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news
Bank Junction before it was closed to traffic other than buses and cyclists (licensed CC BY 2.0 by Ronnie Macdonald)No charges for lorry driver involved in Bank Junction cyclist death
The driver of the lorry involved in the death of cyclist Ying Tao at Bank junction in the City of London will not be charged in connection with the incident last June.
According to the London Evening Standard, the City of London Police and the Crown Prosecution Service decided after a six-month review that there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.
Specifically, they concluded that the standard of driving had not fallen below that of a “competent and careful driver” required in a charge of causing death by careless driving.
They also established that the lorry had no defects at the time of the fatal crash.
A spokeswoman for the City of London Police told the newspaper: “The investigation has come to a conclusion, with no further action to be taken.”
Ms Tao, originally from China and a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge universities had been cycling her work at PricewaterhouseCoopers when she was struck by the left-turning lorry.
The 26-year-old had recently celebrated her first wedding anniversary and her husband Jin Chan Zho said: “She was the perfect wife and perfect in every way. She was smart as well as beautiful.”
Following her death, both the London Cycling Campaign and Stop Killing Cyclists organised vigils at the junction, which the City of London Corporation now plans to bar to all motor vehicles other than buses between 7am and 7pm.
> Cycle safety protests at Bank
Unveiling the proposals last November, Michael Welbank, who chairs the Corporation’s Planning & Transportation Committee, said: “Bank Junction is dysfunctional, dangerous, dirty, congested, and polluting” and that it was “completely inappropriate to form the heart of a modern city.”
> Radical overhaul of Bank Junction planned
Donnachadh McCarthy, co-founder of Stop Killing Cyclists, told the Standard: “We are disappointed at a lack of prosecution.
“We are, however, pleased that the corporation is responding positively to the call – after the huge protest following the awful death of Ying Tao – that Bank junction be made into a safe space at the heart of the City for cyclists and pedestrians.”
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.
Latest Comments
- BBB 3 sec ago
Inhumane system that now will be getting even worse.
- Bungle_52 3 hours 23 min ago
In case anyone missed it in yesterdays blog here are the two pevious articles. The second one contains the testimony from the driver....
- David9694 3 hours 32 min ago
The old role was appointed at the Mayor's pleasure; is in addition to the permanent staff of the Combined Authority. I'm not sure if Adam was an...
- chrisonabike 3 hours 37 min ago
Ah... but which civilisation? If arguing from precedent (or even "moral ground") - with the benefit of almost no political, historical knowledge...
- WillPage 4 hours 58 min ago
Nothing says "welcoming environment" like uniformed thugs, umm I mean "security patrols " roaming the area.
- galibiervelo 6 hours 16 min ago
That is class news. Super bikes and vision. Bet there will be no stand at the Taiwan bike show next year! Big luck to all the team
- Destroyer666 6 hours 58 min ago
Pretty clearly stated several times in the text that the issue was not related just to his son. And besides, everybody watching the races could see...
- Rendel Harris 7 hours 14 min ago
All Fizik and Selle Italia saddles (though not all their other products) are made in Italy I believe, and their 3D printed models definitely are.
- chrisonabike 7 hours 40 min ago
If you're not on the road with a car, I bet its driver is much less likely to swerve into your space *. Because you're not "in the way"! (Any...
- mdavidford 7 hours 56 min ago
The problem with this argument, though, is that it's just not true....
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15 comments
I'm surprised that cyclists never seem to complain about the notion of careless driving being defined as below that of a "careful and competent" driver etc. The amendment to the Road Traffic Act that created this rationale is only about ten years do and could be repealed if there was a strong enough lobby against it.
I just think it is unfortunate that those with real responsibility (i.e. the clowns who "design" junctions like this) can't be held to account. It is a fact that HGVs have massive blind spots, anything up to 5 metres on the nearside, and 3 metres immediately in front of the lorry. NExt time you are at a set of traffic lights in London, look where the "cycle lanes" actively encourage cyclists to go. You got it, up the nearside blindspot, and possibly into the front blind spot by virtue of an advanced stop line.
Oh, and in response to the comment about 0.0001% of lorries not suffering a defect, they are MOT'd every 12 weeks, and poorly performing operators do have their licence taken off them.
One final point before Iget off my soap box, lorries only go into city and town centres in order to deliver things that the residents want. If supermarkets in cities could not receive there deliveries by lorry, they would either have to close or have a literally never ending stream of smaller vans delivering. A large van may have a payload of as much as 2.5 tonnes, whilst a typical artic used to deliver to city centres would have a payload approx 10 times that.
tonylen - the Police do have recourse to challenge a decision the CPS make, i've done it before. Also whenever i have sought CPS advice for a charging decision it has always been a senior crown prosecutor who decides the outcome, very rarely will a brand new lawyer be given a case such as this to decide the outcome.
"insufficient evidence" is why we use cameras
Well if the lorry had no defects, it must have been part of the 0.0001% that are road legal HGVs
more luck, than good management of the company I'm sure.
And also,on a small point of order-the decision on whether to bring charges or not is the sole responsibility of the CPS-the police gather and present the evidence to them,and they may or may not offer a professional opinion on the incident which the CPS lawyer may or may not take into account-ultimately the final decision is with the CPS
Problem is that CPS will only prosecute if they feel there is a realistic prospect of a conviction-that threshold ,though supposedly objective, is inevitably influenced by each individual lawyers own experience and views (this applies for all cases,not just ones such as this)
This can mean that an inexperienced or nervous or feeble CPS lawyer,when "testing" the evidence,will anticipate even the most ridiculous and nonsensical defences to the charges and use these to refuse charge and therefore remove the ability to "let the court decide"
Believe me this is a source of much frustration to investigating police officers who on many occasions disagree with the (non) charging decision but have no recourse to challenge it.
There are 3 potential causes - driver, cyclist or infrastructure. Since the junction has been acknowledged as flawed there is sufficient cause for reasonable doubt, unless there is cctv or a whole host of witnesses to prove poor driving.
Why are "stop killing cyclist" upset at the lack of prosecution? An exhaustive 6 month investigation has concluded there are no charges to answer. I get that road safety is important but saying "i'm annoyed an innocent person hadn't been prosecuted" to further our political agenda makes you sound like an ass.
Absolutely. Not every motorist involved in an incident with a cyclist is at fault. Sometimes it's the cyclist and sometimes the lines are so blurred it's inappropriate to apportion blame. If you choose to travel on the public highway there is a risk - accept that or stay indoors.
Is that what you say to your H&S officers - "oh, there's always some risk at work"? We could try to assess what caused the collision, and we should be holding drivers to higher standards, bevause they cause the danger.
Agreed up to a point, which is part of the point of presumed liability. And the case for better infrastructure and traffic management is also compelling. But ultimately the public realm isn't a workplace and we really wouldn't want it to be be treated like one.
Presumed liability would only kick in when you claim off the motorist's insurance. I can't see it having any influence on driver behaviour (for example tailgating is endemic despite the car behind being at fault if there is a collision) but would make it easier to get compensated for your loss/injuries after an incident.
But in this instance the HGV driver was working, his cab will be a no smoking zone as it is a workplace. The public realm is already being used as a workplace but not with the same protection for the public.
I've been on construction sites that have policies in place to prevent vehicles manoevering around workers on foot without banksmen in place to offer assistance to the driver but as soon as they leave the site the driver has to manage on their own.
The difference is stark and down to the level of investigation if an incident happened and who can be found criminally responsible.
My point was really twofold. First, we should not expect drivers, or cyclists, or anyone, to be perfect. With the benefit of hindsight it is possible to spot flaws in the conduct of most road users and that will always be the way things are. The best we can hope for is 'reasonable', a word that crops up time and time again in English law.
And secondly, I'm sure the police and the CPS have done precisely what you ask, they have assessed the causes of the collision. And their conclusion was that no charges should be brought.
Life can be tough, you must accept this or you are doomed to a world of disappointment and high blood pressure.
I see no reason not to expect something closer to perfection from those given the privilege of a driving licence. And saying that the police and CPS have failed to find enough evidence to prosecute is hardly the same as saying the driver was blameless.
no the 6month investigation has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to pursue a prosecution on a death by careless driving charge, the police & cps have been very careful in the wording of what theyve concluded and not sought to label any party involved innocent or guilty, as ultimately that is for the courts to decide.