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Old October 23rd 08, 12:24 AM posted to uk.transport.london
John B John B is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jan 2006
Posts: 942
Default Boris admits bendy-buses are safe - but he'll axe them anyway

On Oct 23, 12:40*am, wrote:
Apart from HGVs, motor vehicles very rarely kill cyclists in
London. It appears that bendibuses are not as bad as HGVs - but
this may be because their routes are more predictable rather than
because of greater inherent safety.


The biggest difference is that many HGVs are actually so badly designed
that they are too dangerous to be allowed on the roads near vulnerable
road users (including pedestrians as well as cyclists). On faster roads
they are often dangerous to cars too. For some reasons cement mixers are
some of the worst, even sporting signs on their rears drawing attention to
the fact that they are too dangerous to be allowed on the roads.


I'd be interested to see a breakdown of fatalities/injuries by HGV
class. My expectation would be that big vans were by far the biggest
killers, not least because 40-tonne container trucks and cement
lorries are obviously terrifying, driven by people who understand
that, and dealt with by pedestrians, drivers and cyclist who
understand that.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org