Lorry firm boss tells of effect of cyclist's death on the driver and the company

[Deleted User]

liz545 wrote: »

I remember Ellie's death, it happened quite close to where I live. From knowing the road layout, and from the coroner's investigation, it's entirely likely that the HGV was in the outside lane in order to make the sharp left turn into Abbey Street.

An experienced cyclist may have noticed the HGV's indicators, and may have understood that they were on not because the driver had forgotten to turn them off but because of the turning circle of his vehicle. But making a left turn from the outside lane is not something all riders will be anticipating. This is clearly a junction where the road layout and infrastructure puts all road users into conflict, and even careful riders and drivers can experience problems.

Rather than blaming drivers or cyclists for making bad decisions that have fatal consequences, we should be working on designing safer roads where a small mistake won't kill you.

No.. the death would have not occurred if nearside video camears were on the HGV. A lot of the foreign trucks have had them fitted after constant deaths on the mways due to them doing the same thing into passing cars in the second lane. All these hgvs have satnavs which they are constantly glancing at. Near and off side video monitoring is the best option. Its just a matter of the high price of them with the HGV s putting them off

brat

sacsquacco wrote: »

No.. the death would have not occurred if nearside video camears were on the HGV. A lot of the foreign trucks have had them fitted after constant deaths on the mways due to them doing the same thing into passing cars in the second lane. All these hgvs have satnavs which they are constantly glancing at. Near and off side video monitoring is the best option. Its just a matter of the high price of them with the HGV s putting them off

I've dealt with two fatal RTCs and know of two others in our county in the last 10 years where the HGV driver would have been able to see and avoid a pedestrian via the available video monitor, but didn't because he didn't look.
It's not the safety panacea, although it does allow more blame to be apportioned to the HGV driver. That's not much solace for the pedestrian or their family though.