London Banter - View Single Post - Boris admits bendy-buses are safe

[email protected] · October 23rd 08, 08:52 AM posted to uk.transport.london

In article
,
(John B) wrote:

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.

All the recent reports of cyclists killed by lorries that I have seen have
involved mirrors and lack of under-run protection.

--
Colin Rosenstiel