Word reaches us from the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed forum of an incredible escape for a woman on a bicycle near London Bridge Station:
...people started shouting "Stop! Stop!" and I could hear a rapid crunching/popping noise.
Turning round I saw an articulated lorry, driving toward the bridge.
On her back, knees bent and feet on the front bumper, was a lady who was being pushed along the ground by the lorry- her bike was just going under the front wheel which was the crunching/popping noise.
The driver was looking around him at all these people shouting "Stop! Stop!" and shrugging- his reaction was "they cannot be shouting at me", so he kept going.
It was probably all over in seconds, but it seemed to be a long time before he finally decided that the people (including myself) who were waving/pointing at him, the lady and shouting, did mean that he should stop.
The lady cyclist probably got pushed 2-4 metres, hard for me to judge and I'm wary of exaggerating.
When he stopped lots of people rushed over and escorted the lady to the side of the road, she was fine, just shocked, she said that she thought she had made eye contact with the driver at the lights, but then he'd just driven straight into her/over her bike.
Neil Hammet, the witness, is trying to reach the woman so he can assist her – if you are her please give us a shout in the comments below, or email us.
Had the woman had less then Spiderman-like reactions, she might have been the 14th cyclist to die on London's roads this year. Borough High Street is a TfL-controlled road, as was the Kings Cross/York Way Junction where Min Lee Joo died in similar circumstances earlier this month. The excellent King's Cross Environment site is championing changes at that particular blackspot.
Middlebrook Transport Ltd, who operate the lorry, were unwilling to make a statement when we called and wouldn't confirm the destination of the vehicle, though the large shard-like girders on the back may offer some clues...
