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Pedestrian dies after collision with cyclist on London's Oxford Street

Incident happened near Bond Street Underground at around 4.30pm on Tuesday

A 73-year-old woman has died in hospital from injuries sustained when she was involved in a collision with a cyclist on London’s Oxford Street earlier this week.

The incident happened close to Bond Street Underground station at around 4.30pm on Tuesday afternoon. The cyclist, a man aged in his 30s, stopped at the scene.

The woman, who was crossing the street on foot when the fatal crash happened, died in hospital on Wednesday morning.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that no arrests had been made in connection with the incident, although the Evening Standard reported yesterday that the cyclist had been arrested on an unrelated criminal damage offence after police carried out checks on him.

It comes two weeks after cyclist Charlie Alliston was found guilty by an Old Bailey jury of wanton and furious cycling following the death last year of pedestrian Kim Briggs. He was acquitted of her manslaughter.

Mrs Briggs had been crossing London’s Old Street when Alliston, riding a fixed wheel bike with no front brake, meaning it was not legal for use on the road, collided with her, causing fatal head injuries.

The case attracted a huge amount of attention in the mainstream media and is likely to do so again when Alliston, who faces up to two years in jail, is sentenced next week.

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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52 comments

Avatar
pockstone | 7 years ago
3 likes

To follow up my last post, 267 pedestrian deaths , 2014 -2017 in London alone, according to Vision Zero London, only 3 of which were attributable to cyclist pedestrian collisions.

https://visionzerolondon.wordpress.com/latest-pedestrians-and-cyclists-d...

A report on use of statistcs in BBC reporting states:

'... there is a specific Editorial Guidance note on Reporting Risk , which is designed to “help ensure the context of statistics is clear and avoid distortion of the risk”.

 http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/our_work/stats_impa...

The BBC's use of statistics in this context seems not to comply with this guidance.

Avatar
burtthebike replied to pockstone | 7 years ago
1 like

pockstone wrote:

To follow up my last post, 267 pedestrian deaths , 2014 -2017 in London alone, according to Vision Zero London, only 3 of which were attributable to cyclist pedestrian collisions.

https://visionzerolondon.wordpress.com/latest-pedestrians-and-cyclists-d...

A report on use of statistcs in BBC reporting states:

'... there is a specific Editorial Guidance note on Reporting Risk , which is designed to “help ensure the context of statistics is clear and avoid distortion of the risk”.

 http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/our_work/stats_impa...

The BBC's use of statistics in this context seems not to comply with this guidance.

As someone with rather more experience of the BBC complaints system than I really want, I wish you the best of luck.  The BBC complaints system has a single function; to exonerate its employees.

Still, aren't they covered by Ofcom now, so you might have a bit more luck.

Avatar
pockstone | 7 years ago
4 likes

The BBC would soon run out of space if it listed every death and recent court case resulting from car/pedestrian 'collisions'as an addendum to the exhaustive reports they run on EVERY such sad event.

Presumably this is the only reason that they fail to do it.

Or perhaps trawling through 3 years worth of statistics for cyclist related deaths is so much easier than doing the same for car related pedestrian deaths.

This woman's death is a tragically sad event (as are all needless traffic deaths) and my condolences to her family.

The BBC (and doubtless other news sources) do her and those close to a grave disservice, and should be ashamed of themselves, in using this  event to stoke what seems to be an agenda driven campaign.

Do the BBC's rules on impartiality apply to their reporting of such events?

 

Avatar
ChrisB200SX | 7 years ago
12 likes

BBC: "A man was arrested at the scene on an unrelated criminal damage charge. Police have refused to confirm if he was the cyclist. "

I don't like how the BBC article mentions two people who died after colliding with bicycles but fails to mention the recent case in Reading where a cyclist died after a pedestrian stepped out into the road in front of him.

Avatar
burtthebike replied to ChrisB200SX | 7 years ago
7 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

BBC: "A man was arrested at the scene on an unrelated criminal damage charge. Police have refused to confirm if he was the cyclist. "

I don't like how the BBC article mentions two people who died after colliding with bicycles but fails to mention the recent case in Reading where a cyclist died after a pedestrian stepped out into the road in front of him.

It's quite simple; the BBC hates cyclists.

It has been promoting cycle helmets for thirty years in complete contravention of all its own rules, it rarely mentions cycling without overt or implied criticism, it has programmes for every other means of transport, but not cycling, it completely ignores the massive health benefits of cycling, it won't mention the huge benefits in congestion and pollution of more cycling.  I could go on, but I think I've made it pretty clear.

Avatar
Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
8 likes

I was quite annoyed by this story when I saw it on the BBC news this morning.

Based on BBC coverage, cyclists really are the biggest menace on the roads... you don't hear any stories about cars hitting and killing pedestrians do you? Very clear to me that cyclists are the biggest killer on our roads. 

 

 

So in summary, I am getting fairly anti any, and all, cycling coverage in main stream press. 

 

 

Really sad to hear that this lady died, that's something no one wants! 

Avatar
oldstrath replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
3 likes

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I was quite annoyed by this story when I saw it on the BBC news this morning.

Based on BBC coverage, cyclists really are the biggest menace on the roads... you don't hear any stories about cars hitting and killing pedestrians do you? Very clear to me that cyclists are the biggest killer on our roads. 

 

 

So in summary, I am getting fairly anti any, and all, cycling coverage in main stream press. 

 

 

Really sad to hear that this lady died, that's something know one wants! 

Trouble is, people who rely on their cars and enjoy driving them don't want to be reminded of the reality that their precious is actually a killing machine. Couple that with the ambition of autonomous car developers to rid the roads of nasty troublesome cyclists, the coverage will only ever go one way.

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
1 like

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

you don't hear any stories about cars hitting and killing pedestrians do you?

 

Yes, you do.

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ConcordeCX replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
4 likes

Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

I was quite annoyed by this story when I saw it on the BBC news this morning.

Based on BBC coverage, cyclists really are the biggest menace on the roads... you don't hear any stories about cars hitting and killing pedestrians do you? Very clear to me that cyclists are the biggest killer on our roads. 

 

 

So in summary, I am getting fairly anti any, and all, cycling coverage in main stream press. 

 

 

Really sad to hear that this lady died, that's something no one wants! 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_bites_dog_(journalism)

 

Avatar
kitsunegari | 7 years ago
9 likes

How can we expect balanced reporting when an actual cycling webmagazine devotes fully half of an article to the Charlie Alliston debacle and not the tragedy that it purports to be about?

This is an appalling article Simon MacMichael. I take it you managed to get all of your search engine keywords in the final three paragraphs?

Avatar
Grumpy17 replied to kitsunegari | 7 years ago
6 likes

kitsunegari wrote:

How can we expect balanced reporting when an actual cycling webmagazine devotes fully half of an article to the Charlie Alliston debacle and not the tragedy that it purports to be about?

This is an appalling article Simon MacMichael. I take it you managed to get all of your search engine keywords in the final three paragraphs?

Personally I don't see the wording of this piece as representing any Road CC editorial opinion.

Yes, a parallel has been drawn with the earlier Alliston case but this is no doubt done to invite us to expect and reflect upon the media driven hysteria (from the non-cycling press)  that will inevitably follow. 

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
5 likes

BBC reporting -  cyclist kills pedestrian, sensationalist lines and reaches at some sort of correlation to danger.

BBC news - endlessly full of 'magazine' stories of women's, gay, racial or transexual struggles and the new low of a paedophile story the other day which seemed to try and draw a line between sex offending and paedophilia. It's not their fault, it's just the way it is.

Utter garbage SJW website with barely any actual news, just opinion pieces by 'reporters'. It's basically The Huffington Post.

 

Avatar
marionr replied to Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
4 likes

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

BBC reporting -  cyclist kills pedestrian, sensationalist lines and reaches at some sort of correlation to danger.

BBC news - endlessly full of 'magazine' stories of women's, gay, racial or transexual struggles and the new low of a paedophile story the other day which seemed to try and draw a line between sex offending and paedophilia. It's not their fault, it's just the way it is.

Utter garbage SJW website with barely any actual news, just opinion pieces by 'reporters'. It's basically The Huffington Post.

 

Let me guess, you are a straight white male...

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to marionr | 7 years ago
6 likes

marionr wrote:

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

BBC reporting -  cyclist kills pedestrian, sensationalist lines and reaches at some sort of correlation to danger.

BBC news - endlessly full of 'magazine' stories of women's, gay, racial or transexual struggles and the new low of a paedophile story the other day which seemed to try and draw a line between sex offending and paedophilia. It's not their fault, it's just the way it is.

Utter garbage SJW website with barely any actual news, just opinion pieces by 'reporters'. It's basically The Huffington Post.

 

Let me guess, you are a straight white male...

I currently identify as a vegetable of asian origin. 

Avatar
burtthebike | 7 years ago
4 likes

Another tragic collision which the media will undoubtedly use to batter cyclists.  I fully anticipate that the cyclist will be blamed and that there will be no rational analysis of what actually happened.  Did she walk out into the road without looking, which seems the most likely explanation.  I don't want to blame her without evidence but it is the most probable thing.

Will the media be starting a "Look before you step out" campaign to stop pedestrians just walking out into the road because they don't hear a motor vehicle coming?  This is actually becomming more important, as the advent of almost silent electric cars is going to see this happening more often.

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to burtthebike | 7 years ago
1 like

burtthebike wrote:

I don't want to blame her without evidence but it is the most probable thing.

... ?

Avatar
OldRidgeback replied to Dnnnnnn | 7 years ago
1 like

Duncann wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

I don't want to blame her without evidence but it is the most probable thing.

... ?

 

I think what he meant to say is that it' more likely the woman stepped off the pavement without looking because she hadn't heard an engine, rather than the cyclist being at fault.

It's certainly true that a lot of pedestrians do that. But the reporting in this case is insufficient so far for anyone to say one way or the other. 

Avatar
Dnnnnnn replied to OldRidgeback | 7 years ago
1 like

OldRidgeback wrote:

Duncann wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

I don't want to blame her without evidence but it is the most probable thing.

... ?

I think what he meant to say is that it' more likely the woman stepped off the pavement without looking because she hadn't heard an engine, rather than the cyclist being at fault.

It's certainly true that a lot of pedestrians do that. But the reporting in this case is insufficient so far for anyone to say one way or the other. 

It may be "more likely" but we don't know and someone is dead so we shouldn't speculate.

 

Avatar
burtthebike replied to Dnnnnnn | 7 years ago
1 like

Duncann wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

I don't want to blame her without evidence but it is the most probable thing.

... ?

?

Avatar
snare116 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Whatever happenned and whoever was responsible - lets all hope that that the bike was legal.... please. Although judging by the grainy image on the bbc https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/150A3/production/_97797168_capture3.jpg I'm concerned....

Avatar
jasecd | 7 years ago
8 likes

Thats very sad - my symapthies to the victim.

I only hope that this is reported with balance by the broader media.

Avatar
ROOTminus1 replied to jasecd | 7 years ago
6 likes

jasecd wrote:

I only hope that this is reported with balance by the broader media.

 

Regrettably, I doubt it will.

BBC wrote:

Two pedestrians were killed in collisions with cyclists across the UK in 2015.

In 2014 there were 6 fatalities due to collisions with cyclists

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41263926

The reversing of dates gives the impression of an increasing trend, and there being no comparisons to how many peds or cyclists were killed by motor vehicles shows some minor prejudice.

At least (as yet) theres no comment about the state of dress of the rider, like wearing lycra makes someone more/less dangerous than jeans

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