb or having to swing wide, and at this junction i) the lane widths are reduced (sub standard) to get 4 lanes fitted in (1 Westbound 1 Eastbound right turn 1 Eastbound straight ahead (with a right turn at next junction) 1 Eastbound straight ahead and left turn) ii) the left turn us constrained by traffic signal poles, and pedestrian guardrails, iii) a driver of a large vehicle must approach well to the right (in the straight ahead or right turn lane) and negotiate with traffic using the nearside lane to subvert priority - effectively to force their way across the flow to make a left turn.

The tragedy here is that the lesson should have been learned from the first fatal crash, with a proper, independent and objective investigation, highlighting the causal factors, identifying the learning points and making clear recommendations for remedial measures.  The remedial measures, are readily available and can be put in place immediately (but have still to be delivered).  A call by the coroner at the second inquest for a Rule 28 report (prevention of future deaths) generated pages of waffle but no clear statement of the solution - BAN LEFT TURNS at this junction as there are actually 2 safer routes to turn left, and banning the turn would also provide the benefit of providing an extended, whole road width,  pedestrian crossing phase at a very busy junction. 

Please use these examples to press the GLA to set up an independent Highways Accident Investigation Branch covering the GLA devolved area.  This can replace the Borough investigations (Section 39.3.a.(i)) and the TfL investigations (for roads they manage - Section 39.3.a.(ii)) and possibly the investgation units operated by the Police (which face a conundrum when it comes to investigating a crash involving a Police vehicle). 

This might also see a change to the almost 19th century system that is currently used to record most road crashes, where the first Police officer at the scene fills in a 'yellow book' by hand and posts this to a data entry clerk at Merton Police Garage, where it is manually entered on the systems (more than one) used for crash analysis and recording.  The Police want to see this upgraded to a modern and more robust arrangement, as for minor incidents especially the data is known to be of poor quality, for a variety of reasons.

 

 

Avatar
DrJDog | 7 years ago
1 like

Any time I've been at this junction there have been loads of cyclists, but I've never thought of it as dangerous, particularly, unlike cycling around Kings X, for example.

Avatar
Colin Peyresourde replied to DrJDog | 7 years ago
1 like

DrJDog wrote:

Any time I've been at this junction there have been loads of cyclists, but I've never thought of it as dangerous, particularly, unlike cycling around Kings X, for example.

Ditto. There are a lot of RLJers there. And if you are RLJing from Rosebery Avenue you can get yourself in a pickle if you get the timing wrong.

Though there are always tonnes of cyclists in the wrong lane at the point Theobalds turns in Clerkenwell which pisses me off, as they try to get from the left hand lane to the right - usually without a signal or a look over their shoulder.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Colin Peyresourde | 7 years ago
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Colin Peyresourde wrote:

Though there are always tonnes of cyclists in the wrong lane at the point Theobalds turns in Clerkenwell which pisses me off, as they try to get from the left hand lane to the right - usually without a signal or a look over their shoulder.

Is that because lots of people think they need to stay over at the left side of the whole road rather than toward the left side of the lane they need to be in?

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