On Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:52:08 +0100, Tony Raven
wrote:

There isn't a cycle lane on Northam Road at that point but there is an
unmarked shared pavement route there. I would guess she was cycling
westbound to the Fire Station in St Marys.

The incident occurred at the junction of Northam Road southbound and
Prince's Street.

If those assumptions are correct then the accident is a text book one as
illustrated he
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cy...sion_risks.jpg)
and it links to why cycle paths are more dangerous in another thread.
Danish research has classed the problem as insoluble in that even if
the cycle path has priority the problem remains

At that traffic light controlled junction there doesn't seem to be a
problem which needs solving so long as cyclists and pedestrians give
way when crossing Prince's Street as they are supposed to. There
doesn't appear to be any priority for cyclists at that point which
features a left hand "turn left" lane and sweep from Northam Road into
Princes Street. The cycle lane on the east side (If that is what it
is) seems to stop 25m to the north of the junction.

The headphones were most likely completely incidental to what happened.

That seems unlikely as it appears the cause was a lack of attention to
the road. As witnesses said - she rode at some speed into the side of
the rear of the trailer without slowing for the junction at all. It is
likely that the headphones both isolated her from the environment and
the music distracted her. It isn't uncommon and cyclist wearing noise
excluding headsets or ear buds which also exclude environmental cues
are a common sight.

Its a busy road so its unlikely the sound of the lorry would have stood
out even if she had not been wearing headphones. The cycle pavement is
on the left of a left turning lane that the lorry would have been using
and ends there so you need to rejoin the straight on traffic by crossing
the left turning lane. The difficulty for a cyclist is you need to
check traffic through 270 degrees when you are on the cycle facility and
that is what she would appear to have failed to do.

As the traffic light facing her was at green as she cycled down the
pavement she would have had to look to her right and rear to check for
traffic coming down the left hand lane and straight ahead to see
traffic stopped or otherwise at the lights going west out of Prince's
street.. That isn't 270 deg and in any case the road traffic had
priority so it was her responsibility to ensure the way was clear
before crossing the junction.

It wasn't a case of her starting to cross and being struck by a left
turning vehicle but of her riding into the rear side of a long vehicle
which had already turned left.

The lorry driver did what is classically known in the literature as
"looked but failed to see" - cyclists in those positions are invariably
invisible to drivers even when they are looking. Whether he made the
other classic error of not fully passing her before making his turn I
don't know but he should have been aware she was there from having
passed her earlier.

It is difficult to see why you think a lorry driver should have taken
note of, and given way to, a cyclist running parallel with him and
separated from the main road by a pavement, a fence and a strip of
grass. The lorry was past the crossing before the cyclist arrived at
it. At no time on that section of road did the cyclist have priority,
the lorry driver had a green traffic light to turn left.

The lorry was towing a grain trailer and it was the rear of the grain
trailer the cyclist hit.

If it was a "classic case" of anything it was of the lethality of a
lack of attention to the road when cycling.

The guilty parties if any are the traffic planners.

From the photos of that junction I can't see why you think that.
Assuming she was cycling south along the cycle lane to the east of the
pavement and main road she would have joined the footpath near the
Creditmarket shop about 25m from the junction. At the junction she
went straight ahead, apparently without pause, across Prince's street
towards the Prince of Wales pub on the south of the junction. As she
went under the rear trailer wheels of a tractor/trailer combination
the lorry was already well past the turning into Princes street. It
appears the cause in this case was simply a combination of a lack of
attention and excessive speed by the cyclist.

If she had been
riding on the road she would not have been going straight on on a cycle
path to the left of a left turning lane.

If she had stopped and given way to the priority traffic there would
have been no accident.