Accident on Weston St

I think Mutton put it very well, but he missed out something. The roads themselves need to be made more relevant to the type of use they can accomodate. SC and TfL need to build into their plans what the roads are capable of carrying safely and where to direct the heavier flows of traffic - yes I hear those who live near main roads shout they don't need more traffic - but small roads can't carry safely large vehicles. If the volume of traffic itself is a problem, which I beleive it to be, then we need to be thinking about other ideas too, not only road safety but actual traffic management (limitation?), especially now that the Congestion Charge has simply turned into a tax on road users rather than a deterrent.

I was still taking in the news of this young man's tragic death when I heard that a young woman cyclist had beek killed in Hackney. What a shocking waste of two young lives. I hope we can all learn something from these events. Cyclists/motor-cyclists, some of you need to lose the, 'it can't happen to me,' mentality. As for us four-wheelers, we need to remind ourselves every time we go out on the road that those on two wheels, or for that matter on foot, are flesh and blood and are not, like us, cocooned inside a metal protector, i.e. the bodywork of our vehicles. Tragedy can strike in the blink of an eye and we can't turn the clock back.

Today's Evening Standard story on this

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23814255-friends-mourn-cyclist-killed-on-bike-safety-launch-day.do

urbanite wrote:

If the volume of traffic itself is a problem, which I believe it to be, then we need to be thinking about other ideas too, not only road safety but actual traffic management (limitation?), especially now that the Congestion Charge has simply turned into a tax on road users rather than a deterrent.

The Congestion Charge MIGHT, just MIGHT, have worked in making the roads of the capital less congested if those that planned and implemented it hadn't believed their own projections re the number of drivers who would give up their cars and take to public transport rather than pay it.
I freely admit that I do not know the percentages involved, but it must have been presumed that many would quit, never to return to their cars, as within twelve to eighteen months of the CC's inception a whole tranche of roads was closed to vehicles and others that had adequately carried two way traffic for years suddenly became one way for motor vehicles, the other way for cycles, e.g. Torrington Place WC1.
Trafalgar Square became Trafalgar mini round and all surrounding approach roads became semi permanently static due to the eight second green phased traffic lights that are there.
A slew of traffic lights that were "tweaked" into longer red phases under Gauleiter Livingstone were allegedly going to be "de-tweaked" by Mr. Johnson, I wouldn't recommend holding one's breath while waiting for that to occur.

Very sad news,it is allways sad when some one is killed on our roads,a younge man of 21 years. My hart goes out to his family and friends.
10 years ago i was my self involved in a collision with a cyclist whom iam sorry to say lost her life. Whilest i was cleared of blame for the accident it didnt make it any easier to cope or deal with the after effect.I feel deeply for the victims family but i allso feel for the driver.
This incident high lights the ever present dangers on our roads, we all need to keeep our wits about us on a bike or just walking.

John Dunn wrote:

This incident high lights the ever present dangers on our roads, we all need to keeep our wits about us on a bike or just walking.

And when driving?

It would be interesting to see stats on the involvement of tipper lorries/skip lorries in accidents such as these. There was also a cyclist killed in Bermondsey (nr Milwall football ground) a few years back.

The drivers of these do appear reckless to me and the design of said vehicles must make it difficult to see cyclists and pedestrians.

Was the lorry anything to do with the Shard?

There are a few "issues" I think with cycling in London. The non-existing cycling paths are a good start, the fact that drivers don't actually learn how to deal with cyclists and maniac cyclists. I have seen many near misses where the cyclist was clearly at fault (some of them even between cyclists). Perhaps everyone should be a bit more considerate and careful when using the road and be wary of what I would call the "dead corner" in the mirror of a car. You know the bit I mean, the bit you can't actually see?

Cyclists love this part of the car/truck since it makes for easy cycling as you're in the slipstream of the car. But the driver can't see you....

I still keep leaving my building to see people sobbing by the flowers on the corner.

I saw a motorbike aim his weapon at a pedestrian at the junction as the pedestrian was just getting across the road on the 'pedestrian priority' crossing (the raised, cobbled bit). The man leapt out of the way and was asking me 'did you see that!?'. What was particularly sad was this was on the afternoon of day that Muhammed Haris Ahmed was killed.