dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … octor.html
Some I interesting points but I think the conclusion misses the obvious. Some snippets below.
Samantha Southouse, who has been a professional lorry driver for 20 years, shook hands with his family after the hearing and said: ‘I don’t know what has happened. So sorry for your loss.’
She was driving at just 8mph and said she never saw the father-of-two doctor before the collision.
Witness Simon ■■■■■■ described seeing the doctor ‘wobble’ and swerve before being crushed under the truck’s near front wheel.
He said: 'I got the impression that he sped off on his bicycle and then he swerved in that direction.
‘I had the image from a child, like when they take the stabilisers off my bike.’
Forensic Collision Investigator Brian Gamble said it was ‘perfectly reasonable’ Ms Southouse didn’t see Dr Fisher in her mirrors as he paused on her near side before moving off.
He said: 'I’m not overly surprised that she hasn’t seen him.
'He’s potentially within view for 13 seconds. Having cycled down for four seconds and he’s come to a stop there.
'Potentially yes, Dr Fisher was in view of her however there are many caveats you have to put with that.
'Where he’s positioned he’s right on the edge of that mirror, the most distorted part of the mirror which makes it difficult for a driver to identify (a cyclist).
'So you have got six or seven seconds where he’s there to be seen however it’s identifying that it is a cyclist there and identifying him as a hazard.
I’ve no doubt - I think it’s quite likely that when Miss Southouse has carried out the mirror checks she would have carried them out before Dr Fisher moved into that position.’
He said the lorry was moving at a maximum of 8mph when the collision happened after he moved in front of it just as traffic started moving
He said: ‘Had he known that the view of those mirrors and how limited it was, he might not have done that.’
Ruling his death a ‘road traffic collision’ at St Pancras Coroners Court, Ms Hassel said: 'It seems to me that all the evidence points in the same direction.
'He was cycling in an entirely unremarkable manner, he was wearing a crash helmet and he was where he was meant to be, on the inside.
'A lorry was also proceeding in an entirely unremarkable manner and also travelling west along High Holborn.
'The lorry paused because of the traffic, Dr Fisher was visible for four seconds as he come up the inside of the lorry but of course that was a mirror and the lorry driver has six mirrors to look at as well as through the front of the lorry and either side.
She wasn’t looking at the particular mirror at that particular time and then he was in her blind spot on the front corner of the lorry.
'He was then only visible for one or two seconds when she moved off and by then she was looking out.
'It’s so easily done, it’s so easily done in a very busy congested road that he came out in the precise moment the traffic moved forwards.
'It’s difficult I think for a cyclist who hasn’t sat in a lorry to imagine the restriction in the view of the lorry driver.’
She added she would not make a prevention of future deaths report, saying: ‘Sometimes a junction layout can be changed to make it safer. I’ve thought about this a great deal but I cannot think of anything useful I can say by making a prevention of future deaths report.’
This accident led to a tragic and unnecessary waste of life. In order to save further precious lives we urge the Mayor of London to urgently address the issue of cycle safety in London by looking at people prioritised streets and improved lorry design.’
Still no onus on cyclists to protect themselves.
If mounted on the handlebars they break when the bike falls over ,as they do. A helmet mirror vibrates a lot so also not much use. I think that the Doctor could have had a mechanical issue with his bike , chain skipped over the cog and caused his wobble. Sympathies to all concerned.