This short section of cycle lane on Forest Road invites cyclists to undertake these two stationary HGVs, which are waiting at traffic lights. There's a major left turn junction here, just beyond the lights (Palmerston Road). Some invitations are best declined.
Meanwhile
Lorry driver on a bicycle:
“I felt unnerved by being so close to the lorry, pinned against the wall. I know what it’s like to have a lorry thunder past in a car, so I can imagine that for a cyclist it’s ten times worse. Having spoken to Susan, I also appreciate now why cyclists swerve on the road, often to avoid potholes and glass, which a driver can’t see.”
Cyclist in an HGV cab:
“The major thing I realised is that when a lorry has started turning, a cyclist is literally invisible to the driver. I always used to assume that lorry drivers were unthinking idiots but I can now appreciate how many things the driver has to think about when he’s on the road. But I still think they drive too fast and as for blind spots, I really don't think there are that many before they start making the turn - there are four mirrors for heaven's sakes!”
The London Paper invites a lorry driver and a cyclist to see each other’s point of view.
Meanwhile today’s Evening Standard reports that
More than 1,000 safety lenses that help lorries spot cyclists are being given to HGV drivers around the Olympic Park. It comes after two riders died and another was seriously injured in collisions with trucks in the capital. The Olympic site in Stratford will generate thousands of extra truck journeys to support the construction programme in the run-up to 2012.
