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Cyclist Emma Foa |
Family of writer hit by truck watch footage
of fatal crash
Coroner calls on Transport for London to improve cycling safety
THE family of a cyclist killed in a collision with a cement mixer stood alongside the truck's driver on Monday as they watched harrowing CCTV footage of the accident together.
Writer and jeweller Emma Foa, 56, daughter of Adriano Olivetti, the typewriter magnate who helped the iconic Italian firm conquer the London market, died after being knocked off her bike in Camley Street, King’s Cross, on December 21 last year.
Her daughters Maya and Lia and her husband Reg Wright were at St Pancras Coroner's court for an inquest.
They heard driver Michael Thorn, 52, tell the court that he was “more cautious than most on the road.”
Mr Thorn, who had driven on that route for six years on a contract for King's Cross concrete makers Hanson, was fined £300 earlier this month after admitting a charge of driving without due care and attention at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
He said though he had been sorting out some paperwork in his cab while waiting at the junction, he had checked his mirrors but not seen Mrs Foa. As he pulled into Goods Way, he said he had been distracted by a horn sounding and did not check the mirrors a second time.
He added: “I drive in central London all the time, and check for cyclists all the time. I would have looked in my mirror. Whether I had looked and not seen I don’t know. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t see her because I was certain I’d looked in three mirrors. I am more cautious than most people on the road.”
Ms Foa had been following her normal morning route from her home in South Hill Park, Hampstead, to her husband’s Clerkenwell office.
St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid said he had presided over too many inquests caused by collisions between heavy vehicles and cyclists. He pledged to use his coroner’s powers to call on Transport for London to raise awareness of cycling safety.
He said he had written to the government after a cyclist’s death at the same junction five years earlier.
“I wrote to the Secretary of State [for transport] asking her to publicise what is required of drivers and cyclists at these junctions,” he said. “With the policy being to promote cycling, action should be taken. I will write to Transport for London with a report, referring to my previous report to the Secretary of State for Transport and inviting them to produce suitable literature to raise awareness of this issue.”
The submission of a report under section 43 of the Coroner’s Act is one of the strongest sanctions available to a coroner.
Dr Reid’s stance was welcomed by Mr Wright, a publisher who along with the couple’s daughters, has campaigned for cycling safety since the accident. He said: “This is a very strong statement and it reflects how important this issue has become.”
At the inquest, the family heard a detailed description of the accident from collisions investigator PC David Wilson, who used CCTV from the scene to show that Mrs Foa, in a bright yellow jacket and helmet, had pulled alongside Mr Thorn’s truck at a red light.
When the cement mixer turned left, Mrs Foa was seen raising her arm in alarm as the gap between her and the truck narrowed. Phillip Dean, from Angel, witnessed the collision from a car behind the truck.
He said: “It became very obvious the cement mixer was unaware she was there. It immediately forced the cyclist into a very tight space, exacerbated by the fact there are railings there.
“As if in slow motion, she got drawn under the vehicle.”
PC Wilson said the truck passed all inspections after the accident.
He added that Mr Thorn had been “very distressed” at the scene.
The truck had a sign for cyclist, which read: “Danger zone, do not pass this side”.
Verdict: accidental death. |
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