Inquest into the death of Elizabeth Webb Elizabeth Webb was killed by a left turning lorry near Mile End station in September last year. The inquest was on Wednesday May 3. Charlie Lloyd was in attendance. Elizabeth was heading west, straight across the junction with Burdett Road from the left lane of a three lane road (A11). The part loaded articulated lorry was about to turn left (into Burdett Road) and was partially in lane one and lane two of the same road. It was raining. When the lights changed they both set off together, the lorry accelerating to about 9mph in the first 30 metres. To make as much room for his trailer as possible the lorry went a long way forward, swung to the right a little and then quickly swung left, at which point the front of the lorry hit Elizabeth, knocked her off the bike and ran over her. She was killed instantly. The driver had not seen her at all, he did not know he had run over somebody until after he felt the bump and stopped to get out of his cab. He had seen a police car immediately behind him at the lights. In evidence he said that seeing the police he thought to himself that he "must do everything right". He had his left turn indicators on, he said he checked his mirrors when the lights changed and he began to pull away, and yet he still ran over and killed a cyclist. He had been paying more attention to the pedestrians who were running across the road in the rain. From his statement it is clear he was under considerable stress, he was late for the delivery, he had been lost, his boss had rung him up to say "where are you?". He was reading his maps while driving and while stopped at the traffic lights, he had shouted at the pedestrians who were trying to get out of the rain by crossing against the lights. It is clear that he must have overtaken Elizabeth in the half mile or so before the lights, he had no recollection of seeing a cyclist (neither had the driver of the police panda car). He had not checked his mirrors while stopped at the lights when Elizabeth cycled up from behind in the inside lane. Had he been paying full attention he would have noticed when he overtook her, he should have kept an eye out to see where she went. If he had thought about her at all he may have suspected that she could be hidden from view, beside the front of his lorry. That level of observation and consideration of other road users is part of the training given to articulated lorry drivers. As yet courts and prosecutors do not recognise that level of skill as being necessary for safe driving. They take the view that in this case the driver did 'everything right'. As in every similar case the coroner's verdict was 'accidental death'. The lessons for cyclists are obvious. Never go up the left side of a lorry unless you can get a long way in front of it before the next junction. If a lorry moves away from the left side of the road it could mean it is making more space for itself, before turning left sharply. Be doubly careful in bad weather as drivers' visibility is reduced and they can be distracted by other road users. The lessons for lorry drivers are not so obvious, especially as the police seem to agree that he did 'everything right' and they have not charged him with any offence.

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Get a car, you pigs As the new superstores near completion on the old Anchor Brewery site in Mile End Road, some highway engineering is also taking place in front of the site, at the junction with Stepney Green. Because the new site will generate enormous amounts of motor traffic, new 'Pig Pen' style pedestrian crossings are being installed. These are pedestrian operated, similar to pelican crossings, but differ in that the pedestrian cannot cross the road in one go, but must perform an awkward right turn inside a cage (Highway engineers use the term 'pig pen', or its less derisory cousin 'sheep pen' either way it suggests the light that these people hold pedestrians in) and then wait in the middle of the road, while they operate another button. Assuming they haven't meanwhile died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the hapless pedestrian then begins the second half of their journey to cross one road. What is most bizarre about this scheme is that pig pens are being installed at all four road entrances on this junction, even at the entrance to the superstore, and across Stepney Green, already a fairly narrow road. It was clearly difficult here for the highway designers to make it a real challenge for the poor peds. But nevertheless, our resourceful engineers, no doubt remembering the cry of the Cable Street rioters "THEY SHALL NOT PASS" managed to squeeze in a pig pen with a 90 degree turn, albiet only just. The resulting cage is very tight, and I watched recently as two people tried to pass each other inside it, one had a pushchair, the other a shopping trolley, one person waited on the road while the other exited the pig pen - a site of future conflict I fear. When I first heard about these plans I contacted the borough engineers department and was told that the borough Policy and Implementation Committee, made up of elected councillors, had laid down a ruling that all future junctions in the borough will require pedestrians to perform this right turn inside a cage. So I wrote to Cllr. Michael Keith Chair of the P&IC, asking why, in the week that the government launched its National Walking Strategy aimed at increasing pedestrian mileage, here in Tower Hamlets we are making it harder for people to, well er, walk? I did not receive a reply, I wrote to the Mayor, Cllr Denise Jones and The Borough Engineers - to date I have not heard from any of them. I also wrote to Oonah King MP, who has replied, she agrees in principle with the new pedestrian controls at the crossing, and regrets the inconvenience to pedestrians. It appears that if you currently walk in Tower Hamlets, the borough would prefer you didn't. If you insist on walking, then your journey will take longer, and if you use a wheelchair, or pushchair, your life has just got that little bit harder.

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Thoughts on May Day Once again cycling has been hijacked for another cause. After the masses of the anti-capitalist demo on May Day there was the less well publicised anti-capitalist critical mass. Some voices were raised as to why Wheelers did not have a presence there, as the demo had a cycling element, after all Wheelers often has attend the monthly mass. What is a cycling element? Just because people are on a bike does it mean that it (the rally) is a cycling issue; if the British Facist Movement decided to cycle though an area instead of marching through it would we be expected to join in, as there is a cycling element? The question to be asked is: are all cyclists anti-capitalist? Anti-capitalist appears to be an umbrella phrase to mean people who don't like the world the way it is. Some cyclists are not happy about the way the environment is treated, that is to say they want to reduce car traffic and stop pollution, but anti-capitalist; not necessarily. Other cyclists may not give a damn about the environment, they may wish to take their four wheel drives off-road before tearing up a wood on their bikes. Each is a cyclist; who can say who is wrong or right. Even those who care about the environment may have problems staying green. The bikes we ride are often made by large American corporations, a lot of light weight cycling technology is an off shoot of the aero industry, we may rail that the petroleum industry fuels the car but it also oils our wheels. We are the laissez-faire travellers, we are not hemmed in by the government imposed roads, we can veer off into woods and parks. Within a small section of the cycling movement there seems to be a belief that cyclists are, as Marx (Groucho) said, "against it, whatever it is, I'm against it". A hair shirt asceticism where cyclists must suffer to prove that we are right, we eschew the comfortable and the smooth to pursue the hard and the rocky route. But cycling is a broad church, it embraces many people; as well as the anarchists that cycle there are the business people in suits, and all those in between. Curiously one of the main agents for change in the City are the judges who cycle to work. What does uprooting grass and then laying it on the road have to do with cycling? Does it help anybody? It's just gesture politics which gains a few headlines but does not take the debate any further and probably makes it more polarised. Digging up grass, smashing up McDonalds, surrounding a car and rocking it may be temporarily liberating for the people doing it, but what about the people at the receiving end? How did the people in McDonalds feel and how did the car driver feel? By isolating and picking on individuals the mob has shown the same contempt for people that they claim to despise in McDonalds or in the careless driver. It is not by picking on individuals that things change it is by changing mass opinion. Then there is that poor grass, presumably dug up and left to die in the road. In countries where cycling is commonplace, The Netherlands for example, it is popular because it is inclusive. A visit to a cafe in Holland shows the wide variety of people who cycle; there is no need for special gear or attitude just the belief that cycling is a great way to get around. The non-cycling world in Britain sees cyclists as an odd bunch on the fringes of society, we have to show them that cycling is just as diverse as society. Cycling welcomes everyone.

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Borough provides pool bikes for council staff In a very positive and almost enlightened move, The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has decided to purchase eight bicycles, for use by staff at Council Offices while on borough business. The pool of bikes will be made up of Muddy Fox Trailblazers, supplied by Bicycle Magic on Whitechapel Road. They will be distributed to four council office sites across the borough, Mulberry Place, Southern Grove, Roman Road and Jack Dash House. Staff are being sent on formal cycle training courses, and to date thirty council officers are trained and ready for the road. The bikes are being extremely well equipped for city use, and their specification will include: full length mudguards, U-locks and holders, alloy rear carrier, dynamo lighting and hopefully a bell. Bicycle Magic will provide the bikes with an annual service in the first year, after that they will be serviced quarterly along with other borough vehicles. Secure covered parking is already in place at some of the sites, and can be used for staff bikes as well as the pool cycles. If the take up on these bikes is sufficient, and the scheme considered succesful more bikes will be purchased in future. It will be interesting to hear how borough staff, particularly those who have not previously cycled, get along. The borough deserves to be applauded for going ahead with this scheme.

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Millennium Festival of Cycling update Meeting 7th June 7.30 pm at 7 Bellevue Place E1 Final meeting to discuss events and plans for the summer festival on 17th June in Mile End Park. Please come along if you think you can help on the day. Great Biegal Race 9.30 am 17th June The launch event of the Millennium Festival of Cycling. If you want to take part in this fun challenge you must register with Gary; Details: 020 7265 9095 Read more about the Millennium Festival of Cycling on our diary page.

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