# Killed Cyclists in London - new map and spreadstheet



## redfalo (16 Mar 2011)

Dear all,

I wanted to get a deeper understanding of cycling safety in London. This is why I’ve started to collect data on severe and fatal cycling accidents in London since 2006. I've created a spreadsheet on Google Docs and a map showing detailed information about 58 fatal cycling accidents that happened in Greater London since 2006. Data includes information on the type of vehicles involved. 

I've summarised my thoughts about this sad topic on my cycling blog.

Comments much appreciated!

Take care
Olaf


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## Alan Whicker (16 Mar 2011)

Very interesting. Just wondering - why only since 2006?


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## dellzeqq (16 Mar 2011)

I imagine because it's a time-consuming thing. 

Olaf - this is interesting, if sombre reading. Thankyou


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## redfalo (16 Mar 2011)

Thank you. Alan and Simon. Yes, it's very time consuming (and depressing). Additionally it is significantly harder to collect information on older accidents as a comparision of the offical numbers and my data shows. For 2009 I was able to find information for all but 2 accidents. For 2008 3 deaths are missing. I could not find anything about 5 accidents which happend in 2007 are about 10 that happened in 2006. 

I'll try to get in touch with TfL and see if they can provide me the data. It's available for scientific purposes.


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## RecordAceFromNew (16 Mar 2011)

Olaf it is good that you are publishing this information, I am sure there are important lessons in the sobering statistics.

One phenomenon that jumps out at me is the ratio of female:male victims, it is nearly 3:2, which seems shockingly high since I am pretty sure there are far more male than female cyclists around in London. 

I wonder if this is reflected nationally or internationally, whether there is any explanation, and what lessons might be learnt from it?


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## Riverman (17 Mar 2011)

RecordAceFromNew said:


> Olaf it is good that you are publishing this information, I am sure there are important lessons in the sobering statistics.
> 
> One phenomenon that jumps out at me is the ratio of female:male victims, it is nearly 3:2, which seems shockingly high since I am pretty sure there are far more male than female cyclists around in London.
> 
> I wonder if this is reflected nationally or internationally, whether there is any explanation, and what lessons might be learnt from it?



Someone suggested previously that female cyclists may be more apprehensive at junctions, making them more vulnerable. 

It may not be far fetched to suggest that the average body frame of women may play a role. The average male frame may just make men more visible to drivers.


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## e-rider (17 Mar 2011)

plenty of skip lorries on that list

also plenty of left turning incidents

all very sad indeed


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## dellzeqq (17 Mar 2011)

Riverman said:


> Someone suggested previously that female cyclists may be more apprehensive at junctions, making them more vulnerable.
> 
> It may not be far fetched to suggest that the average body frame of women may play a role. The average male frame may just make men more visible to drivers.


you make a decent point, but there's another possibility. We, by which I mean cyclists, tend to think of traffic as a kind of motiveless behemoth, spreading death and injury more or less at random. We recognise that certain types of truck, indeed certain companies, might cause more death than others, and we know that young men are more inclined to kill themselves and their passengers. What we don't do is to connect the perpetrator with the victim. We assume that there is no relation between the two. 

I offer you the following. The perpetrators of violence are men - not in all cases, but in the overwhelming majority of cases. Women are disproportionately the victims of violence. Truck drivers kill women cyclists because they are women. 

I am not suggesting that truck drivers see women and want them dead, but a lot of driving is about establishing the driver at the centre of his own universe - and that's a heedless thing, particularly if the driver is not blessed with a culture built on precaution or self-awareness.


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## RecordAceFromNew (17 Mar 2011)

This 2007 article showed up in a quick search, describing a Tfl study based on 1999 to 2004 statistics but kept secret found that collision with lorries accounted for 86% of female cyclist fatalities vs 50% for male, and suggesting male's RLJ and positioning could be a major reason for the difference.
I have no idea what the ratio of male to female cyclists is in London, but off the top of my head I would guess 4:1. If so women cyclists would be 6 TIMES more likely to be victims according to Olaf's statistics.

I must say I am shocked by the stats, and that whatever was done about it since then is still resulting in Olaf's statistics.


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## Brains (9 Apr 2011)

Olaf
Cyclist killed in Greenwich Park in 2009 was at the top (south end) of 'The Avenue' in the Park
If you google it you will see a small building on the north east side (public loos) . That's the spot.
Driver got off scott free despite doing over 40 mph in a 20mph zone and I understand was overtaking a car.


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## Bikepeter (24 Apr 2011)

Hi Everyone,

I recently had the misfortune of losing a friend in a cycle accident. She was run over by an HGV after being caught in its blind spot.

It has reopened the debate on cycle safety at crossroads especially busy ones in London about whether more can be done to help reduce the blind spot for HGV's when turning left.

This friend of mine is the latest casualty in the London bicycle fatalities so you can add it to your spreadsheet Olaf.

A cheap and effective way of doing this is using the trixiemirror which is attached to the street lights and is used to great effect in Switzerland & Germany already.

This mirrow is incredibly cheap and could be installed tomorrow.

To help with this debate and to try to stop any other lives from being ruined I am trying to make a difference to the safety of the streets.

For more information on this debate take a look at the below petition which has been created in the name of my deceased friend, and I would also be interested in hearing your comments about the suggestion of the trixiemirror and if you think it would save lives.

Thanks for reading.

Peter
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/boris-install-mirrors-that-save-cyclists-lives-petiti.html


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## dellzeqq (29 Jun 2011)

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/new...ipper_lorry_at_hackney_road_junction_1_944599 

another off-site construction death in Hackney


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## Red Light (29 Jun 2011)

Here are some others that might be of use and interest:

http://citybeast.com/londoncyclists.html
http://innovate.direct.gov.uk/2009/03/10/pedalling-some-raw-data/ 
http://road.cc/content/news/2918-govt-data-leads-creation-map-uk-cycling-accidents


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

Sadly, last Sunday, there was another fatality in Lambeth. A white van knocked down a female cyclist on Cavendish Road/Englewood Road / Poynders Road.  It has not been reported by the media, yet. However, two eyewitnesses give appalling details on my blog: 
http://cycling-intelligence.com/2011/08/02/cyclists’-death-trap-on-cycle-superhighway-in-lambeth/

Number of cyclists killed in London this year raises to 11, at least 2 more died just outside the borders of Greater London. http://cycling-intelligence.com/fatal-cycling-accidents-in-london/

Take care, please!


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## dellzeqq (2 Aug 2011)

this is a junction that Susie and I traverse regularly. I confess I can't work out precisely where it happened, but a right turn off Cavendish on to Abbeville would be a frightening proposition. 

Traffic does go round the 90 degree bend at high speed - that's what the junction is designed for.


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

dellzeqq said:


> this is a junction that Susie and I traverse regularly. I confess I can't work out precisely where it happened, but a right turn off Cavendish on to Abbeville would be a frightening proposition.
> 
> Traffic does go round the 90 degree bend at high speed - that's what the junction is designed for.



Linda wrote on my blog that the accident happend "where Cavendish Road curves and then turns into Poynders Road"


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## ttcycle (2 Aug 2011)

redfalo said:


> Sadly, last Sunday, there was another fatality in Lambeth. A white van knocked down a female cyclist on Cavendish Road/Englewood Road / Poynders Road.  It has not been reported by the media, yet. However, two eyewitnesses give appalling details on my blog:
> http://cycling-intel...way-in-lambeth/
> 
> Number of cyclists killed in London this year raises to 11, at least 2 more died just outside the borders of Greater London. http://cycling-intel...ents-in-london/
> ...



oh, that makes my stomach go tight on reading you blog Olaf. I know that road very well and can see what had happened as the crossing to get into the right lanes can be hair raising. Truly horrific.


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## dellzeqq (2 Aug 2011)

I can't work out whether she was going northbound or southbound. 

Going south on Cavendish Road one has to get in to the second lane, which goes straight on - the first (kerb) lane sweeps left as a filter. That's usually ok-ish, if you keep an eye out and you're prepared to 'abort' and go left on the filter lane. You've got to be in the primary, signal well and establish eye contact - not always easy if you're 'towing' another rider.

If she was going north, intent on turning right in to Abbeville Road then getting out in to the middle of the road to make the right turn would have left her horribly exposed to fast traffic. I would give it a go if there was nothing behind me, but I'd not take anybody else that way.

The 'cycle route' markings are bollocks - just like the ones on Kings Avenue. If they are supposed to offer some kind of advice about the best way to get from Tooting Common to Clapham Common then they are sadly awry.

It's odd - it was the words 'Poynders Road' that leapt out at me. That is a bit of a worry going west, particularly as the carriageway narrows from two lanes to one.


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## Riverman (2 Aug 2011)

I think it may be useful to also display data on people killed driving in London. The problem with these maps is they give the false impression that cycling is somehow quite dangerous when really in comparison to driving cars/motorbikes it's not at all.


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

Riverman said:


> I think it may be useful to also display data on people killed driving in London. The problem with these maps is they give the false impression that cycling is somehow quite dangerous when really in comparison to driving cars/motorbikes it's not at all.



You have a point. I feel a little bit uneasy about the big message this data give, as I discussed in my initial blog post on the data: (http://cycling-intel...angerous-is-it/):




> I was hesitating to publish this information. On the one hand, this kind of transparency puts pressure on politicians to improve cycling safety. They also might help cyclists to avoid accident hot spots. ( I’ve personally learned a number of lessons. I’m going to write about them later on.)
> On the other hand, this kind of information easily available in one place might fuel the notion that cycling is too dangerous. I don’t want to do the same kind of fear mongering that I’ve just recently criticised.



However, a comparison of the absolute number of car passengers and cyclists would be misleading. In a given year, the number killed car passengers is - recalled from memory - about 5 times bigger than the number of killed cyclists. 

However, according to TfL figures only 2% of all daily trips in London are made on a bicycle, while 37% are conducted by "private transport" (i.e. cars). 

Hence, unfortunately, the mortality risk of cyclists IS much bigger than that of car passengers. 

On the other hand, in absolute terms, the probability to have a fatal cycling accident in London is - fortunately - very, very low: in the long-term average (1986-2010), 17.2 cyclists die each year, but we have 500.000 bicycle trips PER DAY in London.


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## Origamist (2 Aug 2011)

This sounds horrific. I use this bit of road 2/3 times a week and it is problematic for a number of reasons. I'll lay some flowers down there tonight.

RIP


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

Origamist said:


> This sounds horrific. I use this bit of road 2/3 times a week and it is problematic for a number of reasons. I'll lay some flowers down there tonight.
> 
> RIP



could you maybe make some pictures of the junction and mail them to me? o dot storbeck at gmail dot com


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## Richard Mann (2 Aug 2011)

redfalo said:


> I wanted to get a deeper understanding of cycling safety in London. This is why I’ve started to collect data on severe and fatal cycling accidents in London since 2006. I've created a spreadsheet on Google Docs and a map showing detailed information about 58 fatal cycling accidents that happened in Greater London since 2006. Data includes information on the type of vehicles involved.



I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

Richard Mann said:


> I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.




I'm happy to crowd-source this project :-) If we could gather a few people who collect this information, I would love to include it to the spreadsheet. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to collect this stuff myself. 


My gut feeling says that at least 80% of the crashes happen on A roads.


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## Origamist (2 Aug 2011)

redfalo said:


> could you maybe make some pictures of the junction and mail them to me? o dot storbeck at gmail dot com



Olaf, I'll go home and get my vid camera and film the junction from all three approaches and send you the link.


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

Origamist said:


> Olaf, I'll go home and get my vid camera and film the junction from all three approaches and send you the link.



much appreciated, many thanks!


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## dellzeqq (2 Aug 2011)

Richard Mann said:


> I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.


that's a very good point, and one that had never occurred to me. Olaf is right - the great majority of casualties are on A roads, but, tellingly there more than 50% are on TfL roads, and, perhaps even more tellingly, a large number are on junctions between TfL roads and borough roads. 

The Cavendish Road/Poynders Road/Abbeville Road arrangement is a case in point. Borough road meets TfL road meets borough road.


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

dellzeqq said:


> that's a very good point, and one that had never occurred to me. Olaf is right - the great majority of casualties are on A roads, but, tellingly there more than 50% are on TfL roads, and, perhaps even more tellingly, a large number are on junctions between TfL roads and borough roads.
> 
> The Cavendish Road/Poynders Road/Abbeville Road arrangement is a case in point. Borough road meets TfL road meets borough road.



Actually, having moved to London from Germany almost 2 years ago, I'm still struggling to understand the administrative system with regard to roads in London. I think it is completely bollocks to have two different authorities being responsible for the roads. 

From my point of view, creating a safe cycling infrastructure quite often means having alternative routes that are NOT on A roads /TfL roads. The Old Street Roundabout and the issue wrt to a contra flow system on Bath street (more details here: http://cycling-intel...ction-of-death/) is a case in point. The Old Street Roundabout is a TfL road, but Islington Council is responsible for Bath Street and would have to pay for the re-design. 

You have to look at these issues from a holistic perspective, IMHO. Having two different authorities dealing with different sections of the road network seems to be a big obstacle.


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## Origamist (2 Aug 2011)

Richard Mann said:


> I'd like to see the class of road (incl whether it's borough or TfL), the speed limit, maybe whether there's more than one lane of traffic.



Richard, these reports give you the Borough/TLRN breakdown for a couple of years: 

P.11
http://www.lscp.org.uk/lrsu/www/downloads/publications/PC-Cas-Factsheet-Final-1986-2007.pdf

p.12
http://www.lscp.org.uk/lrsu/www/dow...isions_and_casualties_Greater_London_2010.pdf

I'd hazard that the vast majority of the fatalities take place on 30mph limit roads.


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

dellzeqq said:


> I can't work out whether she was going northbound or southbound.



Dell, from another eyewitness who wrote a comment on my blog I glean that she was southbound (assumed that she was not cycling on the wrong side of the road). Nigel writes:





> Turning from “The Ave” by Clapham Common onto “Cavendish road” on the A205 the white van was no more than 80 meters in front of us. His speed\distance was relative to ours up to the bend with the pedestrian crossing. We drive slowly so in my view the white van was not speeding!
> 
> He went out of our sights for no more than a fraction of a second as he took the bend before us. In that time we heard an unbelievable loud bang. Then, (as the road ahead was now in view) we saw the van in the middle of the road and the woman in the air being projected forward at height. She fell to the ground and her lower half seemed to go under the van. The van came to a halt meters from her, the bike in a hundred pieces and that’s were time stopped…


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## Richard Mann (2 Aug 2011)

Origamist said:


> I'd hazard that the vast majority of the fatalities take place on 30mph limit roads.



My hunch would be that they almost all take place on multi-lane roads, where 30mph is rather too notional. And that almost all are near junctions on TfL roads. TfL/TfL junctions are typically horrors that cyclists avoid like the plague - it's the TfL/borough junctions which are probably the biggest risk. But that's only my hunch.

Lorries and buses can kill you at lower speeds (much lower speeds), so speed isn't the only issue. We get a bus/lorry fatality every couple of years in Oxford (fortunately not for a while recently). The bus companies here have done a reasonable job with training their drivers, so it's mainly lorries I worry about.


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## Origamist (2 Aug 2011)

Origamist said:


> Olaf, I'll go home and get my vid camera and film the junction from all three approaches and send you the link.



The collision investigators' markings can still be seen in the hatching:


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5XidI1cRmY



View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sshyw4H7Hfw


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## redfalo (2 Aug 2011)

Origamist said:


> The collision investigators' markings can still be seen in the hatching:
> 
> http://www.youtube.c...h?v=d5XidI1cRmY
> 
> http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Sshyw4H7Hfw



Many many thanks, Origamist. I'll embedd the vids in my blogpost soon (with a nod to your effort, of course).

I've looked at both vids several times. The collision investigators' markings are in the middle of the road, at about 0.15min in the first vid and around 0.11min in the second, aren't they? 

If I get it right, the cyclist was southbound. This probably means the second clip shows her way and the accident happend directly after the pedestrian crossing, before the lines are filtering, right? This means she was probably cycling like the rider right in front of you....

To me, this appears very very odd. To me the road does neither appear particularly dangerours nor busy, especially not on a Sunday morning around 11am. 

One thing seems to be sure: This was not one of the typical cycling accidents....


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## philk56 (2 Aug 2011)

There was a small report and appeal from the police for witnesses in tonight's Standard about this tragic accident.


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## Origamist (2 Aug 2011)

redfalo said:


> Many many thanks, Origamist. I'll embedd the vids in my blogpost soon (with a nod to your effort, of course).
> 
> I've looked at both vids several times. The collision investigators' markings are in the middle of the road, at about 0.15min in the first vid and around 0.11min in the second, aren't they?
> 
> ...



Olaf, from the reports on your site it appears that the van was travelling south along Cavendish Road and the collision took place just after the zebra crossing near the junction with Englewood Rd, before the road splits into two lanes. The collision investigators yellow markings start just before the hatched area and continue into it. The video that corresponds to the direction of travel of the van (part of it) is the Abbeville Road to Cavendish Road video: 
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sshyw4H7Hfw
. However, it is not clear to me which direction the cyclist was travelling in and I'd rather not speculate. 

This section of cycle route 5 (Cavendish Rd) is part of the south circular and it is difficult to negotiate in either direction (even if my vids do not convey the difficulty). Dell has outlined a couple of the problems, but there is also the issue of traffic cutting the corner when joining Cavendish Road from Poynders Road. Traffic speed can also be well in excess of 30mph.


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## Richard Mann (2 Aug 2011)

Sounds to me like the cyclist was going north in the median, with a view to cutting onto the pavement cycle track at the zebra, and the van pulled out round something stopped on the kerb (maybe adjacent to the pillar box), just south of the crossing.


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## redfalo (6 Aug 2011)

Sad news, again: Bus killed cyclist on Holloway road, according to the BBC. This is particularly moving for me, because I live literally just around the corner. This is at least the 12th cyclist killed in the capital in 2011, plus at least 2 more just outside of the boundaries of Greater London. 

Take care!


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## Origamist (8 Aug 2011)

Origamist said:


> Olaf, from the reports on your site it appears that the van was travelling south along Cavendish Road and the collision took place just after the zebra crossing near the junction with Englewood Rd, before the road splits into two lanes. The collision investigators yellow markings start just before the hatched area and continue into it. The video that corresponds to the direction of travel of the van (part of it) is the Abbeville Road to Cavendish Road video:
> View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sshyw4H7Hfw
> . However, it is not clear to me which direction the cyclist was travelling in and I'd rather not speculate.
> 
> This section of cycle route 5 (Cavendish Rd) is part of the south circular and it is difficult to negotiate in either direction (even if my vids do not convey the difficulty). Dell has outlined a couple of the problems, but there is also the issue of traffic cutting the corner when joining Cavendish Road from Poynders Road. Traffic speed can also be well in excess of 30mph.






> Cyclist killed on stretch of Clapham cycle route identified as dangerous in 2008
> The death of a cyclist in Clapham has prompted campaigners to ask why a dangerous cycle route wasn't improved when major problems with the road layout had already been identified by Transport for London.
> 
> A 49-year-old female cyclist died instantly after being hit by van on Cavendish Road at around 11am on Sunday 31 July 2011.
> ...


http://lcc.org.uk/articles/cyclist-...m-cycle-route-identified-as-dangerous-in-2008


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## redfalo (8 Aug 2011)

Origamist said:


> http://lcc.org.uk/ar...ngerous-in-2008



I officially recant with regard to my previously expressed thoughts that the roads does not look overly dangerous (I removed that passage from my blog post a few days ago after I saw LCCs' statement. 


Instead of pondering about a road I've never seen I now quote the LCC.


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## redfalo (5 Oct 2011)

More bad news: On Monday, a cyclist got killed by a lorry at King's Cross. This crash turns the King's Cross area into a particular death trap: Since 2006, four cyclists were killed in that area. I think the roads urgently need a re-design to make the area less dangerous for cyclists, especially because cycling traffic probably will increase after the opening of the new campus of the University of Arts London north of King's Cross. 

I just wrote a blog post about the issue: http://cycling-intelligence.com/2011/10/05/cyclist-killed-at-kings-cross-a-predictable-death/


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## Richard Mann (5 Oct 2011)

Euston Road carries 60-90,000 motor vehicles per day. That's equivalent to a busy motorway. It'd be horrendously complicated to make a safe passage through the various gyratories, good enough for all cyclists to choose to use.

I really think there has to be a fast parallel alternative, on roads that have been made so that the cyclists have a good level of priority (eliminate unnecessary lights, try for some green waves, make them two-way etc). It needs to be just as fast as going straight down Euston Road (excluding the underpass). It doesn't need to be traffic-free, just not boy-racer territory. TfL needs to be able to impose that on the boroughs.

So while it sticks in the craw a bit, I think Boris needs extra powers.

(TfL also needs to make it possible to cross Euston Road without going round horrendous gyratories, but that's a smaller problem, and one that's already probably in their control)


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## BluesDave (5 Oct 2011)

Riverman said:


> I think it may be useful to also display data on people killed driving in London. The problem with these maps is they give the false impression that cycling is somehow quite dangerous when really in comparison to driving cars/motorbikes it's not at all.



I appreciate what your'e saying but is it not the motorised vehicles that are a danger to the cyclist far more than the other cyclists. Could that be the point of the post and trying to get something done about it.

I would like the posters permission to put these links on other social networking sites if he will allow it in order to raise awareness and make people think twice. If I could add this to my new business website which will shortly be under construction I would.


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## redfalo (5 Oct 2011)

DavidDecorator said:


> I appreciate what your'e saying but is it not the motorised vehicles that are a danger to the cyclist far more than the other cyclists. Could that be the point of the post and trying to get something done about it.
> 
> I would like the posters permission to put these links on other social networking sites if he will allow it in order to raise awareness and make people think twice. If I could add this to my new business website which will shortly be under construction I would.



I'm happy if you link to the map and the table.


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## Eray (13 Mar 2014)

redfalo said:


> Dear all,
> 
> I wanted to get a deeper understanding of cycling safety in London. This is why I’ve started to collect data on severe and fatal cycling accidents in London since 2006. I've created a spreadsheet on Google Docs and a map showing detailed information about 58 fatal cycling accidents that happened in Greater London since 2006. Data includes information on the type of vehicles involved.
> 
> ...


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## mr_cellophane (18 Mar 2014)

I am very surprised that there is nothing around the Stratford gyratory.


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## StuartG (18 Mar 2014)

mr_cellophane said:


> I am very surprised that there is nothing around the Stratford gyratory.


The most dangerous places may not be where the accidents happen because:
1) Cyclists avoid them if possible (particularly the inexperienced)
2) The remaining (experienced?) cyclists tackle them very, very carefully

Its the places that look and feel safe but aren't that are the real danger.
You should also take into account that because of the small sample number the deaths will not be proportional to the risk at a particular place or time.


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## Shut Up Legs (18 Mar 2014)

Riverman said:


> Someone suggested previously that female cyclists may be more apprehensive at junctions, making them more vulnerable.
> 
> It may not be far fetched to suggest that the average body frame of women may play a role. The average male frame may just make men more visible to drivers.


Why? There's not that much difference in size, plus the gender (and preferences) of the motorists might be a factor also.


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