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Flatmate Cristina Schoenborn and cycling campaigner Cynthia Barlow |
Campaigners’ fury as blindspot is blamed for death of cyclist
Claim that extra safety measures on cement-mixer lorry ‘would have saved young girl’s life’
ROAD safety campaigners have expressed alarm after a coroner ruled that the death of a 29-year-old cyclist in a collision with a 32-tonne lorry in Finsbury was an accident.
Rebecca Goossen, a trainee architect, died in a crash with a cement mixer at the junction of Old Street and Goswell Road as she cycled to work on April 9.
The lorry had begun to turn left at the junction when the cyclist, who was travelling straight on, was caught on the inside.
St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard yesterday (Thursday) that driver Vladas Urbanas checked his mirror before beginning to turn but was unable to see Ms Goossen, who was caught in a blindspot.
Mr Urbanas said: “I checked my mirror and it was clear. When I started turning I didn’t hear anything then I felt my truck jump and I felt in my heart something had happened so I stopped.”
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid recorded a verdict of accidental death after collisions investigator Mark Crouch told the inquest it was “entirely possible” that the cyclist was either partly or completely obscured to the driver, despite the vehicle being fitted with “all the appropriate safety measures”.
Dr Reid said: “The vehicle was fitted with the correct measures for its type. But it is not possible to exclude the possibility that she was sitting in one of the few blindspots that remain despite these measures.”
The cement mixer was fitted with a system giving a verbal warning to cyclists should they attempt to pass on the near side, activated when the left indicator is on.
But Ms Goossen’s devastated flatmate, Cristina Schoenborn, has joined cycling campaigner Cynthia Barlow, of Camden, in her campaign to force companies operating heavy vehicles to install further devices to guard against accidents.
Following the death of Ms Barlow’s 26-year-old daughter in 2000 – in a collision with a cement mixer, in this case belonging to Cemex – the mother bought shares in the company. She then had new devices installed in its 1,500 mixers, tankers and tippers to prevent accidents.
Safety equipment in Cemex lorries includes additional mirrors and a sensor that warns the driver if there is a cyclist on the inside.
Ms Barlow said she was “extremely disappointed” that Dr Reid did not question whether such devices should be more widely used.
She said: “His ruling shows a too-ready acceptance of the existence of blindspots as something that cannot be avoided. There is no such thing as a blindspot. There are difficult-to-see spots, but there are measures that can be taken to make drivers aware of vehicles on their inside.
“Clearly, such measures would have saved this young girl’s life.”
Ms Goossen’s tragic death is the latest in Islington to involve a cement-mixer lorry.
Community activist Lisa Pontecorvo, 64, was crushed to death as she wheeled her cycle in front of a cement mixer in Holloway Road in September last year.
And in December 2006, cyclist Emma Foa, 56, died after colliding with a left-turning cement-mixer lorry in Camley Street, King’s Cross. |
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Your comments:
Very sad. Come on bikers - get more visible, and steer clear of big vehicles- give them space.
T. Lions
T. Lions. You can't just blame cyclists. I avoid hugging the kerb but have been cut up and forced left by cars, vans and even a HGV. If said vehicle overtakes you, forcing you left to avoid a collision, then suddenly turns left (because you are now stuck in its blindspot) you are toast.Lots of road users seem to really believe that they are entitled to force cyclists who refuse to cycle close to kerb out of the way.
Emily C.
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