Risking my Life on London's Roads

 

Last week three people were killed on London’s roads whilst commuting to work by bicycle. I wasn’t more than a couple of feet, a less fortunate rebound or a couple of seconds from joining that list. It is a pretty scary thought!

 

I have commuted on London’s roads for over four years. I was used to the quieter roads of South Wales and North Devon but soon became accustomed to negotiating myself safely around the busier roads of the capital. Having taken part in numerous cycle races and triathlons I know  that I have good bike handling skills and excellent hazard perception.

 

In four years I estimate that I have commuted to work around 900 times. That is 1,800 journeys of 15 miles plus. That is over 27,000 miles of cycling in order to avoid cramped and delayed trains.  I enjoy cycling to work and have always been an advocate for doing so. TFL research says that if Londoners walked or cycled for just 20 minutes a day then 85,000 fewer people would require treatment for hip fractures, 19,200 for dementia and 18,800 for depression over the next 25 years. It would also save the NHS £1.7 billion. 

 

I hate that much of my commute takes me through pollution hotspots, but favour filling my lungs with carcinogenic and toxic particles than spending 75 minutes stood on a train alongside those poor soles that have somehow managed to commute in this way for years on end.

 

In 27,000 miles of cycling in London I have now had three accidents. I was not at fault for at least two of these. I do not think I was at fault for the third accident, in 2016, but cannot be completely sure as I was knocked out and have absolutely no recollection of the incident other than waking up momentarily in an Estate Agents close to Chelsea Bridge. My accident in 2015 saw me thrown over the bonnet of a car as it turned across the front of me.

 

I avoid potential incidents most days and I now accept these recurring themes as part and parcel of cycling in London. The most common error which drivers make is overtaking a cyclist and then deciding to turn left immediately after doing so. Some cyclists set a terrible example by jumping red lights and dangerously weaving between traffic. I am more vocal on the roads than I used to be, and often shout out at vehicles, and cyclists, driving badly. I hope that in doing so that they will give more thought when approaching the next junction. I do not jump red lights and I do no weave dangerously between cars. I do not ever feel like I am in enough of a rush to take any risk.

 

Another bugbear of mine is when a red light or queue is approaching, yet a vehicle still feels a need to overtake the cyclist and accelerate up to the lights. When on the bike, I will look ahead on the road, see a red light and reduce my speed. I now replicate this when driving. 

 

Most accidents with HGV’s involve the vehicle turning left at a junction and there being a cyclist on the inside of the truck heading straight ahead. I really feel for the HGV drivers in these circumstances as their blind spot means that they cannot see this entire area. As a cyclist, my hazard perception kicks in and I will wait for the HGV to complete its manoeuvre. 

 

Hazard perception is much more difficult when a vehicle approaches you from behind.

 

Last week I was cycling along Chelsea Embankment on my usual route to work. At present, Transport for London has some roadworks in place which has reduced the lanes down from two to one. A contraflow lane is in place. Large signs declare ‘do not overtake cyclists’.  As I approached the contra flow a loud horn went off and as I entered the contra flow a large lorry suddenly appeared beside me. I couldn’t believe it and so put the brakes on just before the contra flow got too narrow for both the lorry and me. Suddenly I was hit and was over the handlebars reducing my speed from 20mph to zero immediately. I had been hit by a trailer which the lorry was towing. How often do lorries pull additional trailers around London!?

 

I had rebounded off the trailer into the barrier of the roadworks and then back into the road. I was extremely fortunate not to have gone under the wheels and was fortunate that a cyclist was very close behind me and that the police were quickly on the scene. Once the shock subsided, the pain and anger kicked in. 

 

By the time the ambulance arrived I was in a desperate need of some pain relief. Unbeknownst to me at the time I had broken my collar bone and sprained my knee. I had not experienced pain like it before.

 

The Met police, Paramedics and staff at Chelsea and Westminster hospital were all fantastic. Although I was sent home in discomfort for the first night, I was soon back in for two nights for surgery on my collarbone, despite their bed shortages and funding difficulties. 

 

I visited the scene of the accident on my way back from the hospital (in the car). Again we noted the signs warning vehicles not to overtake cyclists. What was more annoying was that queuing traffic and red lights would have meant that the lorry would have been brought to a standstill only a couple of hundred metres later. So, it is  not even as if they would have made a few seconds up by overtaking me. I can only presume that their use of the horn was to announce that they were coming through at all costs, with complete disregard for any cyclists who should either stop or get themselves out of the way.

 

Again, unfortunately I do not have very good hazard perception capabilities for vehicles approaching me from behind.

 

I am still reflecting on the accident and typing this just a few days after the collision, I will not yet fully appreciate just how bad this could have been. I have no idea yet whether I will commute by bicycle again and I now have several weeks of rehabilitation before having to decide. I will however no longer persuade others to commute by bicycle. Imagine one of them being hurt and my therefore feeling responsible. I have just bought my girlfriend a road bike and had intended to cycle in with her at least one day per week. I am instead going to make sure she sticks to the cramped trains. Less pleasant but far safer! 

 

The Mayor is committing £2.1 billion to “healthy streets” including doubling spending on cycling to the same levels as Denmark and Netherlands. This is great news. I really hope it is spent wisely.

 

I have been wondering why cycling in London is so dangerous and I keep coming to the same answer. 

 

Everyone is in too much of a rush. 

 

Why was the driver of the HGV in such a rush to overtake me? How was his perception of risk so badly out? Was he not concentrating? Was he distracted by his two colleagues in his cab? 

 

I will no doubt end up leaving London. I decided long ago to put happiness and family ahead of anything else. Although I will earn less outside of London, I won’t need to suffer with such high pollution levels, my commute will be safer, shorter and more enjoyable and  I will be more relaxed, not getting dragged along with this rushed atmosphere.