A coroner warned cyclists of the danger of ignoring red lights after finding this caused the death of a young woman at the notorious Bow roundabout.
Mary Hassell spoke out after hearing from police that Venera Minakhmetova “most likely” cycled through a red light prior to being killed instantly under the wheels of a HGV loaded with concrete.The family, clearly, don’t accept this:
However Ms Minakhmetova’s sister Dina, who attended court with her mother and aunt, told BBC London afterwards that she doubted she would have jumped the lights.
“She was always suspicious about this roundabout...When Venera went there it wasn’t safe,” she said.Nothing’s safe if you are going to ignore the road signals, is it?
HGV driver Mark Stoker said he had not seen any cyclists in the bike lane, or in the advance stop area 17 metres ahead, as he waited at traffic lights. GPS and tachograph data from his vehicle showed he was travelling at 13mph at the time of the collision.
He told the inquest: “I was three-quarters of the way round and then I just heard a metal noise and stopped straight away and realised what had happened.”Oh, those awful lorries! Good thing St Boris is going to ensure they all meet stringent new safety…
Oh.
The vehicle was fitted with sensors to detect cyclists alongside, had an audible warning telling road users when it is turning left, and was fitted with warning stickers telling cyclists to stay back, he said.A lot of good that did.
But you can’t legislate for people who choose to take risks despite the warnings. Oh, and it probably helps not to be drunk too.
XX under the wheels of a HGV loaded with concrete.XX
ReplyDeleteNOTE "CONCRETE!"
This is important, because ONLY with concrete is an HGV heavy enough to make a bycicle riders impersonation of a severly smeared raspberry jam butty realistic!
Oh I dunno FT, I would have thought 10 ton of brick would have left a deep impression on the silly mare too :-)
ReplyDeleteIt remains a fact that there is only one capital offence in the Universe... Stupidity. The sentence is Death and is carried out with remorseless efficiency. A possible Darwin contender? I cycle myself but am amazed at the number of roadusers who insist upon trying to stay alive on MY reaction times.
ReplyDeleteI am at present involved in a heated debate re cyclist using cycle ways our local council has spent £100k putting these in, and guess what they don't use them. why I don't know, but it's all the motorists fault.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been more dramatic had it been full of wind turbines or better still - bicycles!
ReplyDeleteThese Russkies don't like the explanation despite the lorry having every safety measure possible, plus a tachograph to nail the evil - speeding driver roaring around at 13 mph. They probably think the Easter Bunny hijacked Malaysian 370.
The usual leftards in the Evening Standard, incandescent with gusset rash - are full of indignation about this and the bonus Iraqi - who must have been giving the Listerine a hammering as I thought his lot did not drink.
One of my favourites is 'Mark', who says:
Around 10,000 a year die on our roads and the police estimate that speed is a factor in around 50%. You want to stop deaths, enforce speeding limits, enforce drink driving limits, enforce driving bans, enforce MOTs and the number of deaths will reduce in teh (sic) hundreds if not thousands.
I'd really like to see Mark get closer to the front page in the Evening Substandard one day.
"NOTE "CONCRETE!"
ReplyDeleteYes, it really wouldn't have made a differemce if it had been carrying quilts, would it?
"It remains a fact that there is only one capital offence in the Universe... Stupidity. "
But the Progressives are determined to stamp this out, so more of the stupid can survive to breed.
"...but it's all the motorists fault."
The LycraMonster's Credo!