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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
A truly chilling euphemism:
11 June 2008 A CYCLIST suffered horrific injuries and may lose his leg after being struck by a lorry in a horror collision at "the most dangerous junction in Islington". The 30-year-old was hit by a heavy goods vehicle at Old Street Roundabout in Finsbury during the height of rush hour yesterday (Wednesday) morning. He was taken to the Royal Free Hospital with leg wounds that police describe as "potentially life changing." Traffic jams went back to the Angel and Pentonville Road. The Gazette has previously reported that cyclists view the roundabout as a death trap - with a cyclist left paralysed after breaking his back at the spot two months ago. The latest accident has led to fresh calls for action before someone is killed. John Ackers, of Islington Cyclists' Action Group, said: "This is a horrific injury. We are very sorry for the cyclist and hope that he fully recovers. It is definitely one of the most dangerous junctions in Islington - I can't think of any roundabout that is more dangerous. There are three lanes of traffic and it is very difficult for cyclists to move between them. Any measure to reduce traffic speed and volume on the roundabout would make it safer." Local councillor George Allan, a keen cyclist, said: "I am deeply sorry to hear of another cyclist being hit. We must hope this gentleman survives his injuries and fully recovers. Lucky is probably not the word - any collision between a lorry and a cyclist is extremely serious." He added: "The roundabout was made much safer about four years ago by the introduction of traffic lights and advanced stopping lines for cyclists. But there is an irreducible minimum of risk at the roundabout and I hope TfL will look at what more can be done." A police spokeswoman said: "We were called to an accident at 7.50am to a collision between a lorry and a pedal cyclist. A 30-year-old man was taken to hospital with potential life changing but not life threatening injuries." A TfL spokesman said: "We are always looking to improve safety for cyclists. It is one of our top priorities." Grim news. That roundabout and Aldgate are both junctions of death. |
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
On 12 Jun, 12:03, spindrift wrote:
A truly chilling euphemism: What? Accident? Grim news. That roundabout and Aldgate are both junctions of death. While extending every sympathy to the gentleman in question, I have never really understood the fashion for regarding certain road layouts as a menace in and of themselves. I use both the Old St roundabout and the Aldgate gyratory (and the Elephant, and the New Cross gyratory, and the Bricklayers Arms, and Hyde Park Corner, and Marble Arch, and the Euston Road) on a regular basis, and as a confident (and fairly fast) cyclist I've never had any trouble on them. I can see why someone less assertive would find them difficult (and dreaded the Elephant when I first started cycling in London) but this, surely, is a matter of skills and confidence. John |
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
On 12 Jun, 18:43, "Pete Biggs"
p...@pomegranateremovehighlyimpracticalfruitbiggs .tc wrote: That roundabout and Aldgate are both junctions of death. but this, surely, is a matter of skills and confidence. So what do we do? 1. Improve cyclists' skill, speed and confidence? How? Is part of it the need for a cultural shift back to mass recognition of cycling as transport, and to a position where it's normalised, where skill to some level is expected (in much the same way as it's generally expected that most adults will be able to drive)? I think cycle training for children plays a part (and I guess that's why things like Tom Crispin's cycle to swim scheme are great - they normalise cycling from an early age, and hopefully the kids don't then automatically aspire just to drive as soon as they're 17). I'm not so sure about cycle training for adults. On the one hand I do think the subsidised schemes run by many of the London boroughs are a good thing, but on the other I'm not sure whether offering training risks pandering to the 'cycling is dangerous' lobby. Certainly, I think the current anti drink- and drug-driving ads being run by TFL are ill thought through (on the backs of buses, with a picture of a FisherPrice-style steering wheel and a slogan along the lines of 'lose your licence and you're back to being a kid again') - they reinforce assumptions about expecting to drive everywhere, and they infantilise non-motorised transport. 2. Change the junctions so not so much skill, speed and confidence is needed to be safe? Well, it's not the idea of changing them I object to, it's more the demonisation of the junction itself. Any collisions are highly likely to be the result of inattention, misjudgment or negligence on the part of one or more road users, be they pedestrian, cyclist or driver. The fact that the road design may promote misjudgment or exacerbate its consequences doesn't justify phrasing like 'junctions of death,' which in itself tends to allow road users to disclaim their responsibilities. And I'm not convinced that redesign is likely to prove a panacea - even if it is done according to current best practice, which can't be guaranteed, there's surely good odds that in a few years time we will decide that all our current assumptions and principles were utterly wrong and in fact caused more dangers. Come on, this is Usenet. You can't expect answers. 3. Do nothing and allow more people to be injured and killed? Seems to be the default option in many ways. Killing 8 or so a day on the roads is pretty good compared to most other countries - as long as you or your friends aren't among the 8. J |
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
On 12 Jun, 12:03, spindrift wrote:
Grim news. That roundabout and Aldgate are both junctions of death. If they're that bad then either avoid them or get off and push |
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
spindrift wrote:
Grim news. That roundabout and Aldgate are both junctions of death. I had a bad accident on the Old street roundabout. Foot slipped off my peddle and I went over the handle bars, bad road rash but as I was slap bang in the middle of the lane there was enough room so none of the cars came close to me. |
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Old Street roundabout accident. "Life-changing injury".
On Jun 13, 12:23 pm, Daniel Barlow wrote:
writes: I use both the Old St roundabout and [...] As do I, and I'm actually struggling to think how it could be considered dangerous anyway. There are traffic lights on every arm. I use it every day, and don't find it that difficult to deal with but the problems a Need to be in the correct lane at entry. When approaching from the N (City road), cyclists taxis and buses are in the inside lane while other vehicles are in the outside lane. There is a "give no quarter" attitude to allowing people to get where they need to be. Cyclists can have an advantage here when the lights are red because they can get to the front and into the correct lane but a disadvantage when the lights are green because vehicles will just change lane regardless of the fact that there is already a cyclist where they are going. The exits are (all?) two lanes wide. I think the roundabout effectively has one lane exit that then splits into two lanes but people exit from the RH lane of the roundabout anyway. This means that cyclists have to be prepared to join the traffic and not cycle around the edge. The roundabout is small enough that when you're at the speed of the cars on it (when it's moving) you risk a pedal strike if you pedal all the way around it. While this probably doesn't affect the majority of cyclists anyway, those of use who use a quick burst of speed to 25mph+ as another line of defense lose this option. Some of the exits (i'm thinking of City Road going S) have two lanes funneling down into one with a fairly tight bend and railings along the curb. When doing 20mph+ you need a good bit of room in order to be able to lean the bike around that corner but there's often some muppet desperate to overtake and join the queue a few feet further along. Same exit collects some lovely puddles that you really don't want to be going through at 20mph. Those same overtaking motorists don't see it that way. Personally, I don't think this roundabout is a death trap, but I do think it's one of the more difficult roundabouts that can be easily managed by cyclists with the right skills. I rarely see lorries on this roundabout but they could be more difficult to deal with if they start random lane changing. Typically when a car suddenly changes lanes it's short enough that you can usually get infront or behind it before it hits you but a lorry could be more difficult. In my last job I cycled N across this roundabout every morning: http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...,0.006405&z=17 Now that one was impossible to properly control. The problem was that it was an uphill start across a wide entrance to a dual carriageway with cars crossing the roundabout from the East at 70mph+. And cars do not understand "you must give way to vehicles on the roundabout." I've been hooted by cars that couldn't even be seen on their approach road when I entered the roundabout because I missed when trying to clip in my foot as I pulled away. So difficult was this roundabout that I experimented with turning left, along the dual carriageway to the next roundabout and then do a Uturn and the back to this roundabout for another left. But although the speeds were lower at the next roundabout, the U turn confused too many people and didn't make it any easier. Tim. |
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