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news
Marta Krawiec (picture via Metropolitan Police).PNGHolborn lorry crash victim named as children’s doctor Marta Krawiec
The cyclist killed in a collision involving a lorry on central London’s “infamously hostile” Holborn gyratory system has been named as Dr Marta Krawiec.
The 41-year-old had been riding to the clinic in Lavender Hill, Clapham Junction where she worked as a paediatrician.
She died at the scene of the crash at the junction of Theobalds Road and Southampton Row, despite the efforts of London Ambulance Service staff to save her life.
As road.cc reported yesterday, she is the seventh cyclist to have been killed on the Holborn gyratory system since 2008.
> Yet another cyclist killed on London’s Holborn gyratory – the seventh since 2008
Despite persistent calls for cycling campaigners to make the area safer for people on bikes and a pledge from Transport for London (TfL) and Camden Council in 2019 to introduce features including segregated cycle lanes, nothing has happened.
In a statement released on behalf Dr Krawiec’s family, her parents said: “Marta lived helping other people every day. She died on the way to her patients.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved daughter and sister. We thank all the witnesses who are helping people in their investigation.”
The Metropolitan Police Service says that the driver of the lorry remained at the scene and continues to assist them with their enquiries, but no arrest has been made.
Detective Sergeant Nush Puvitharan said: “We continue to appeal for any witnesses to come forward to police.
“Were you driving through the area between 08:50hrs and 09:00hrs? Did you witness the incident or might you have captured dash cam footage?
“A woman has sadly died and it is vital we speak to you. No piece of information is insignificant.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has information is requested to call police on 101 or the witness line on 0208 246 9820 quoting CAD 1726/04Aug.
A cyclist who laid flowers at the scene of Dr Krawiec’s death today told the London Evening Standard: “I was very close behind when it happened. I didn’t see the exact collision but was about 10 seconds behind.
“She was either going straight on and the lorry turned left, or she would have been turning left as well. The lorry was turning towards Farringdon.
“As I approached I could hear shouting and screaming. There was quite a commotion. People were quite distressed. People were looking away or covering their eyes. A lot of people were calling ambulances.
“People were tending to her. Her bike had been knocked to one side.”
Simon Monk, infrastructure campaigner at London Cycling Campaign, urged TfL and Camden Council to make good on their pledges of safety improvements, which appear to have been delayed due to funding problems.
“If we don’t do that, we are going to end up with having another fatality at this junction or elsewhere on the Holborn gyratory,” he said.
“I’m stood at the junction right now and I can see a white ghost bike. This is part of the infamous Holborn gyratory system. It’s recognised as one of the most dangerous spots for cycling in London. It’s infamously hostile.”
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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19 comments
What a tragedy.
Here's the link to LCC's petition: https://www.lcc.org.uk/campaigns/junctions-action/
Just seen this on fb:
RIP, and my condolences to her family. The junction is terrible. I've always avoided cycling through it and though I used to go that way on my motorbike pretty regularly when I worked nearby, I was always glad to be across safely.
Sad news. Even sadder when it is someone whose life was spent helping children. A better person than me. Condolences to her family.
Left turning lorries, and often we see observations from those who don't cycle stating that cyclists shouldn't ride up the inside of HGVs etc. at junctions. They even have yellow stickers on the back of their trucks. But they never seem to consider that HGVs will overtake the cyclist approaching the junction, or perhaps forget that they pulled up alongside the cyclist already at the junction. Hence why the green cyclists box at the top of every junction is needed, and lights should be altered such that there is a green for cyclists at least 5 seconds before a green for vehicles to give them time to get ahead and across the junction. It is why many cyclists 'jump' lights, they are not jumping a light turning red, they are jumping a light turning green. Drivers get p1ssed off with this only because they believe they are going to get stuck behind the cyclist when they could have charged ahead of them when the lights changed.
This, exactly.
Fair enough stickers warning cyclists about your
vehicle's design flawblind spot, but what happens if the cyclists didn't go into your blind spot but instead you put them in it?Over to the RHA for a reasoned response...
I do hope you aren't holding your breath.
The RHA position is that it is "unfair" to expect them to not cut up cyclists and pedestrians.
https://road.cc/content/news/highway-code-changes-unfair-and-unjust-clai...
Although you shouldn't assume you are safe by virtue of being in the box. If you can't see the driver, they won't see you.
Very much like the 5 second light change.
So the RHA works on the same principle as the Ravenous Bugblatterbeast of Traal?
Not quite !
With ASLs and their lead in lanes, you could get to the front and be in the asl box and think all is ok as I'm in the box but the waiting driver hasn't has a reasonable chance to spot you (although I think some do have a downlooking front mirror)
Best to avoid this too
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-50819996
So like the down facing mirror on the front of that lorry. The one the driver should be looking into regulary? That is still the HGV lorry driver being lazy and not keeping an eye on his surroundings.
And that is before they pile tv's, tables, toys, stickers and all the other stuff that makes their cab "unique" to them but really just makes them even more of a danger to everyone else.
I know. I'm never quite sure how to find the right balance between using the roads defensively and expecting drivers to do the basics. Take lunchtime, I was turning right at a mini roundabout and saw a range rover coming from the left. I thought he is never going to stop so I didn't commit to going all the way round the mini roundabout. As it was, he did an emergency stop and ended a length and half over the give way.
I suppose that asl box stuck with me as I always assumed I was safe in the box but now I know I'm not unless I can see them but I guess that isn't 100% either.
All I know is, the older I get, the more defensively I use the roads in what ever mode of transport.
This must be devastating for Dr Krawiec's family.
How many people have to be crushed to death before something is done?
With my sincere condolences to Marta's family and her loved ones I ask again, why can we not ban HGVs from our cities between the hours of 2200 and 0600?
HGVs and pedestrians don't mix, HGVs and cars don't mix, and even HGVs and buses don't mix, but most vulnerable of all are cyclists who share the roads with these beasts often driven by drivers with stressful delivery schedules.
Let them plan their deliveries out of hours when they are less of a danger to our city's inhabitants. I look forward to the sit down at Holborn.
As someone who walked the route from Euston to Fetter Lane, that junction always used to be horrible just as a ped to cross. When I started doing hire-bikes for the same travel I always went the back roads to Holburn instead to avoid it.
From where the accident is, there would be no real reason for her to go left I would have thought.
Echoing the thoughts for her family.
Firstly condolences to her family.
Secondly whether she was going straight on or turning left is irrelevant, she was hit by a left turning lorry so that part of your comment was unnecessary and not really relevant imo.
The comment was on the "witness statement" stating she was either going left or straight on. It is not meant to be anything more then a random thought about that.
My deepest sympathies to the family, friends and co-workers of Marta Krawiec.
Likewise. Any comment from the RHA yet?