damn, thats terrible, i wondered why it was closed off on the way to class this morning. condolences to the family.
it was actually kinda eerie riding back down swanston after school without me know what had happened.
So many shit drivers on the road today, Equally as many fuckhead super commuters trying to race down swanston too.
Andy hit the nail on the head.
Hey guys,
I’m not sure who is organising this, but The Age story has been updated with details of a rally for tonight.
In a show of solidarity, cyclists will rally about safety and pay their respects to a cyclist who was killed on Swanston Street earlier today.
The peaceful rally will take place near the corner of Swanston and Little Bourke streets at 5.15pm.
A sickening story. Deepest condolences to the woman’s friends and family. Everyone else take special care.
I’ve been hit along that strip, not by a bus but a delivery truck. A couple of well-meaning bystanders dragged me and bike out of the way of an oncoming tram while I was still starfished on the road all dazed & confused. The tram driver didn’t brake, just kept dinging his fucking bell. And the delivery truck just buggered off. I was lucky to walk away with a dislocated shoulder and a few cuts and bruises - without those two nameless blokes my kids might be fatherless.
When I looked at the Age blog there were 187 messages - not one of them slagged cyclists.
The guys over on the BV forum have organised it
My thoughts go out to the cyclist’s family and friends.
Without knowing the exact circumstances, there’s no reason why this sort of tragedy should have occurred in what should be a low speed, reduced traffic environment.
I hate riding along Swanston St, particularly in peak hour, the combination of buses, taxis, trams and muppets (peds AND cyclists) is horrendous. The squeeze heading South between trams and buses should be eliminated.
Everyone ride safe & ride smart.
News says women got caught in tram tracks when passing the bus and fell under the back wheels. Nobody to blame, just a freak accident. I’m sure we’ve all got a tram track story or two.
Very sad.
I went down to the get together at around 6pm. Took some shitty photos on the awful camera in my phone.
I had the most paranoid ride of my life tonight. Turned out it was one of the most hazardous as my first 20 on St Kilda road almost turned tragic when a taxi almost ran me over after he ran a red light from Toorak Road trying to get to Kings Hwy. Bloody hell.
this is horrid, I can think of at least 3 times Ive binned it in the tram tracks on swanston, once in the same block where the buses always are 
I think the quote on the news was very harsh, we don’t know the exact circumstances of what happened, but the reporter said ‘The woman lost control of her bicycle and fell under the bus’ it was really implied that she was totally to blame which I think is very disrespectful.
That being said I don’t think buses on swanston are a major problem, Ive had way more problems with taxis pulling out/cutting me off, or pedestrians jumping out. Even the horses have given me more grief. I think this is just a terribly tragically accident, nobody really at fault or to blame, these things happen on a daily basis. On the weekend some bloke was killed outside his house when a wheel fell off a truck and struck him, these things are a great shame but very hard to prevent from reoccuring.
RIP
someone over on the BV forums linked all the news pieces. here they are…
This is Channel 2 news report.
This is Channel 7 news report.
This is Channel 9 news report.
This is Channel 10 news report.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43KNKMhdSK8
Thankyou sarah m for the links. I didn’t get to see the news tonight.
Makes me sad, but on the otherhand it’s really touching to see your average super-commuter stopping to give flowers and cards.
“STUNG by criticism he failed to protect cyclists from the thousands of tour buses that choke one of the city’s main thoroughfares, an emotional Lord Mayor John So last night banned buses from Swanston Street after a young woman riding to work was killed.”
then:
“The council’s chief executive, Kathy Alexander, said tour buses would, after “a reasonable notice period”, have their parking permits revoked, and be allowed to pick up and set down on St Kilda Road, opposite the Arts Centre.”
a bandaid solution but better than nothing
Q. How do you get to the Arts Center from the north side of the city?
A. SWANSTON ST lolz kthxbai.
Hi All,
There will be a sort of memorial ride this Saturday. The idea is to meet up at Fed Sq at 7.30 am as usual. Take a slow short ride to the scene of the accident. Have a one minute silence there and leave flowers or something like that if people want to. Then do a planned ride so that people can ride together as a group (maybe the old time trial course or the drain loop) and finish up at a cafe.
All are welcome to attend.
Des
i just watched the report on you tube and saw those trite little flyers that were printed up
you know “cyclist friend daughter …” why was the word woman in red and the rest in black, is this implying that its all the more tragic that is was a woman or what?? or am i missing something
I wondered that too. I reckon it’s impact.
No, yes.
They workshopped it for all of five minutes in the thread over at BV, around page 9. I’m guessing it was a case of get something done quickly versus wait until everyone had some input - I’ll see if they can email you for input next time? Looks like they wanted to personalise the memorial without anyone actually knowing her, a tough task. (I found the part in the thread where one person identified the workplace and rider - saying ‘I used to drop my helmet in her basket while I locked up’ - a pretty moving recollection.)
Give them a break, it’s not like they had a shouty shirts-off sit-down like the cabbies. (edit: although to be fair this woman wasn’t murdered, was she.)
For the record I counted at least three red-light jumping courier scum, one fixie tragic commuter polo jockey, and the rest super-commuters. Looking forward to tomorrow’s weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.