There has been a serious development in the “blame” and “responsibility” stakes concerning collisions between HGV’s and Cyclists after the recent death of Joo Lee, a student, at a renowned junction in King’s Cross. Local campaigners are now calling for a case of corporate manslaughter to be raised against transport for London.

The thinking behind the charge stems from warnings given by residents and campaigners over two years ago which led to a “walkabout” of the area by concerned members of the public and TfL commissioned contractors. This in turn led to the publication of a report by TfL.

However, it was published under duress and only after a local resident and campaigner pushed for it’s publication via a freedom for information request. The report noted that without specific and vast improvements auditors “felt that casualties were inevitable”.

Understandably, campaigners, residents, cyclists and many sectors of the public are upset and angered by the incident as they believe, and the facts would suggest, it was avoidable if preventative measures recommended had been implemented.

If this case is pursued and the campaigners have any degree of success it will initially be a catastrophic blow for TfL. Ultimately though, it may lead to a complete transformation in how they prioritise and deal with safety for vulnerable users on the roads.

The problems are layered but well documented. Visibility, speed, clear road markings, training and design all play a part but as the “Cyclists in the City” blog commented “TfL knows that accidents happen at junctions. And junctions are where the Cycle Super Highways are a consistent let-down”.

That is why we are so keen to create political and public awareness around our junction view application on the ASL360SV camera system. It wouldn’t resolve the issues of poor road design or drivers driving too fast but, conversely, it would dramatically reduce dangerous blind spots (highlighted by TfL in their own advertising and safety campaigns as previously seen on this blog).