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David Cameron (copyright World Economic Forum:Wikimedia Commons).jpgDavid Cameron to meet MPs to discuss cycle safety
David Cameron has agreed to meet MPs to discuss the issue of cycle safety on a day when hundreds of bike riders brought the heart of the City of London to a standstill to protest at the latest death of a cyclist in London.
The invitation to the Conservative Party leader came from Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, patron of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, during Prime Minister’s Questions today.
This morning, the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) called for more space for cyclists at Bank Junction as cyclists converged to commemorate 26-year-old Ying Tao, killed in a collision with a tipper truck there on Monday morning.
She was the eighth cyclist – and the sixth woman – to be killed in the capital this year, with lorries involved in seven of those fatalities.
Riders also remembered Clifton James, 60, who died after he was struck by a car while cycling in Harrow in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Last month, Harriet Harman, interim leader of the Labour Party after Ed Miliband’s resignation following last month’s general election defeat, called for HGVs to be banned from Britain’s towns and cities at peak times.
Today, Mr Bradshaw, Member of Parliament for Exeter, asked Mr Cameron:
With the death of yet another cyclist—again, a young woman commuter, beneath the wheels of a tipper truck—will the Prime Minister meet a small delegation from the All-party Parliamentary Cycling Group to discuss what more can be done to protect vulnerable road users, including the call by the acting leader of the Labour party for a ban on these killer lorries in our towns and cities at peak times?
The Prime Minister replied:
I am very happy to have that meeting. It seems to me that although a lot has been done in London to try to make cycling safer on our roads with the cycling strategy – money is being invested and cycle lanes are being introduced – the number of fatalities is still very high, and it is extremely depressing that young lives are being snuffed out in this way.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson – back in Parliament since last his election as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, and widely seen as a potential successor to Mr Cameron – has repeatedly rejected calls to remove lorries from the streets of the capital at rush hour.
But Mr Cameron told Mr Bradshaw: “I am very happy to have that meeting and perhaps keep in contact with the Mayor about this important issue.”
At this morning’s protest – covered in depth by LCC on Storify – the campaign group reiterated three issues it believes will make the city safer for people on bikes:
The first is a complete redesign of major junctions to create safe space for cycling.
Second, high quality cycling lanes that physically separate cyclists from motor vehicles (but which are wide enough for the faster commuter cyclist to overtake others) should be the norm on main roads.
Third, only the best equipped HGVs should be allowed on London’s streets.
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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25 comments
The laws never going to change in our favour because that means that an an MP would need to give a toss when they really don't
What annoys me is the total lack of provision for cycle safety on ALL roads, particularly rural where many like to clock up their miles. We live in an age where the courts issue higher fines for failing to clear up after your dog than for killing someone with a well recognised lethal machine.
There is no mention of the drastic overhaul needed to stop the plain reckless out there maiming and killing with impunity and effectively with the backing of people like Mr. Cameron who refuse to offer protection to the vulnerable at the hands of the aggressors.
The priority are all wrong here!
"Complete redesign of major junctions" it would take years, lots of money, at best and this need a solution now!!!
"High quality cycling lanes" Same as before
"Only the best equipped HGVs should be allowed on London’s streets." This is my favourite!! unless they mean self driven it seems that they are forgetting that all those people where killed as a result of the action of someone driving a few tons truck. I am not saying that the driver is always to blame but from my experience in cycling to work in London (3000km per year) I have the strong feeling that the majority of the drivers simple don't have the moral duty of care against more vulnerable road users.
On daily basis I see them speeding up between traffic lights, stop on the advanced stop box, overtake hazardously, not no mention mobile phone usage.
I'd like some one to explain me how the technology is going to stop all of this. Those people should be hired more selectively (as some company is already doing as highlighted by in reader) and ultimately being held liable for accidents involving vulnerable road users until proven otherwise by the police investigation.
this coming from a prime minister whose government completely ignored the last parliamentary vote that approved the report from the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group
sadly that vote had very weaselly words which allowed them to have a yes vote without anything having to be done about it.
Please change the photo on this item. I'm feeling queasy.
There is little if any punishment for drivers that kill or injure other road users whether they be cyclists, pedestrians or other vehicle drivers. The Government and in particular the Nasty Tory Party are complicit in this by massively reducing traffic police, police and CPS funding and sentencing of offenders by courts.
Fuckers who kill whilst driving should get a MINIMUM of 10 yes 10 years in jail and a life time driving ban. For those with terrible driving records i.e. the disqualified, habitably uninsured, the drunks and druggies whose conduct has been aggravated they should have a LIFE TIME in jail. Period.
For cases where there has clearly been inattention and no intention to run cyclists down, no lying, no leaving the scene leaving a ped or cyclist to die, then sentences could be reduced but only under extenuating circumstances. Cars should be crushed and large fines imposed. If people lose their livelihoods and houses then tough.
As Gove said earlier this week the Criminal Justice System is failing victims, absolutely miserably. Cyclists are a case in point.
This is what will ultimately make cycling far safer and for us to cycle on the roads without fear of being killed by some fucking pyscho (such as Richard Wells in his big Range Rover Sport) who DGAF about us or should we dare to point out to them their dangerous driving, they try and run us down or get out and assault us. There should be a zero tolerance initiative introduced by Cameron himself against aggression and dangerous driving around and toward cyclists backed up by hard hitting adverts on TV warning of the serious consequences if you are caught - vehicles crushed, Jail and large fines.THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO CHANGE THINGS. Short of building a totally dedicated separate cycle network as have the Dutch but which will NEVER happen in the UK because of cost and planning issues.
Currently the UK is a dangerous shit country to ride a bicycle.
I don't get any of the shit I get when cycling when I ride my big motorbike.
Beyond making HGVs safer, the mentality of those driving them has to change. The amount of construction industry trucks I see absolutely hurtling along is staggering. I suspect they're quite fun to drive, and those behind the wheel often look quite, um, young.
I think that's a bit unfair. I think the problem falls somewhere between extreme time pressure and boredom.
There are measures that can be made to boost safety with regard to tipper trucks. CEMEX and FM Conway have both shown how a more responsible attitude to running tipper truck fleets can be handled. Both firms carry out driver training including time on a bicycle in traffic and both fit technology to their trucks to alert drivers and reduce risks. They also check the records of each driver they employ. In CEMEX's case this came about following a fatality involving one of the fleet (I won't go into that here), while in FM Conway's it's because several of the managers are keen roadies and sportive riders.
The thing is, both companies have shown how it can be done. What's needed now is for regulations requiring all tipper trucks in London to be fitted with the same safety equipment, and for all drivers to undergo additional training. Companies may whine about the expense, but it'll actually save them money in the long run as they'll have fewer crashes. And it'll save lives too.
All I hear is "waaaaaah boooohoooo, we have to spend a small amount of money to stop ourselves running people over". Yet people buy into it and nothing changes.
Hear hear. Given the age of London and the inherent lack of some roads to support two-way traffic let alone two-way traffic and Cyclists safely, there's only so much that can be done with the infrastructure therefore, the first step has to be driver training and I applaud the actions of these companies. Modifying lorries and adding safety equipment takes both time and cost, but is pointless unless the guy behind the wheel is trained and responsible enough to use it all with consideration for other road users in the first place.
Everyone has somewhere to go, and only driver training can hope to stop the 'me first' attitude on most of London's roads.
You're quite right. Training and awareness are the most important issues here. What we also need is a similar attitude to skiing - basically, you are responsible for EVERYONE who is below you on the mountain...if you hit them, you are liable. Transfer that to the road and ALL vehicles must be responsible for the more vulnerable, be they cyclists, horse riders, pedestrians in front of them. That means that the vehicle is always liable. That would really slow vehicles down and make them more aware of us!
Disagree.
You can have as many "awareness" campaigns, as many urges to "share the road" and "show respect" as you want and they do the square root of sod all.
The people who actually do listen are the ones who are already at least reasonably careful. The others are the ones who don't care and won't care. The thousands of uninsured / unlicensed / unsafe / careless drivers for whom 3 seconds saved is more important than your life.
So you take that option away. You take away the possibility that the idiots can hit you or (where that is not possible or practical) you drastically increase the punishments should they hit you and you have enough enforcement in place to catch the dangerous ones, the ones on the phone, the ones with illegal vehicles before they can do any harm.
All it would take is some plain-clothes police on bicycles cycling round London for a few weeks - every motorist on the phone, jumping lights etc gets done. On the spot fine and points. Driving standards around cyclists would improve within about 20 minutes of the first conviction being made public.
There are still idiots who will ignore anything, but awareness campaigns can change behaviour, e.g. by changing public acceptance or opinion of actions as happened with drink driving.
All sounds good - except you don't need to take any options away.
There, fixed that for you.
Dear Politicians,
Please stop discussing. Please start doing.
Yours sincerely,
Everyone
Apart from Boris, especially after the exchange of words with the taxi driver, how many other MP's actually have a foot in the door of the real world? How many have such good spin doctors and researchers that they can jump on a band wagon?
All I can think is maybe Mr Cameroon is bored of talking about migrants and the economy. Or maybe some of his supporters have expressed concern that any disruption in London will cost them money, money that could be going into the Tory's coffers.
Synical mode on
action is needed now. when you have protests on this scale, it should tell the politicians that something is seriously wrong, and that the electorate have had enough of people being killed on the roads.
Do you honestly think MPs will actively seek to explain taxes fully?
It suits them to have idiots thinking that "Road Tax" is for roads and it also suits them to have a group of people that the idiots think are "getting away with it" by not paying.
Why plan the perfect unsolvable murder when you can just run them over?
A massive start would be for the government to debunk the ideas that "Road Tax" pays for roads & riding side by side is illegal...
Plus 1 for this, the problem is most MPs are just as ignorant as your average homicial motorist.
The average penalty for a motorist killing a cyclists is 3 points on their licence and a £200 fine in the UK. Thats if it even gets to court, which most don't.
Its just not enough of a penalty for motorists to care. There's just no incentive to worry if a motorist hits somebody. Kill a pedestrian with a motor vehicle and you might get a suspended 3 months community service order. At least its a little more.
We need statutory liability. It'll protect car drivers against HGVs, cyclists against cars and pedestrians against cyclists. If Cameron delivers this, I'd be happy.
A couple of years ago I tried to get a "presumed liability" discussion in parliament, however the only thing it caused was a flaming row in the office. I doubt that the laws will ever be tightened such that the vulnerable are fully protected.
In my view the most effective safeguard is one's own experience and riding practice..............Don't put yourself or allow yourself to be put in harms way.
My hope is that the more regular use of cameras to record incidents will be a deterent to the less considerate road users whomever they may be.
Just me thinking that these are not the people that need to be met to discuss these issues....how about Boardman amongst many other campaigners that have actual real world experience.
Good to hear these protests are beginning to have an effect and are being listened to tho.
It's tempting to assume no MP has real world experience of anything, but that is obviously not true. Happily Ben Bradshaw MP has lots of real world experience of cycling (check his speech from the Get Britain Cycling debate). He was one of the key contributors to the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group inquiry and the subsequent Get Britain Cycling report, which was a good piece of work. Chris Boardman and Roger Geffen (CTC), amongst many others, were heavily engaged in that work.
Now it is up to Ben Bradshaw to take what he has learnt from his own experience and from the myriad competent stakeholders he has engaged and represent their views to the Prime Minister. That should be a core competence for a politician and is certainly a job best done by a politician. He has more chance of making the PM listen than an empassioned layman.
In summary: I think this is good news. I hope the PM listens and acts.