London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

Male cyclist down on Holborn viaduct towards st pauls about 40 mins ago.
Not moving at all. Didn't see what happened. Stopped but there was already a crowd of cyclists that had stopped giving first aid/looking after bikes etc while waiting for an ambulance. Any news?
Ed

no news is good news?

Let's hope..

didnt see anything when i went to tescos about 30 mins ago. Bad news though. Hope he's ok.

Damn. Hope he's okay. This is my daily route and I've had some close calls near there.

I am very sorry to hijack this thread but - having just registered - I do not have the right to start a new thread in the next 48h.

A girl was under a rubbish truck last night around 6.40PM on Charterhouse St / Ely Place in Holborn. ( http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oi=map&q=ely%20place )

I was on my way back from the nearby Evans towards my office (I work in Ely Place). I was waiting for free way to turn right to enter Ely Place's gates. A big rubbish truck was on the lane in the opposite direction. I heard a couple of guys screaming behind the truck (don't rember if on bikes or just running). A harsh, horrible metallic noise of something scratching the road surface. A bike was trapped under the truck towards the front side. The driver seemed totally unaware of the tragedy. The vehicle was too big and too noisy for him to hear anything. I make sign to stop. After the truck went past me, few meters behind me the body of the girl dropped on the road. I was totally shocked. This all happened in a matter of five seconds. There few people helping with the emergency. I sat down for few minutes as I was close to faint. Hopefully I'll hear from the police if she is ok. I really hope so. She didn't look good.

Does anyone have more news on the accident?

Ale

That's horrific.

Terrible, terrible news.

omg that horrible.
i haven't heard anything, but surely there will be some news about it soon enough.

Did the rubbish truck stop??!

Christ! That does not sound good. Hope she is ok

Horrible... hope its not as bad as it sounds.

The truck stopped at some point. I did not look behind me after seeing the girl. When I left the area it was parked across the pavement not far from the gates. I guess he stopped almost immediately.

This is the only reference to last night I found on the web:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/olib/3620421988/

Collision threads are coming thick and fast, which in a way is good, because people are paying attention, but that these collisions happen in the first place is bad. I hope it's not a fatality, but if it was one, we might well already have heard about it, so it sounds more like a serious injury. Perhaps more information will come out soon.

The photo suggests a high possibility of a fatality or injuries to suggest it being a possible outcome. Fingers crossed. It's a scary world out there. Be careful everyone!

i really hate reading these threads.

@ale - shit man, sorry you had to see that

let's hope the rider survived. sounds awful

utterly disturbing :(

i really really hope both riders are survivers
@ Ale- i hope you're alrihgt, wether the rdier is alright or not, that must be horrific to see/be there for

ride safe guys

Fucking hell.


Please look after yourselves and every other rider you can out there.

This news makes my body shiver, seriously hope they are both ok.

Speechless. That is really nasty. Your description, Ale makes it all the more real. I'd be pretty shaken if I saw what happened. My heart goes out to both of the victims, I hope they pull through.

oh dear, another rider down thread but this time with 2 separate incidents. Really hope both are ok, Ale, that must have been awful to see hope you're not too shaken up.

ride safe everyone. I'm not saying either driver was necessarily to blame here, but the sun does seem to bring out all the bad drivers, one arm on the window sill not paying attention. it's not good news.

i hope you are ok ale, i know that horrendous metal noise only too well.

i really hope she is ok. my heart stops every time i read these threads. so, so sad.

i wish there was some way we could find out the outcome of these accidents and be able to send cards etc.

She's gone.

my thoughts are with her family and friends. so so sad. RIP

are you ok Ale?

Oh my god that is such tragic news
My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends x

Oh, I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Frightening.

So sad.

Geez, horrible news. I am wondering when Boris or other authorities will start doing something about that. This can't go like that for long time. Something has to be changed. :(

I saw the road shut off that day and wondered what had happened.

RIP.

My sorrow for the lady's too-soon extinguished life. This is very very sad.

I am ok. Thanks a lot. It must be terrible for her family and friends.

I feel like when I had a bad car accident few years ago. It took a bit of courage to be on the road again. The images of Friday keep coming back. I am sure they will fade away.

This morning I could not stop myself telling off a girl on a bike about her stupid headphones. And tonight reminding a guy of his motorbike's lights being off.

Ale I had an accident last year, and I've noticed I'm miles per hour slower now, and way more careful.

Its unnerving.

Ale, how did you hear about her death? Was it reported anywhere? Or were you told owing to being a witness?

Rip

rest in peace.

Rip

Thoughts going out to friends and family. And hoping that the first rider was ok.

The frequency of these threads is terrifying. What is worrying, is that given the numbers of cyclists on the road in London (and the cycling ability of some of them), there seem to be relatively few casualties from cars these days. What seems to have *increased* is the number of collisions with heavy vehicles.

If I recall correctly, the statistics about cycling injuries on London roads from 2004, it was only 6 fatalities, all of which were left hooks from heavy vehicles. From reading this forum, it seems that that figure has been passed in the first half of this year.

I didn't really want to say this, but its something I witnessed a few days ago, when on a bus:

The bus-driver kept intimidating a woman cyclist coming up from OKR to Elephant. I wanted to go say something to him, but it was clear he was doing it on purpose. The cyclist, to her credit, was a good rider, and confident, and kept her pace, and kept turning to make eye-contact with the driver, each time he nearly touched her.

I have never seen aggressive driving like that from that angle. I got off the bus (had to wear a suit, so couldn't cycle), and was left angry and shaken by what I had seen.

I'm sure these accidents in Holborn was due to negligence rather than aggression, but it really showed me how dangerous HGV drivers can be. He seemed to think that somehow, the cyclist would just accept his driving almost into her. Obviously he's never ridden a bike in London, so had no inkling how vulnerable the cyclist feels, and is.

^^^^ Given the amount of abuse bus drivers take from the general public, he's likely to be pretty immune to you having a go at him. Just take a picture of them when the bus gets to your stop (cos it seems to be nigh-on impossible to identify a driver when you complain, even if you have route no. bus registration and a description of the driver) and complain to TfL. Copy in Boris on your email for good measure - he wants a 400 percent increase in cyclists by 2025, then we need a one hundred percent decrease in bus drivers like this.

what a terribly sad tale. :-(
RIP.

RiP

why aren't these deaths being written about in the main news? people need to be more aware of these dangers.

it's very sad knowing these lives could be saved

Tragic RIP

i totally agree. no-one knows about them, so no-one can learn from them.

A good bit of advice my psychologist gave me was when you get a flashback, touch something with a definite feeling (hot, cold, very soft, sharp etc) that will bring you back to the here and now.

i think it's great that you are educating people - you may be stopping another accident.

take care.

Such terrible news.

Sadly we have got to the point where cyclists deaths are appearing to be more common. There have already been two high profile deaths this year and a number of other fatalities that have been reported. Sadly it stops being news to the average person (this is why vehicle deaths are more commonly reported). It may also be against the wishes of the family, who automatically become a consideration after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Also, if the staff aren't available to cover the event then the news may become stale before it can be reported. You can't send a reporter to every RTA on the off chance that someone may die and there is an impetus to remain current.

Newspapers are businesses like any other and they too have forces affecting their market.

GA2G, next time you must speak up. Such people need to be shamed for thier actions.

Thoughts go out to the friends and family of the departed. Rest in Peace.

ITN, FT and the BBC have done pieces on road safety but even now i get "no.. really!?" resoponses when i explain to fellow cyclists the risks of passing HGV. it really doesn't take a lot, but clearly Boris slipping in a river, some retarded singing lady and PM's getting up to "shock horror" greedy acts take center stage... gets me a touch mad to be fair