Another London cyclist death. But are we looking in the wrong place for the solution.
Somewhere, as we speak, a man is currently enduring the emotional purgatory of knowing that he was driving a Squibb Group truck that killed yet another London cyclist. And, unfortunately, the media has already categorised him as guilty.
With the notable exceptions of the Americans, Chinese and Jeremy Clarkson, the world now views anything powered by a fossil fuel as inherently evil while cyclists are seen as the Lycra-clad saviours of the planet.
The truth, however, is far less cut and dried. For one thing, a truck driver is generally the only part of the equation that has been appropriately trained and is, therefore, qualified to control his vehicle of choice. You are legally required to take a test before being allowed behind the wheel of a heavy goods vehicle of any kind. Meanwhile, anyone with a few hundred pounds to spare can buy a bike and launch themselves onto a busy road, protected by little more than a soap-dish crash helmet, the vigilance of fellow road users, and divine intervention.
Like oil and water, large, heavy trucks and small, unprotected humans do not mix. No demolition contractor would consider allowing cyclists to roam across one of their sites. And yet local authorities, clients and even the bicycle-loving Mayor of London happily invite heavy trucks onto narrow and congested streets filled with darting cyclists.
Of course, separating trucks and cyclists would be difficult; road closures virtually impossible. And yet…
I live in Epsom, home of the Derby. Once a year, the entire town centre is re-routed in the immediate aftermath of the race to allow The Queen and her convoy of flunkies to drive the wrong way down a series of one-way streets to ensure that Her Maj is home in time to feed the corgis and to catch the Eastenders Omnibus.
The incident involving the Squibb Group truck will, of course, spark an investigation. While the authorities are deciding who was genuinely at fault, let us hope that they look beyond the tragic incident itself and consider what can genuinely be done to avoid a repeat.
