Cyclist seriously hurt after collision with lorry
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Crushed: A bicycle lies under wheels of a lorry on Cotham Hill (Photo: Bristol Traffic)
Calls have been made to keep heavy goods vehicles out of the city centre, after an accident with a lorry left a cyclist with serious injuries.
Police are looking for witnesses to the crash between the lorry and cyclist on Whiteladies Road on Tuesday morning.
The lorry was turning off Cotham Hill at the junction with Whiteladies Road, opposite the Clifton Down Shopping Centre, at 10.45am when the cyclist was hit.
Police have said the female cyclist was taken to the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) for treatment. The bicycle she was riding was crushed under the front wheels of the lorry.
Cycling campaigner Chris Hutt told Bristol24-7 that the accident reinforced the need to keep heavy lorries out of the city centre.
“Although it may be that the lorry driver was blameless in this instance, I think we have to question whether lorries of that size should be making deliveries in narrow city streets with lots of cyclists and pedestrians,” he said.
“We all make mistakes and misjudgements. With articulated lorries of that size it’s difficult to judge how the vehicle is going to move in a turn and the consequences of even a minor misjudgement can be horrific, as we saw today. Mixing such long lorries with cyclists and pedestrians is just too risky.”
“Bristol needs a transhipment point on the fringe so that goods transported in large lorries can be transhipped to smaller ones for delivery in the inner city. Such a system exists experimentally in Norwich and we really need something similar here.
“Transhipment would also allow electric vehicles to be used in the city to reduce noise and pollution.”
Cotham Hill – a popular route for students walking and cycling towards Bristol University – was closed by police while their investigation was made.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is asked to contact police in the Collision Investigation Unit on 0845 456 7000.
I was so horrified when I heard about this – that poor girl. My thoughts have been with her all day and I send my very best wishes to her and her family.
I think the transit point idea is a good one. Not only would it make the streets safer but also less clogged up with traffic. I live off Chandos Road and there are regularly lorries of this size doing deliveries there and just like Cotham Hill in many points there is only adequate width for one vehicle to pass with cyclists and pedestrians having to squeeze their way through.
Blimey, that's awful.
That junction is always a bit dodgy with loads of cars all trying to go in different directions but it really shouldn't be used by HGVs!
Hope the cyclist recovers.