Eilidh Cairns' killer questioned over second London lorry fatality

UPDATE: Joao Lopes was last week formally charged over the death of 97 year old Nora Gutmann. Does anyone know if he's still employed as a driver, or indeed still have the brass-neck enough to be driving at all? Or even leaving his home during daylight?

A V Lowe, well commented. I'm just re-posting this from your comment to be sure it sinks in with people skimming through these comments -

"The truck in this incident had a tally of 2 killed and another in a wheelchair - all young women, and 2 of those crashes with the same driver."

I don't know what to say, I'm just stunned as well as saddened by that fact.

Give it a few years and we'll probably read that he's killed a third, and a fourth......

SICK OF READING ABOUT THE INEFFICIENT TREATMENT OF CYCLIST AND PEDESTRIAN DEATHS !

They say that a soldier killed in Theatre costs £1/2 m but then a cop moves on witnesses to a Cyclist's deth because they are blocking traffic ! Where does the buck stop ? When one of his family lies under the truck ?

Blogged about this on skippi-cyclist before i saw this story ad i am sure both the original magistrate and the coroner must be horrified to see their " Good natured leniency " lead to another death ?

How did this 5ft2inch excuse for a HGV driver get his license renewed after being deprived of it when his eyes were tested ?

HOW MANY MORE DEATHS BEFORE THE AUTHORITIESTIGHTEN UP PROCEDURES ?

Sad that in this day we (cyclists) are still seen as the primary blame 'components' in (m)any road collisions/fatalities.
In Ireland elderly drivers, HGV drivers and(despite changes to the law there are still..) unaccompanied 'L' drivers- yes even on the motorways- involved in many incidents such as this.
Very few prosecutions to my knowledge...never seem to hear any follow up stories regarding their fate...at the hands of the court.
It seems such a shame that there appears to be very little learned from previous cases (reported in the UK press)...It sickens me to think that the same person could be involved in more than once incident and be allowed back behind the wheel of what is essentially a dangerous apparatus - even at the hands of skilled drivers - here's hoping that future cases are scrutinised in order to prevent this happening...
At least in Ireland there is always a highly publicised 'Bank Holiday' effort by the Gardai regarding driving safety- data suggests that this is the time when most incidents are likely to happen- as I live in a more rural area I welcome Gardai 'spot checks'.
Unfortunately there is very little in the way of police presence at any other time in my area due to lack of funding, road quality is terrible and the driving skill is even worse...so many times I've had the 'obligatory' 2 inch pass by at speed(80kph+)by small & large(articulated) vehicles and have been clipped by wing mirror..elderly woman driver.
Thankfully any 'serious' injuries I've received have been due to my own over eagerness during bad weather and have not involved any other vehicles...here's hoping my luck holds out...

I wasn't aware of the situation regarding that mixer truck AV and what you say is truly alarming.
Dangerous drivers need to be kept off the roads for everyone's sake. That some drivers should be involved in repeat fatalities is a travesty.

A well-considered response A V, to which I would add that making delivery and movement to and from sites part of the health and safety risk assessment for all projects should be mandatory.

As I understand it at the moment the risk assessment (and by extension the liability that comes from failing to reasonably mitigate the risks) covers only the site itself and not the wider (and foreseeable) implications of putting several hundred or several thousand heavy vehicles in the surrounding environment.

On another tack, this is why when cycling in London I don't feel compelled to follow all the traffic rules and regulations. It has been made clear time and time again that the rules and regulations of the road are heavily slanted to motor vehicles. Even the simple fact that there are so many traffic lights, street furniture and other restrictions is a direct result of motorised traffic.

Why should cyclists have the responsibility to observe these when they are not part of the problem for which the rules are presented as the solution, nor do they appear to receive the protection and rights which are the flip side of responsibility.

If protestors can occupy Wall Street and the City, cyclists should take similar action to protest against unfair restrictions and demand equal rights and protection.

In my view it is time for a real cycling revolution. We have nothing to lose but our chains... oh bugger, now my hands are dirty.

This is not the first case of inadequacy in the law relating to drivers who have show the potential to kill or have actually been in crashes where others have been killed or injured just short of the loss of life.

In Colchester the death of a teenage girl when an 87 year old driver, drove into a group of pedestrians, happened days after a similar crash, sufficient to indicate the danger this driver was to others using the road, and attended by the Police, has prompted a campaign for a faster way to get a potentially dangerous driver off the road. The driver in this case also died shortly after the crash. If London's 'rioters' can end up in court 'before their feet touch' why can't the Police get this same rapid action to get a licence revoked?

I rolled up shortly after the driver of a concrete mixer had killed a cyclist on London Wall - turning to get from the offside lane into a narrow street banned to HGV traffic, and cutting up the traffic in the nearside lane - which included the young woman on a bike who went under his wheels. This was a typical in livery contract - a small operator contracted to drive his trucks in the colours of a well known company. The results of this crash are well known and made a major impact on a key concrete supplier. It was at the point where the City of London Police were becoming seriously concerned about the number of fatal crashes between construction trucks and 'soft' road users. The truck in this incident had a tally of 2 killed and another in a wheelchair - all young women, and 2 of those crashes with the same driver. This also presses the case to make the culpability track back to the operator, as the same operator names appear on reports of bad driving on local cycling forums. A question also of whether the Traffic Commissioner is effective, or properly supported by the courts, in their role of issuing and revoking both HGV driving licences and the licences to operate trucks and buses.

Sometimes the client, or project management do act (after all the trail eventually tracks back to their demands for deliveries, and spoil removal to a tight schedule, and reckless driving has resulted in summary termination of a contract. Names are known.

Painful though it may be to compile and read, I'd suggest that a review of the cycle fatalities resulting from collisions with HGV's in London will reveal some worrying detail, not least the over emphasis on the cyclist being at fault for being on the inside of that left turning truck - when they are put in that position by the driver overtaking the cyclist. Perhaps a greater emphasis on road awareness and a massive campaign to stop people cycling with earpieces - both recent reports on cyclists killed by a tram (Croydon) and train (Tyneside) had 'ipods' and earpieces recovered from the scene, with strong evidence that the rider was not aware of the noise, and warnings sounded from the rail vehicles.