A 26-year-old female cyclist has been killed following a collision with a lorry in Central London on Friday evening.
The fatal incident took place at around 9.20pm at Vernon Place, WC1, a matter of yards from the junction where cyclist Francis Golding was involved in a collision with a coach in November 2013. Mr Golding later died of his injuries.
The London Air Ambulance attended the incident yesterday evening at the junction with Bloomsbury Square, but the cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Metropolitan Police said that their Serious Collision Investigation Unit is investigating, adding that no arrests have been made as yet.
They also said that they are informing next of kin.
A witness appeal has been launched; police can be contacted on 020 8991 9555 quoting CAD9122/7Feb.
There are no details yet of the specific type of lorry involved in yesterday evening's incident.
On 20 January, physiotherapist Stephanie Turner was killed as a result of a collision involving a tipper truck in Stamford Hill.
A tipper lorry was also involved in the incident that claimed the life of music producer and sound engineer Akis Kollaros in Homerton last Monday.
Update – February 9
Police have released the name of the victim of the latest crash. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "While formal identification awaits, officers are confident the deceased is Federica Baldassa, 26 (dob 30.03.88) an Italian national from Stepney."
Police added that the truck driver stopped at the scene.
Early reports gave Federica's age as 25.
19 thoughts on “Another cyclist killed in London – and again, a lorry is involved”
RIP.
Women
RIP.
Women disproportionately killed in accidents, and HGVs disproportionately involved something is screwed up!
Vernon Place is in the middle
Vernon Place is in the middle of a hotspot death zone for cyclists, especially women.
Terrible, terrible news.
More deaths in London are
More deaths in London are caused by female cyclists than anything else… Ban female cyclists!!! 8}
Municipal Waste wrote:More
If you’re trying to wind us up, it isn’t funny. If you’re serious, you’re a moron…
Municipal Waste wrote:More
How can you even make a joke out of this? Just as messed up attitude.
‘And again a lorry is
‘And again a lorry is involved’ What about the most obvious and better connection? And again a cyclist was involved.
So far as the amount of women cyclist falling fowl of this type of accident, like reversing into space, are women still unable to accept that creeping along the nearside of HGVs is a no no?
Rule. Wait behind the HGV at a junction. Never be alongside under any circumstances.
This is my route home from
This is my route home from work. I wondered what has happened last night, and feared it might be a bike involved. Just horrible. 🙁
My commiserations to the
My commiserations to the young ladies family, yet another tragic and unnecessary death on Britains roads
But Road CC get it right, as per the Police request for witnesses, the full details are not known so why are you blaming her for the incident by stating “A 25-year-old female cyclist has been killed following a collision with a lorry in Central London on Friday evening.” it should read “A 25-year-old female cyclist has been killed following a collision involving a lorry in Central London on Friday evening.”
Victim blaming a cyclist on a cycling website must be one of the lowest and lazy forms of journalism going and seeks to exonerate the driver of the lorry before full facts are known to the investigating officers.
Gus T wrote:My commiserations
Your right, the langue used by road.cc to describe these types of stories is dreadful. I think they they just copy an paste directly from the daily mail.
What the hell are you two on
What the hell are you two on about?!?
RIP to the victim.
Gus T wrote:Victim blaming a
Fully agree – all cycling journalists seem to want to achieve an “us vs them” mentality instead of trying to raise a need for education for both parties. John Stevenson being a prime example on Twitter.
In reply to some comments
In reply to some comments above:
“Following a collision with a lorry” is certainly not victim blaming, it is neutral, every bit as much as “following a collision involving a lorry.”
The Met press release, by the way (which they ask us not to link), says “after a cyclist was killed following a collision with a truck” – we haven’t spun it all from what the police said.
You will see plenty of references in other media however to a cyclist who “collided” with a vehicle, which isn’t neutral, because it’s a verb, not a noun.
You will never read that here.
As for road.cc trying to create an “us vs them” mentality, well, no; there are plenty of stories on here where we point out that most adult cyclists hold driving licences, and many motorists ride bikes.
And if you have a problem with what anyone says on Twitter, maybe take it up with them there?
Final thing – as StoopidUserName says, RIP to the victim; if you want to discuss other issues, maybe opening a comment thread on the forum might be a more appropriate place to discuss wider issues such as these?
Simon_MacMichael wrote:In
Nicely put…and as you rightly make out sadness is the right focus here, not pedantry
very sad news, and also very
very sad news, and also very sad news about Akis Kollaros, who was a regular customer when I worked at Evans Spitalfields.
I think that not only is
I think that not only is ‘blame’ apportioned in articles by poor writing I believe that almost all of use the wrong language.
e.g. Female cyclist killed in collision with Lorry. Why not: Female cyclist killed in collision involving a driver of a Lorry?
http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/how-smart-language-helped-end-seattles-paralyzing-bikelash
I’m not commenting on this
I’m not commenting on this incident, but it helps no one if we gain no understanding as to what happened and why it happened. This is determined at an inquest. I think it is more appropriate to then report events because a dispassionate and impartial view of events can take place. Too many talk about victim blaming and then talk about how dangerous tipper trucks are….the problem is that in some cases cyclist are to blame and sometimes truck drivers (or whatever vehicle) are. But the impartial statement about it all means that cycling means death – this is not true. It’s not inherently safe, but it is something that can be done without being fatal. Many cyclists live a full life and it is usually because their experience skill and understanding of the road has allowed them to cruise around the streets untrammelled. But in some cases luck and happenstance do not allow that, and this is tragic, as in this case. But understanding as best we can tells us more.
Colin Peyresourde wrote:I’m
A lorry is an inherently unsafe vehicle in an urban environment. Whether the driver or the cyclist is eventually determined to be at fault, I guarantee the terrible visibility from the lorry’s cab will be the ultimate cause of the accident.
Bikebikebike wrote:
A lorry
This is a very limited approach which does not really take things forward. Cyclists also get caught in accidents with pedestrians, cars, buses and other cyclists too. Undoubtably the size and weight of tipper trucks make them inherently dangerous vehicles to tangle with, but it doesn’t take the situation forward.
Swimming with sharks can also be deemed dangerous but that is something I have done because given some understanding has found that they are not all dangerous and not every encounter is fatal. The same with lorries. If all road users improved their understanding then things would be safer out there..
And in respect of that analogy, cyclists are perfectly capable of harming themselves without a vehicle in sight. So there are always inherent risks with cycling.
and those risks I take into
and those risks I take into account when I do what I love.