This is the second letter I have written, this time at the end of August and to the Ringway Group. Again, I have not received a reply.

Ringway Group
Attn: Complaints
Albion House
Springfield Road
Horsham
West Sussex
RH12 2RW

Wednesday, 27th August 2008

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing regarding an incident that occurred this morning on Seven Sisters Road, N15 and which involved one of your HGV drivers. The licence plate of the vehicle was P1 DBN and it was labelled as a ‘Motorway Maintenance’ vehicle.

At approximately 9.40am, I was cycling up Seven Sisters Road, N15 and the driver of the above mentioned lorry passed me exceptionally closely and with far too much speed. I will describe the road there to help you understand the way in which this driver endangered my life.

Just at the junction with Amhurst Park (going towards Manor House) there is a small stretch of bike lane which then filters cyclists off to enable us to get over to the incoming, far left hand lane. Just at this point is a central island reservation (on the driver’s right), as well as a reservation to the driver’s left, in which a gap is made for the filtering off of cyclists. The small stretch of cycling lane (approx. 2m) starts at this point.

Just as I entered the cycling lane, your driver passed me with extreme speed and with his left wheels in the cycling lane. Essentially the driver was in too much of a hurry to lift his foot off the accelerator for the two seconds it would have taken me to filter off the road and in between the left hand reservation, safely away from other road users. There is barely space for a medium sized car to safely pass me at that point (and in fact, it is very rare for a car to force themselves passed me at this point in the manner of your driver), let alone an HGV. Being inconsiderate to other road users is not a crime, but the problem with such driving when in a vehicle of that size, is that inconsideration easily leads to serious injury, if not death.

As I am sure you are aware, every year several cyclists are killed by HGVs (26 in 2005), and so I find the actions of your driver to be extremely worrying. In fact, according to the BBC, half of all cyclists killed on London roads are actually killed by HGVs. To this end, something you might be interested in reading (and also making available to the drivers of your HGVs) is a brief study regarding cycle lanes and the common mistake that many motorised road users make. Essentially, Pete Owens’ “The Effect of Cycle Lanes on Cyclists’ Road Space” finds that many motorists use the markings of a cycle lane as a guide in passing a cyclist, instead of using their own judgement and common sense. Since many cycle lanes are woefully inadequate and too thin, this causes motorists to come far too close to cyclists, much closer than they would if they used their own judgement. My own experience as a cyclist, and also of every other cyclist that I know, confirms this study.

In closing, I would like to point out that whilst, in this instance, I was unharmed by the style of driving your colleague employs, it very easily could have been a different matter had he indeed clipped my handlebars, which he very nearly did. As in all instances, the greater one’s size, the greater the need for courtesy and awareness, since by sheer size, one can cause more damage than intentions would ever design.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Posted under complaints