I've been cycling in and around London on a daily basis for the past 25 years, and I have to say that in my experience, the number of cyclists who actually know how to turn right properly is amazingly small. Most neither look (for traffic behind them) nor indicate - preferring, apparently, to put their fate in the laps of the gods - and just drift across aimlessly. Many others are quite clearly very nervous about taking their hand off the handle bars, so if they indicate at all, do so only very quickly and without confidence.And I hate to unwittingly pour fuel onto this particular fire, but if the lady concerned in this incident was turning right (ie, against oncoming traffic) it is HER responsibility to wait until it's safe to cross the traffic line before she does so. If this means she has to stop and wait in the middle of the road until it's safe to continue, then that's what she should do. I think one of the problems is that it's sometimes difficult to judge how quickly an oncoming vehicle is approaching (and many drivers also misjudge the (slow) speed at which many cyclists travel - especially from standstill or near-standstill). And if, as the previous post suggests, the driver was accelerating to beat the level crossing, this speed differential dramatically changes.To me, it sounds as if there was fault on both parts: the lady should have waited, but the driver should have been more aware of the threat he(?) posed, and rather than accelerating, should have slowed down accordingly.
Paul Higham ● 4467d