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Two wheels v four
THE coroner at the inquest into the death of Russian cyclist Venera Minakhmetova, killed at Bow roundabout last year, decided that the cause of her death was that she had jumped red lights. Plainly the coroner was right to point out that this is reckless behaviour, though cyclists claim that, notwithstanding significant changes to Bow roundabout where the accident took place, this is still a junction with confusing signals, of which cyclists remain wary. Indeed, this is not the only tragedy partly attributable to risk-taking behaviour: another inquest heard today that a cyclist was killed riding while intoxicated at Whitechapel.
Obviously, all road-users must respect the rules of the road as a matter of courtesy as well as safety. But the consequences of errors for cyclists are more lethal than for motorists. Their sheer vulnerability was manifest yesterday in an accident at Shepherd's Bush, in which a cyclist was pinned under a skip truck. We need more dedicated cycle lanes - which the Mayor has already promised. But we also need a culture of road use in which both motorists and cyclists treat each other with respect.
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Standard not News.
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