Dying to Get to Work - People Killed in Droves on London Highways

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14 November 2013 | Updated 01 January 1970

Fifth Cyclist Dies in Just Nine Days

In the early hours this morning a cyclist was pronounced dead in a London hospital a matter of hours after a young woman was killed in the vicinity. She was the fourth in eight days. He is the fifth cyclist to die in just nine days. He had been struck by a London bus at about 11:30p.m. on Wednesday in a similar location to a woman cyclist who had died earlier in the day.

Cyclists had gathered at the notorious Bow Roundabout to demonstrate and hold a vigil only hours before (pictured with thanks to the London Cycling Campaign) following the death of a woman - the twelfth this year. Now that figure has risen to thirteen with five deaths in just nine days.

Taken from ThisWeekinFM Nov 13^{th 19:39:38} 
Dying to Get to Work – People Killed in Droves on London Highways

A twelfth cyclist has been killed on the streets of London this year – the fourth to die in just eight days. Meanwhile, the London Assembly has revealed that 1,889 people have been killed or seriously injured by buses in five years

Another cyclist has been killed in a lorry collision in London. This brings the total up to twelve for 2013 – and four in just eight days. ThisWeekinFM has reported some of the casualties under its Fleet section (a catch-all for all transport issues) as many organisations actively encourage their employees to cycle to work and make special provisions for them to do so. Employers are becoming increasingly anxious about staff welfare and wondering if they should offer cyclist safety training. Certainly, larger companies are looking to throw their weight at city cycling safety campaigns and airing a voice aimed at those responsible for establishing cycle routes.

London Mayor, Boris Johnson has pointed to the fact that the number of commuter cyclists has trebled in the last ten years and committed a further £1billion in spending to increase routes and make safety improvements.

Today’s fatal accident occurred in at the notorious Bow Roundabout at 8:45a.m.

Taken from ThisWeekinFM Nov 6^th

A network of cycle superhighways was announced in 2008 with the aim of creating continuous routes from outer to central London by 2012. They were intended to make commuter cycling easier, safer, faster and more attractive. Twelve more are planned by 2015.

This scheme has not stopped criticism from cyclist groups, victims’ relatives and the Metropolitan Police about cycle superhighways so far.

At one inquest, Debbie Dorling said it was only after her husband's death that one junction was changed.

Brian Dorling, 58, died in October 2011 at Bow Roundabout in east London on one of the painted blue cycle lanes introduced in the last few years. PC Simon Wickenden told Poplar Coroner's Court the Met had warned the lanes gave a ‘false sense of security’.

Demonstration

(Click here for link to London Cycling Campaign – and with thanks for photo published with this article)

The London Cycling Campaign was scheduled to hold a protest at Bow Roundabout as ThisWeekinFM posted this story. LCC's Ashok Sinha called on Boris Johnson to take immediate action: "Mayor Johnson must take immediate action to prevent further avoidable deaths - first, by putting in place a safe design for Bow roundabout.”

Another accident on Wednesday morning saw the London Air Ambulance assist in saving the life of a man who suffered severe injuries after a collision with a lorry on Victoria Embankment in London.

Transport for London has published figures for cyclist deaths from 2010 to 2013. There have been 52 deaths with 34 involving heavy goods vehicles.

Just this month on Friday 8^th a man died when struck by a coach in Holborn; and Tuesday 5^th saw a man die in Croydon – struck by a bus; and on the previous Tuesday (29^th October) a man died when struck by a lorry in East London on the much criticised cycle superhighway.

And on Tuesday of last week a cyclist died after a collision with a tipper lorry on Mile End Road in east London on the cycle superhighway, CS2.

London Bus Deaths

The London Assembly has just released figures from its research that show a staggering 1,889 people were killed or seriously injured by buses between 2008 and 2013. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office and Transport for London declared that since 2008, such accidents had declined by 60%.

Lack of Transparency

ThisWeekinFM’s attempts to analyse the figures from the Assembly’s report entitled ‘Bus Collisions and the Need for Transparency’ were severely hampered by the fact that a search on the organisation’s website returned zero results. 

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 14 November 2013

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