Morning:
14°c
I'm not a cyclist at the moment — given up, my bikes get nicked even quicker than David Cameron's. But everyone in London knows and loves someone who is. Some of my brothers are cyclists.
So is my father, who weaves his way from Camden Town to the Beefsteak or Garrick on a rusty Raleigh, and, even more worryingly, pedals back after refreshment in the afternoon. Sometimes they wear helmets. Or I hope they do, anyway.
So when I read Chris Addison's hilarious comment in the Standard this week about cycling in the capital, I'm afraid my usual Buddhist serenity momentarily deserted me.
For what Addison actually said was, in a jolly par captioned Tempting Target on Two Wheels: “As long as he (ie Boris) and Cameron insist on pedalling everywhere, London will become even less hospitable for cyclists, since drivers may well be inclined to plough into any they see — you know, just on the off-chance.”
Well, Chris, how funny, inciting the capital's drivers to smash into innocent cyclists, and excuse me while I wipe away my tears of merriment.
But — now here's the thing — poxy little motorists aren't the problem, anyway. It's the drivers of huge belching 40-ton road-hogs like HGVs, tipper trucks and cement mixers who need no encouragement from a comedian to suddenly knock Londoners off their bikes (incidents known as SMIDSYs — as in Sorry Mate I Didn't See You). They do it anyway. Ho ho!
Since 2006, the number of cyclists killed on the streets of London has stayed under 20 a year. But around 80 per cent of those who die are hit by lorries, not cars. There have been four such deaths already in 2009: in February, cyclist Eilidh Cairns, 30, was somehow mangled to death under a tipper truck in Notting Hill Gate at the height of the morning rush hour.
It took emergency services two hours to extract her. As her boyfriend said: “She was riding the bike she loved on the route she took to work every day.”
It's lorry drivers who are taking the lives of young Londoners, despite the valiant effort of the Met's Road Traffic Unit to introduce them to the rudiments of road sharing. They are one reason, I imagine, that my brother has taken to wearing a crash helmet (the main one is, I suspect, that a helmet helps to disguise the blond hair, more visible than a Belisha beacon).
And when the Mayor was in his “brush with death” the other day, another heart-stopping headline for his loved ones, a lorry was again the culprit: it hit a speed bump too fast, and sent a car spinning into the path of a delegation of cyclists from City Hall, ironically on a Tour de Limehouse to identify possible new cycle lanes in the capital.
If I was Mayor, given this record, I'd restrict vehicles of a certain size and weight in central London to defined, off-peak hours. But — apart from lorries — the good news is this: London isn't inhospitable to cyclists, blazing saddles no! Not only is City Hall investing genuinely record amounts in cycling (I refer you to the Summer of Cycling, new superhighways for cyclists, London Vélib scheme ) but cycling is getting safer and easier.
Even though thousands more Londoners daily are now donning Lycra shorts and pumping their way to work than ever before (and I'm about to buy a fold-up — apparently they don't get nicked), the trend of pedal cycle fatalities is down. Luckily, London's motorists are surprisingly careful and considerate. And I trust them not to rise to your oh-so-amusing challenge, Chris.
Reader views (9)
I drive an artic around London. Most cyclists seem to think they are invincible. They undertake at traffic lights and junctions. This is suicide. We have very limited vision on the nearside.
I could have quite easily run one down in the Victoria one way system not so long ago. I was stopped at the junction of Buckingham Palace Road; She came up my nearside and squeezed in between my unit and a traffic island and then sat there waiting for the lights to change. If i hadn't watched her do it the she would have been under the front bumper (she was in my nearside blindspot).
I have also run one over in Brixton. Again he under took me while I was turning left. I was signaling. Luckily there were three independent witneses to back up my side of the story. Thankfully the guy wasn't hurt bar a cut leg and a mangled bike. Could have been a lot worse.
I dread going in to central London now but I have no choice in the matter.
Cyclists must learn to take responsibilty for themselves on the road and not put themselves in a dangerous position.
And yes some lorry drivers could do with some education regarding cyclists. It's a shame that the special Police unit is being withdrawn by Boris to save money.
- John Hodgkins, London. UK
It is incredible that Chris Addison can joke about deaths caused by boneheads and illiterates behind wheels with fake driving licences, no insurance and coat hanger fastenings, transporting products we don't need. The people they often kill, particularly women, are well-educated and valued members of the community, the kind that Britain and humanity needs. Is that funny?
The supposed link between the car and the economy leads to enforcers and legislators taking a nod and a wink approach to car crime. This needs to be debunked fast - most wealth in the UK is generated by clever people who use public transport and information networks.
People speculate about cyclists undertaking lorries on bends - never seen this. In fact, at Newington Causeway roundabout exit at Elephant & Castle where a cyclist was recently killed by a lorry, this gentle bend is typically taken at 35mph to 45mph by goods vehicles. It's not actually POSSIBLE for a cyclist to undertake here.
- Reg, London
Yes lorries are the biggest danger, but cyclists need to be made aware of the danger, and how avoid being crushed. e.g. Don't cycle up the left of a lorry, and take the lane at junctions when needed.
Mark, do you really thing a helmet will protect you from a HGV. A cycle helmet does not protect against any kind of serious head injury, a lorry would mince it. Learning to cycle assertively (not aggressively) will reduce your chances of being killed on a bike far more.
- Martin, London.
I'm glad you're drawing attention to this issue, it's a national scandal that people are being killed and seriously injured as they quietly and unobtrusively make their way to work. You're right to point the finger at trucks - why is it taking so long for the authorities to understand the madness of bikes and massive lorries sharing the same narrow ground? As in much of the rest of northern Europe, their journeys in the centre of the city must be restricted to early mornings and late evenings and we need a proper network of segregated cycle lanes - now! What's happened to the Standard's campaign for safer cycling? Why is progress so glacial when cycling to work has become such a high-profile activity, endorsed by the mayor of London, the next prime minister and leading people from the media, the arts and commerce?
I think the Velib hire scheme sounds great, but I fear terrible accidents if there isn't a proper infrastructure for inexperienced riders to use by the time it starts next year - I doubt many of these impromptu cyclists will be wearing hi-viz or helmets.
- Robert Mcgowan, London
I'm glad you're drawing attention to this issue, it's a national scandal that people are being killed and seriously injured as they quietly and unobtrusively make their way to work. You're right to point the finger at trucks - why is it taking so long for the authorities to understand the madness of bikes and massive lorries sharing the same narrow ground? As in much of the rest of northern Europe, their journeys in the centre of the city must be restricted to early mornings and late evenings and we need a proper network of segregated cycle lanes - now! What's happened to the Standard's campaign for safer cycling? Why is progress so glacial when cycling to work has become such a high-profile activity, endorsed by the mayor of London, the next prime minister and leading people from the media, the arts and commerce?
I think the Velib hire scheme sounds great, but I fear terrible accidents if there isn't a proper infrastructure for inexperienced riders to use by the time it starts next year - I doubt many of these impromptu cyclists will be wearing hi-viz or helmets.
- Robert Mcgowan, London
Motorists in London are out of control. 10% of cars in Hackney aren't even insured, the mobile phone ban is flouted, spot-checks on HGVs found that ALL OF THE LORRIES STOPPED had potentially dangerous faults. Combine that with journalists "joking" about killing or seriously injuring someone whose only crime is riding a bike to work and things will get worse.
Cyclists have the lowest "at fault" rates of all road users, they stand more to lose in any collision so they take more care than many drivers. Insisting on Hi-Vis for cyclists is nanny-state interference, what next, pedestrians must wear flashing lights?
- Caroline Shaw, Bromley
I completely agree with this comment - though I wish helmets and above all reflective jackets were made compulsory.
An excellent article.
- Annabel,, London, UK
Hmmm, I'm uncertain about this article. Rachel Johnson has a point about 'incitement' not being all that funny. But while she may have evidence to back up her claim that all the deaths of cyclists in lorry incidents are due to being "knocked off" by HGV drivers, in my experience (largely as a cyclist) of London's streets it seems to be both ways. Yes, HGVs sometimes overtake cyclists dangerously, but I also see crazy undertaking by cyclists.
And please don't repeat the trope about helmets: if you are going to get squashed between several tonnes of vehicle and tarmac or railings or have it land on you--especially on the 90% of you that isn't your head--a thin shell of plastic foam will not save you.
PS: Surely it's obvious the reason fold-ups "don't get nicked" is they stay by their riders' side at all times. From what I've read, if you lock it up like any other bike it will get stolen like any other bike: new models do after all start at £several hundred for makes such as Brompton, and there is very little 'kosher' 2nd hand market in these.
- Liz, London, UK
I am a cyclist and always wear a high viz jacket and helmet. it is unacceptable that both are not compulsory I find other cyclists a danger as much as buses and lorrries.R Johnson has been trivial in her arfticle . It was an opprtunity to talk some sense
- Mark Armstrong, london. uk
