That's until I have just read that 6 cyclist have been killed in London in the past 2weeks making a total of 14 this year equaling last years carnage .As a coincidence I was skipping through you tube last night and this led onto cyclist in London and although a good few behave like Arseholes with cameras perched on helmets I noted on clip that shows a blue dustbin type wagon cutting up some poor sod and nearly taking the blokes head off with some sort of fin hanging out of the back of the truck at head height .I have no great interest in cycling although I have the odd spin around here .Sitting back here and looking at London it would seem there is a mini war going on and it's not pretty dudes.
Think its chaos in London full stop....too many cars,buses,lorries and pedestrians all competing in too little space all in a rush to get somewhere don't know how they do it,but suppose you get used to it!
Yeah it really is a case of taking your life in your hands down there, but it can happen anywhere as a 30 yo woman died in Lincoln today whilst out shopping. She stepped out in front of a bus, which not only ended her shopping trip...
London is a very old city = road network not designed for cars let alone HGV's Add into that mix unreliable public transport (which can also be slow or rank) and its not a surprise many have turned to two wheels - and cycling is probably the quickest way to get around for many. The challenge is the mix of tight road spaces and vast differences in vehicle size (HGV vs push bike vs Taxi vs minicab vs motorbike) - plus general stress of City life. Its no surprise there have been accidents - I feel bad for the drivers of the wagons who have to live forever more thinking 'If only I'd made a double / triple mirror check..' - but at the same time I do wonder how many of these were caused by a cyclist nipping up the inside of a wagon already indicating to turn left who thought 'I'll just get to the front first' - wagon pulls away and heads in indicated direction and sadly it ends in tragic results. If I did drive a wagon in London I'd have a GoPro in my cab filming the inside mirror(s) or similar 'just in case'
The govt are thinking of adopting a Lorry ban at rush hour like in Paris.Try telling that to a foreign lorry driver when he cannot speak or read English.
my mate is making a fortune fitting camera systems with sensors to trucks that warn the driver if someone is in the blind spot . as the truck indicates left it also has a recorded message warning people outside that the vehicle is turning left. the cameras also record everything going on around both sides and the front and rear of the truck for insurance scams, and when the trucks are parked up at night ,they feed a live link to a control room so if someone is walking around the yard robbing diesel or whatever ,the control room can send the cops… all very clever.
My firm is just rolling out a cycling policy whereby they are insisting on ALL of our supply chain including their suppliers that they have a similar system to their lorries - no system - no delivery of materials on our projects. Great if it saves lives and any poor fecker crushed by a lorry minding there own business. But this won't come cheap and I feel has come about as IMO a large portion (maybe not the majority) of cyclist ain't got a clue or adhere to road safety or rules. In the last 5 years cycling in London has boomed, I don't think it's down to public transport which I think is excellent tbh considering the demand put on it, it's just every one of them think they are Bradley Wiggins on there way to work! It's the same on the lanes on a Sunday. It's become a huge hobby for many. And when you watch them, they gather at 30 odd a time at lights, all wanting to be the quickest to the next set, almost pack mentality is forged and I honestly believe they feel safety in numbers! Put together with workout adrenaline and I swear they get in their own little bubble.... And bike v any form of vehicle = bike loses. Don't get me wrong, majority of them are fine, but some of the complete disregard for other road users and w@nkerish riding attitudes you see of wiggins and co on londons road is astonishing! It's no surprise they get wiped out. The other end of the spectrum is the ones that are oblivious to the dangers they put themselves in, crawling up the inside of a kerb between skip lorries and barriers is quite frankly frightening and IMO are even more likely to get it. Funny how the bikers have been getting mullered for years but blamed for it, with only the opening of bus lanes recently which has improved things dramatically IMO but yet the cyclists are now getting the treatment to protect them!? Think they should all have to have insurance and be accountable for their actions tbh. Last week I saw a dopey mrs wiggins and co wipe out the side of a dudes car because she jumped a light on her bike. No insurance, no way of telling who she was, simply a "I'm really sorry mate!" Wtf? He couldn't even punch her because she was a chick! I'd have been tempted personally lol Rant over!
It's a dangerous place for sure, but it is a huge place too so accident rates are bound to be higher there: 2012 19 car driver killed 69 pedestrians 14 cyclists 27 motorcyclists 6 others Total 134 Dangerous place indeed We loose over 2000 road users every year in the UK
I got roped into into moving one of the bendy buses from Waterloo to our service centre in Southall once, not the easiest journey at the best of times. It wasn't the roads, other traffic or street furniture that gave me the cold sweats it was the bloody cyclists, it was almost impossible to make progress with them trying to nip up the inside,outside or darting in front without any kind of indication of what direction they planned to move. It's interesting that Boris the Baboon labeled them killer buses when in fact they never killed anyone, a few burst into flames due to a technical fault right enough but they never killed anyone. I have the greatest respect for people who have to drive over size vehicles in the capital, I know from experience that it is a nightmare.
I'm surprised there aren't more deaths to be honest, Its like the Tour de France on most routes into the city, with little respect for lanes, traffic lights or other road users its bad enough driving a van, I'd imagine its a nightmare driving an HGV Also, WTF is it with scooter riders having video cameras stuck on their helmets?
Hated taking the 44 tonne truck into the city at any time day or night. Seems peeps see something big as a challange, and think the drivers have some super powers or something, Yeah they can get away from the lights nice and quick, then wobbling all over the Fcukin place avoiding pot holes. Use to do Spittlefilds Market and Covent Garden regular on a Friday night. Even had one cheeky Basta holding onto the taut liner straps getting a sly tow one night. Always guaranteed a mugging each time I went too, Usually at the barrier paying my £5 to get in Covent Big balls to anyone that uses any city day in day out, what ever the transport, but all for getting home five minutes earlier to watch tour De France or similar seriously ain't worth getting killed for, take it easy out there, it's an accident waiting to happen! That said, Always felt much safer when getting my time off in Sheerness. "once through sheppy of course"
This is the clip I was watching .This time the truck driver seemed to have lost the plot but maybe this was the last straw after a day dodging about .
Gotta point out for those that think the public transport system is not very good in the capital miby you should try and use it to get about up here! or probably anywhere more rural than the cities and then you would know what a crap public transport really is!!! Push bikes to me should be treated the same as a motorcycle IMO, they should have to go for mandatory training and pay insurance in case of damage and have some sort of licence plate to, identify the bike when in use! Why should a cyclist who's only training was in the halfords car park when the bike was first built be able to spend a few quid on a bike and hit the roads without having the slightest clue about what they are doing with regards to road safety or rules, and when it does go tits up and they collide with something they just give a wee wave and bugger off (well as long as they can still walk anyway) leaving the poor bugger on his insured, taxed, mot'd and costly vehicle now with damage that he has to cover repairs at his own cost without being his fault! Sorry Rant over.
My thoughts on this, I do cycle. I don't in the "City" so have no experience. But what annoys the ship out of me is that cyclist die, the media and councils say poor cyclist. We must do mor to protect them and stop them dying. A motorcyclist dies and the media and councils say " they must have been speeding, dangerous driving" they need to Learn to ride slower, safer, stop bikers etc... How often do cyclist ride through reds, squeezes up between lorry sand vans etc just my view
You have probably hit the nail on the head dude .If training and a copy of a CBT and some insurance would become mandatory for cyclist and in London a dedicated team of coppers ( on mopeds) patrolled the hotspots I am sure a £100.00 fine would help to sort the issue out . Can't moan about road tax as its never been used to maintain the roads this comes out of general taxation so in effect everyone pays inc cyclist .I would imagine that unless something gets sorted the death rate will climb even further as the popularity gains daily .i wonder if also you have the super fit competitor types are also treating this as a mini Trackday so they get a fix prior to clocking on ?
no matter how much of abad day your having, that kind of behaviour MUST NEVER HAPPEN!!! he nearly, as the description says, decapitated that cyclst and for what...cus his having a bad day? well how about spendinG a few yrs in prison, a long ( ish ) driving ban with an extended driving test high insurance rate next time you insure loseing your job due tio death by dangerous driving, meaning you will never get a driving job again ( or shud be allowed behind a steering whee imho ) Then your having a bad time. Stay in the middle lane, command your position, isnt that what us motorcyclists are taught?? i see soo many cyclists and bikers keeping to the left inviting car / truck / van drivers to overtake at close range!! And agree, everyone who wants to ride a bike must do a cycle proficiency test and have some kind of paperwork so the authorities can confirm you have been passed fit to share the road with other users esp if n when you are involved in a bump.
I don't think the dude was having a bad day... Two lanes to one (road works or whatever narrors it) and he came across. See this all the time dudes and that's quite tame tbh. Yeah he shouldn't have come across, lorry in the wrong. But do you see the bike react or stop peddling? Only once he's nearly dead. My point exactly, they don't realise the danger that surrounds them, a decent biker IMO would have seen that coming a mile off!! Cyclists need training and should have to pass a test....
I had a conversation with a friend of mine this afternoon who works for a well know authority that controls the public transport system in our great city, ok, it was mainly about our Ducati's but we touched on this cycle issue, we went off the record and he admitted that when a cyclist is killed or badly injured information that might related to it being the cyclists fault is buried faster then a Muslim body on a hot day.
