Argument over “an argument’s argument”.
I’m off to bed. FThis for a lark. 
What sort of prick would hire one of those bikes?
They look ridiculous.
with regard to dirty mirrorst the state of some mirrors tjhough, when i have to use someone else’s lorry i often wonder how the hell they manage to see anything at all, NS down mirror giving a birds eye view of the passenger door and wing, front down mirror a view of the bonnet, and the main mirrors only useful for spotting an incoming Zero or Stuka dive bomber…and all of 'em bloody filthy including a film on the inside of the windows thats been there since the sodding lorry left the factory, what hope on a sunny day of seeing anything.
You have to do your best to lessen the chances of any bump.
[/quote]
2 mins with a page of old newspaper and they shine like your mothers windows… 
sympathy to all concerned and wishing the cyclist a speedy recovery
BUT
what is the answer to this?
When making a sharp left turn in towns, I lose sight of the trailer’s rear wheels
More mirrors? There is already up to six mirrors on a wagon, to the extent that they are obscuring forward vision
Cameras? Not always working and they can be a distraction, and won’t prevent a cyclist from ‘nipping in’
Blaring recorded warning?
Proximity detector?
An enforcable law prohibiting cyclists from undertaking?
Radio transmitters on bikes and receivers in the cab?
er…
Saaamon:
Looks like the lorry was turning left then.
Another possibility is the lorry was going straight across the junction. So far all we have is speculation, not fact, as to HOW the accident/collision occurred, still none of us are likely to be on any jury as we have far to much exposure to this story and couldn’t be impartial could we?
Hope all involved make a swift recovery.
Mike-C:
The thing i wonder is. Just like the bike in the picture, the bike in the accident was a Barclays hire bike. I wonder what steps Barclays take to ensure the people hiring them are able to use them competentley ?
And ensuring that the bike is roadworthy?
I personaly think the onus should be in the cyclist to wait until the lorry or bus has turned the corner & moved forward a safe distance before they make their turn! Far to often their in a rush & think they can beat the traffic & most cyclists I have encountered have a bad attitude , just yesterday there were two lycra clad gents out for a cycle on the main road here , they were struggling up a hill weaving in and out , I couldn’t pass as there was on coming traffic I was down to first gear crawling behind them & cars building up behind me looking to pass me ,the annoying thing was they were cycling like that on the road yet there is an expensive purpose built cycle track running along the entire length of the road with a 5ft grass verge separation , so who’s in the wrong if they go under my wheels, they were causing the risk & danger, I politely beeped to tell them to use the path & just got a load of verbal & the fingers & them telling me to go round them ! … cyclists need to be educated
Euro:
sympathy to all concerned and wishing the cyclist a speedy recovery
BUT
what is the answer to this?
When making a sharp left turn in towns, I lose sight of the trailer’s rear wheels
More mirrors? There is already up to six mirrors on a wagon, to the extent that they are obscuring forward vision
Cameras? Not always working and they can be a distraction, and won’t prevent a cyclist from ‘nipping in’
Blaring recorded warning?
Proximity detector?
An enforcable law prohibiting cyclists from undertaking?
Radio transmitters on bikes and receivers in the cab?
er…
Euro you are complicating a simple situation.Why do a lot of drivers want to blame everything but the driver?
You can have as many mirrors or whatever but if the driver is not paying attention then he will not see the cyclist.
Next time you see a lorry sitting at a set of lights signalling left have a look at the driver.I do it regularly and it amazes me how often they are not paying attention never mind looking in the near side mirror.Only last week I saw one texting on his phone while sitting at a red light.
Do not get me wrong I know there are plenty of incompetent cyclists but we are meant to be the professionals!
As usual there are a few good posts and then we have the moronic biased idiots with their pathetic comments.
Pushbikes want banning from the road but in london it is the only cost effective and no doubt the quick way of getting around
It would appear that cyclist see the dangers of blind spots or atleast some do when they design such trucks as these
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21875593
so maybe they do realise and are just pig ignorant which in london would come as no supprise
Maybe one of the big brands , volvo/merc/scania should maybe have a open day where cyclist can go sit in a truck and car drivers for that matter to actually see why they can appear blind at times and such accidents happen , good publicity for tjhe truck manufatuer and may make a few car drivers pack there ideas in but i think it will be very few to actually go take a look because there all in such a rush and have to get where there going asap
albion1971:
Euro:
sympathy to all concerned and wishing the cyclist a speedy recovery
BUT
what is the answer to this?
When making a sharp left turn in towns, I lose sight of the trailer’s rear wheels
More mirrors? There is already up to six mirrors on a wagon, to the extent that they are obscuring forward vision
Cameras? Not always working and they can be a distraction, and won’t prevent a cyclist from ‘nipping in’
Blaring recorded warning?
Proximity detector?
An enforcable law prohibiting cyclists from undertaking?
Radio transmitters on bikes and receivers in the cab?
er…Euro you are complicating a simple situation.Why do a lot of drivers want to blame everything but the driver?
You can have as many mirrors or whatever but if the driver is not paying attention then he will not see the cyclist.
Next time you see a lorry sitting at a set of lights signalling left have a look at the driver.I do it regularly and it amazes me how often they are not paying attention never mind looking in the near side mirror.Only last week I saw one texting on his phone while sitting at a red light.
Do not get me wrong I know there are plenty of incompetent cyclists but we are meant to be the professionals!
As usual there are a few good posts and then we have the moronic biased idiots with their pathetic comments.
I completely agree with this but what about the split second that you look back to the road ahead or O/S mirror… Those 2 seconds a bike could have come up the inside of you and when you look back into that mirror he’s already in your blind spot. The point is you can’t check your 6 mirrors, look at the traffic lights, look at where you will be turning, look at traffic that may or may stop at their red light all at the same time.
It’s just an endless battle that unfortunately results in serious consequence for the cyclists.
All they have to do is just NOT ride up the inside of trucks and buses, the whole bike vs lorry thing is so easily remedied if every cyclist done this… But they don’t, they take a gamble and when it works, great they get ahead but when it doesn’t, they are ■■■■■■.
ya play with feathers ya get ya arse tickled !!!
FarnboroughBoy11:
Cyclist played with fire and got burnt. Simple.
+1^^^^^
No it’s not a stupid thing to say, it’s true…!!!
Man you lot must be fit as a fiddle with all this jumping to conclusions, why not wait until some facts come out. How silly will some of you feel if the driver comes out and says yeah, it was my fault, I didn’t check my mirrors I just turned left. Not much chance of that I know because we all check every time, and make sure we pull out far enough to miss the kerb, just got to look at all the corners we turn to see how successful we as drivers are at that simple manoeuvre.
Mike-C:
The thing i wonder is. Just like the bike in the picture, the bike in the accident was a Barclays hire bike. I wonder what steps Barclays take to ensure the people hiring them are able to use them competentley ?
Barclays only sponsor it .Transport for London run it and no training needed to hire
a bike no helmet needed also.All you need to do is register .
There are schemes running in London with the Met Police & major aggregate/concrete firms where cyclists are invited to sit in a lorry & check what can be seen from the drivers point of view,the drivers of all vehicles running on Crossrail work attend an induction all about the cyclist mostly,(7 hrs DCPC) also the vehicles are required to be fitted with side cameras, fresnal lenses, proximity indication devices, we are now in an “information overload” situation, I forgot about the “vehicle turning left” loud speaker! fire extinguisher, warning triangle & spare bulb set also compulsory 
So it seems like truckers are being held responsible for cyclists stupidity and their inability to keep themselves out of danger on our roads.
waynedl:
Harry Monk:
Well, let’s face it, the driver of an articulated lorry may not always be able to see a cyclist, but a cyclist should always be able to see an articulated lorry.Perhaps, in their own interest, cyclists should be subject to compulsory basic training?
Where did it say artic?
Saaamon:
Juddian:
I find it strange in this H and S crazy world we still allow the most vulnerable group of road users to use the roads with absolutely no requirement for any training before they do. Harry makes a very good point though, whether it’s an artic or not is neither here nor there, the road users with the BEST view of what’s happening around them are cyclists. If we can add legally required training and enforcement then they might live long enough to gain some invaluable experience. Truck drivers, however good they are, however careful they are, however many mirrors they have, are only human and therefore likely to make a basic human error at some point. It’s up to everyone who uses the roads to do so in a safe manner. We need to make it absolutely clear that cyclists should not be exempt from that.
How about this for an idea, its what i would call a sensible way forward. A scheme to do the opposite would also be a huge benefit.
Lorry drivers in Redbridge are to spend half a day riding bicycles on the roads thanks to a £250,000 grant to spend on improving cycling in the borough.
70 HGV drivers will complete their Safer London Driving course this month, part of Redbridge’s commitment to becoming a Biking Borough.
Councillor Paul Canal who sits on the council’s Cycling Liason Group told the East London Guardian: “If every HGV driver rode a bike and every cyclist sat in the cab of a HGV lorry, deaths would decrease by 90 percent.”
According to Transport for London, more than half of all cyclist deaths in London are caused by collisions with goods vehicles.
Only one in a thousand (0.1 per cent) of collisions with a car resulted in the death of a cyclist in the 12 months to 2011.
That rose to one in 200 (0.5 per cent) where the vehicle was a taxi, and just under one in 150 (0.68 per cent) where small and medium goods vehicles were involved.
However, where the incident involved a large HGV or other oversized vehicle, 7.94 per cent — nearly one in 12 — resulted in the cyclist being killed.
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Cyclist V pedestrian … outcome is likely to be minor
Perhaps the way we now apportion which type of transport goes where needs a rethink for the 21st century if we want to put safety over convenience
has anyone noticed how many of these accidents in london involve tipper. Be intresting to see how many compared to the percentage of these types trucks on the road in london.
Not tipper driver bashing as i am one