Esther Hartsilver was killed when she was struck by an HGV driven by Philip Beadle on Denmark Hill near the junction of Orpheus Road. Beadle was tried at Blackfriars Crown Court in September 2016 for causing death by careless driving and was found not guilty.
An inquest held in February 2017 heard that Beadle looked in his mirrors before traversing the bus lane to his left where Hartsilver was riding, but did not see her. She was crushed under the nearside rear wheel of the lorry, suffering multiple injuries. Beadle, who had never negotiated the junction previously, describe it as “an accident waiting to happen”.
Trauma surgeon Duncan Bew, who was previously a colleague of Ms Hartsilver, reiterated criticisms of the roads and told the inquest “that advances in trauma care in London were masking the full extent of the injuries being caused to cyclists and pedestrians, because victims who would previously have died were being saved.”
Coroner Sarah Osmond-Walshe recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.