You are reading a single comment by @moth and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@moth
Reading between the lines of the driver's account of events prior to the collision, i'd guess she was undertaking the lorry, which was making slow progress due to the buses that had been ahead of it and the general level of traffic.
Was there actually sufficient space for her to pass the lorry as it turned? That's my first question from reading the transcript. The taxi driver witness gives the gap as 'a bit more than a metre'. What stage in the turn does this refer to? The lorry driver is asked about about his separation from the curb at the start of the turn, and replies 2-3 feet. For the rear wheels to maintain that separation thoughout the turn, the cab would have to move away from the kerb (either by initially turning to the right, or following a shallower curve than the kerb) then move back during the main part of the turn.
So either the rear of the lorry came closer to the kerb during the turn, or the cab moved out from the kerb and then back during the turn.
Was she actually blocked in, jostled by the trailer, or caught out by the lorry cab moving left?
It seems the lorry didn't move much after the collision, so presumably the pictures of its final position would make this clear.
To turn a bike suddenly, you need space on the side you are turning away from to counter-steer. Simply turning left without first leaning left would result in you falling off to the right of the bike. I'm not suggesting she did this deliberately, but finding herself with no space to counter-steer and with the lorry forcing her to move left, simply trying to keep the bike upright and out of contact with the lorry could perhaps have that effect.
I have had cars turn left across me and i stayed upright by leaning against their bodywork, but lorrys have large open spaces under them which would make this much harder.
Lorrys with big gaps between the back of the tractor unit and the trailer wheels are already supposed to be fitted with bars to keep cars out of that space. Has anyone suggested fitting more comprehensive skirts to keep cyclists out too?
I want to understand and learn from this, but i'll remove this post if people would rather i didn't speculate.