This is slightly raw since I am hospital after being hit on wednesday by an HGV doing 60km/h. Miraculously, after spinning through the air (the bike was destroyed under the wheels), I came out with broken ribs, delated lung, concussion and a broken leg. The accident circumstances were different ( I was at 90 degrees to the truck) and what saved me was wearing a backpack with a load of university papers and a laptop - these cushioned the blow and broke ribs , instead of worse. Doesn't safety advice say not to wear a backpack and to use panniers? I could have been dead or paralysed without it.
The Lifesaver issue seems to ring true . also scannign the forward field of vision - that would have helped in my case.
I am writing a cathartic blog posting and will post it, now that i am enjoying a painful but unexpected second lease of life.
Dr. Simon Batterbury | Associate Professor, Environmental Studies| Dept. of Geography | 221 Bouverie St (rm L2.33) | University of Melbourne, 3010 VIC,
+61 (0)3 8344 9319 | simonpjb @ unimelb.edu.au | http://www.simonbatterbury.net
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From: Cycling and Society Research Group discussion list [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Dave Holladay [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, 15 September 2015 7:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: CSRG Manchester - Manchester new tram tracks / HGV fatals
I've a meeting in Barnsley on Wednesday, and would like to drop by en
route to catch up if that's OK.
Would like to see how we can tie in some known detail which seems to
correlate and point to further research.
1) at least 80% of HGV-cycle fatal crashes in London are initiated by an
impact between the front nearside quarter of the HGV and the rear
offside quarter of the cycle.
2) immediately prior to an impact in this area the cyclist will be in
the position of least visibility from the driving position - viz masked
by the nearside A pillar, (ironically) the cluster of external mirrors
placed to remove the blind spots across the front and down to the rear
and side of the truck, and the entire solid panelled front nearside
corner and door of the truck.
3) there are indications that the cyclists are also unaware of the
approaching truck because they do not maintain good all round
observation by both aural and visual checks, especially the rearward
over the right shoulder visual check, which is known by motorcyclists as
the Lifesaver - which pretty bluntly tells you why you need to keep
doing this in busy traffic.
4) 10 years ago a robust 5000 response survey of cyclists clearly
highlighted 2 points
i) female respondents answered that they
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