Blog about a woman cyclist reflecting mostly on cycling in a whole host of forms, including the odd adventure on or off the bike! @2wheelchick
Saturday 19 September 2009
Worrying Trend
Eilidh Cairns, 5th February, Notting Hill Gate
Rebecca Goosen, 8th April, Old Street
Meryem Ozekman, 9th April, Elephant & Castle roundabout
Adrianna Skrzypiec, 15th May, Woolwich
Maria Emma Garcia-Fernandez, 12th June, Charterhouse Street
Catriona Cockburn, 29th June Oval
Chrystelle Brown, 16th September, Whitechapel
What do all these women have in common?
They were all killed by trucks while they were out cycling in London this year.
Rest in Peace.
This is a very sad and worrying trend. In some of these cases the women were killed when trucks that were turning simply failed to see them.
Now, I don't know the exact circumstances of the above tragedies but something needs to be done to ensure the safety of us cyclists on London roads.
The London Cycling Campaign http://www.lcc.org.uk/ have designed a leaflet to be issued to drivers of heavy goods vehicles in order to raise their awareness of cyclists who may cycle within a blindspot.
There is also a campaign for special wing mirrors to be placed to improve peripheral vision.
We as cyclists also have a responsibility to ensure our own safety. Making sure that we can be seen and following the highway code.
And please, please be careful out there. DO NOT CUT INSIDE A LEFT TURNING VEHICLE. If in doubt, wait for it to pass. You will only lose a couple of seconds. The alternative may lose you your life!!
This may sound quite frank, but I am always so sorry to hear about people who lose their lives in such an unnecessary way. A few of these women were just on their way to work and never made it there or back home to their families.
In the name of safer cycling in London, let's do as much as possible to eradicate this worrying trend.
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2 comments:
Sadly I have another statistic to add to your list. Whilst cycling to work last week I came upon an accident at the junction between Camberwell Road and Albany Road - a female cyclist was trapped under the wheels of a skip lorry. I haven't seen any media reports of the incident (although the whole area was closed down for half a day) but as I went by yesterday there was an accident board referring to a fatality.
I haven't seen any reports on this fatality either. I hope that the lady did survive.
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