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Tipper truck and cyclists (copyright Simon MacMichael)Boris Johnson tells cyclists to wave arms like music conductor to help lorry drivers see them (+ video)
Mayor of London Boris Johnson says that the capital’s cyclists should wave their hands in the air like classical music conductor Sir Simon Rattle to make lorry drivers aware of their presence. The comments have been widely criticised by cyclists.
Speaking on his regular phone-in show hosted on LBC by radio host Nick Ferrari, Mr Johnson said women on bikes are more likely than men to be hit by left-turning lorries, because they tend to hang back.
“What you need to do is get in front of the vehicle,” said Mr Johnson. “Make sure the truck driver knows you are there, indicate, wave – be like Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic: show that you are there.”
The conductor, who has today been named music director of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2017, is best known to a non-classical musical audience for his role opposite Rowan Atkinson’s pianist at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Ferrari asked the mayor if he was telling people to take their hands off the handlebars, to which Mr Johnson replied: “No. You are stationary. This is at traffic lights.”
The mayor’s views were also reported on the Guardian website, and were widely criticised by cyclists in comments to that article.
Mr Johnson cited the death last month on Victoria Street of French national and mother of two Claire Hitier-Abadie, who was crushed to death by a left turning tipper truck almost a fortnight ago. A vigil was held there last night in her memory, and to call for safer streets for cyclists.
“Typically what will happen is that the traffic will be stationary,” said Mr Johnson. “It was an absolutely ghastly accident. The traffic was motionless and then everybody took off and a female cyclist just was caught by a lorry turning left. He simply didn’t see her,” he added.
Left-turning lorries, and tipper trucks in particular, are responsible for around half of cyclist fatalities in London, despite only accounting for around 4 per cent of the city’s traffic.
A disproportionate number of the victims in such cases are women, with past research conducted for Transport for London suggesting that female cyclists are more likely than males to ride along the kerb and put themselves in a position of danger.
Mr Johnson said on the LBC radio programme: “Any one of these deaths is one too many. If you go out on the streets of London today you will sMr Johnson’s comments were prompted by a caller to the show who said he was the lorry driver involved in the crash last October that claimed the life of a cyclist, named by Ferrari as 26-year-old German postgraduate student Janina Gehlau.
The caller maintained that the student had been priced out of London’s transport system and had needed to buy a bike to get around the city while on a three-month placement, adding that lorry drivers “come up against cyclists coming up our near side all the time, we beep the horn, we get the finger, we get abused.”
He added that while lorry drivers were now required to undertake ongoing training on safety issues, he added that “anyone can get up on a pushbike” with no training, and asked whether that situation would change.
Mr Johnson said: “Any one of these deaths is one too many. If you go out on the streets of London today you will see police out in force on Operation Safeway trying to get cyclists to obey the law.”
While that initiative, launched by the Metropolitan Police Service in November 2013 following the deaths of six cyclists on London’s streets in the space of a fortnight, also targets motorists including lorry drivers, it has been criticised for targeting cyclists for issues such as riding on the pavement or ignoring red traffic lights.
That initiative, launched by the Metropolitan Police Service in November 2013 following the deaths of six cyclists on London’s streets in the space of a fortnight, has been criticised for targeting cyclists for issues such as riding on the pavement or ignoring red traffic lights.
While both are illegal, as pointed out on road.cc by one cyclist who received a fixed penalty notice last week, at times the layout of junctions and presence of large vehicles means bike riders have to take action to remove themselves from danger.
The mayor added: “What we need to do is educate cyclists about the importance of obeying the law of the road and also to be aware of other road users, and one thing we are particularly concerned about is cyclists who get caught up in heavy goods vehicles particularly turning left.
“I’m afraid it’s very often female cyclists who appear to be the victims of these types of terrible accidents … maybe because women are naturally more cautious, or hang back more.”
The campaign group See Me Save Me, which is co-ordinated by road safety charity RoadPeace, has campaigned for lorry drivers to be better trained to make them aware of cyclists, and for it to be made compulsory for vehicles to have design and warning systems that eliminate blind spots.
It also points out on its website that “that advice and opportunities for training on safety around HGVs are more available for cyclists.”
However, it adds: “This may help save lives of some of the more inexperienced riders but it must be remembered that recent casualties have included many careful and experienced riders fully aware of which parts of the road to avoid.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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27 comments
Or for people not into classical music:
I think he’s saying ‘Kiss me, kiss me’.
Vehicles with high cabs should be banned. Start with a ban on them in urban areas. There's no reason for the driver of a truck to be up that high. Modern coaches have the driver in a lower position, truck drivers should be similarly positioned. Until they are, everyone please ignore that nonsense from Johnson and:
Never be alongside a moving large vehicle. If you're filtering and traffic starts moving, stop until the vehicle is in front of you.
Never be in front of a vehicle with a high cab. Wait behind instead.
Remember, if you haven't made eye contact with a driver, then they haven't seen you.
Those 3 rules will keep you alive.
Surprising how many cyclists don't understand the danger of large vehicles. I was waiting at the lights to head south over London bridge recently when a lorry pulled up behind.
I kept looking over my shoulder to check the lorry driver had seen me. Every time I looked the lorry driver was staring out of his side window. Eventually the cyclist next to me asked me, “why do you keep looking over your shoulder?”
I explained I wanted to be sure the driver behind had seen me because of the driver being up high. The cyclist's reply was a dumbfounding, "oh have you been hit by a lorry at traffic lights before". The cyclist seemed genuinely surprised by my answer, "no I'd be dead if I had".
Unless the next vehicle is large. And the next. And the next. Or in other words, you are in ordinary traffic. And anyway, what about being alongside a large vehicle because it is overtaking you? When that one turns across you, you're dead… as has actually happened in the news, in recent times.
Sp, when one comes up behind you, you should… what? Teleport yourself to behind it?
So, make sure every single driver in your ride looks at you. The ones that don't look at you are entitled to kill you.
No, they won't. I personally know (or knew) bike riders hit by drivers in exactly the exceptions to your three scenarios that I list above. Plus, other riders who were hit by drivers who just ploughed into the bike because they are not looking, not paying attention, don't care, or where it was a deliberate attack run with malice aforethought.
Some of these situations involved the rider dying at the scene. All but one of them involved the police not caring, or indeed being intentionally and deliberately hostile and aggressive, bordering on violent, towards the casualty.
In some of them, the rider was me.
Only one thing will keep the bike rider alive - decent infrastructure that forms a "wall to hide behind" away from the drivers.
OK, so cyclists are getting killed on the Capitals streets, send in the police to educate them...Oh, but they are the ones being killed...where is the same treatment for tipper truck drivers?
If you don't know the answers to the questions, Mr Boris, say you don't know, and ask someone who does know the answer. You can't know everything and you would be wise to acknowledge that rather than saying the first thing that pops into your mind.
“Any one of these deaths is one too many. If you go out on the streets of London today you will see police out in force on Operation Safeway trying to get cyclists to obey the law.”
What is the connection Boris? Are you using the old implicit meaning technique here? Stop blaming victims, stop implying the all cycle deaths are caused by the cyclist, take some bloody action to stop these deaths other than the above. I am almost tempted to find operation safeway and get myself pulled to have this conversation - probably get myself arrested for the language so I can say in court (and therefore be protected from any libel/defamation laws) exactly what is wrong with Boris and his approach. Perhaps call him as a witness too
Firstly Boris is a twat.
Secondly too many cyclists do ride up the inside of vehicles big and small that might potentially be or actually turning left.
However, big caveat, why is it ALWAYS tipper truck drivers who do the killing of cyclists? You don't see M&S or Sainnsburys wagon drivers killing cyclists. Clearly this group of drivers should be better trained and their vehicles targeted for safety improvements to detect cyclists. Also monitoring of and penalties for HGV drivers who kill should massively increase.
I don't think it's victim blaming at all... Two separate incidents over the weekend
First a woman road up the inside of a lorry turning left, he was already moving, was indicating - she made no attempt to signal herself and was effectively trying to undertake - I screamed at her and she pulled on her brakes, but reckon she would have come off worst
And on Sunday at a busy round about lad nailed it onto a roundabout undertook a car signalling left and carried straight on - driver hit the horn and the lad turned and shouted 'f@&£ off' - lad looked to be a 'serious rider' out wearing club kit.
Sadly people rolling up the inside of vehicles at junctions as the lights change isn't an un common site - but makes me tense up when I see it
Except it is. Boris said:
"Any one of these deaths is one too many. If you go out on the streets of London today you will see police out in force on Operation Safeway trying to get cyclists to obey the law"
The only conclusion you can draw from that is that it is illegal cyclist behaviour which causes the death, ergo, the victim is to blame. Very common technique used by politicians to imply something they can't say outright, make two vaguely connected statements to imply one causes the other.
The instances you mention are stupid and dangerous behaviour, but there's no indication (and the facts of the case mentioned show it wasn't) that Claire Hitier-Abadie was doing anything illegal. As she wasn't, she was stopped at traffic lights and wasn't seen. No clearer victim blaming than if he has come out and said - 'it was her own fault for being on a bike', but he can't say that despite probably thinking it
This is the point I made on here yesterday and was roundly criticised for victim blaming - frankly it's a basic cycling education thing that would stop a lot potential accidents, costs nothing and is easy to implement across the community.
Yeah but if the drivers looked properly before turning, that would equally easily stop just as many accidents. And given that they are the one driving the thing that is going to kill someone, then it's their responsibility.
The message is also a lot easier. You can't have a message for cyclists of "never go past a large vehicle", as if you commute through a busy urban route this is simply impractical. So you're going to have a lot of different scenarios where it's safe or unsafe to explain. Message to drivers: look properly before turning to see if you're going to run someone over. No nuance needed.
The first should be a given - the point I'm making assumes they haven't and then you've not put yourself in a situation where you get yourself into difficulty.
As for the second bit, you shouldn't be alongside a moving large vehicle, but traffic stops and starts - go past it when it's stopped. If it's a big long line of them, you either take the risk and the responsibility or be patient and wait.
It's more "political incorrectness" - in the true sense of the term.
Offering advice to potential victims is not necessarily wrong, but you do (rightly) risk being seen as attempting to offload responsibility. Managing to avoid that risk while doing what you can is a legitimate political skill.
Though of course, making ambigous statements that divide opposition by seeming like advice (whilst actually offloading responsibility) is also a political skill, though perhaps a less legitimate one, depending on your view of morality.
Agreed. I never go on the left inside of Trucks, Buses, Coaches or Black Cabs in London.
Cars I can deal with. Much better to stay out on the right as much as possible. That takes bravado but I think it's safer. If a bus or Truck decides to turn right without indicating it's easier to take evasive action. IMHO
Boris is nut case anyway and a hypocrite as he used to ride all the time with one hand while on his phone. I still love him though.
I was at the die in yesterday. On my way there, whilst stopped in the ASL box in the lane to turn right immediately after crossing Chelsea Bridge, a great big National Express coach pulled up alongside. As we sat there waiting for the red light to change, with the driver sat directly alongside me to my left, I thought I'd give him a cheery wave. For some reason he didn't respond.
I'll have to find out exactly how this conductor waves his arms and try that instead. Excellent advice there Boris, glad you're looking out for me.
God help us if this man ever gets to be prime minister, some say he is a prime candidate for leader of the conservatives.
Hard to be seen in front of a truck when in the ASL box? Well they should double, if not triple the size of the boxes and then enforce them with police and camera's. I'm glad to see that one of the major junctions in the Deptford area is being listed as having much bigger ASL zones after the redesign has happened.
The operator of the lethal machinery, should, ensure that the situation is safe before they operate it. That applies to every other piece of machinery, why not tipper trucks?
And this doesn't just apply to bikes either. My wife was hit from behind by a tipper truck in her car when stationary at traffic lights. The driver thought the car in front of her was the last one in the queue. Driver wasn't prosecuted and insurance company hasn't paid ours yet so I'm still waiting for the excess 8 months later.
However, if I'm in an ASL I always look behind to see who is coming up or waiting behind me and make eye contact. Never needed to wave my arms around to do this. Also, I always go into the centre of the ASL (primary position).
Okay, I'm in. With added flags for emphasis.
I don't see any confirmation that the cyclists killed have lost their lives because they haven't been obeying the law. Its got, IMHO, f*k all to do with that.
TW4T
Get drivers to obey traffic laws first, then you can talk about cyclists! FFS!
And the same should apply to drivers Boris! The MET should put some resources into addressing that rather than victim blaming again.
why should the responsibility be off loaded on the vulnerable road
user ?
isn't it the driver who should be aware of their surroundings and
"threats" and act accordingly ?
well said!
It seems the focus is again is on inexperienced riders
Perhaps of interest, the Portland Bicycle Commuter Injury Study (search google), which followed 1,000 riders for a year, did not find a correlation between injuries and (in)experience. As for particular applicability to tipper lorry left hooks (here we call them truck right hooks!), I can't say.