Personal Injury Solicitors

Another cyclist has been killed on roads in central London, bringing the total number of deaths among London cyclists in the last two weeks to five. The cyclist was killed on Wednesday (13/11/13) evening by Aldgate in east London. All the recent fatalities involved heavy good vehicles. The latest death involved a cyclist and a bus.

On Monday a female cyclist in her twenties was killed at Bow roundabout while travelling along the A11. The woman who died has been named as 24-year-old Russian national Venera Minakhmetova from Bethnal Green.

Many cyclists say the Bow roundabout is lethal for cyclists and have demanded changes to make the roundabout safer. Some cycle routes in the capital are separated from other traffic lanes, while others are painted blue. However, it is thought at least one recent fatality occurred on a cycle lane where road markings had been removed for road resurfacing.

The first cycling superhighways were launched in July 2010, with the aim of making cycling in London safer. However, some of the fatalities among cyclists have taken place on the cycling superhighways.

The organisation British Cycling is calling for an urgent investigation into the number of cycle deaths in London in the last nine days.

Cycle charity CTC says that cyclists are “sickened” by the growing death toll among cyclists in London and failures in protecting cyclists.

Boris Johnson is himself a keen cyclist and often cycles from his home in Islington to the London Assembly building by Tower Bridge on the South Bank.

Like many parts of the capital, busy roads such as the A11 Bow roundabout are main routes not only for buses, but also large container lorries and HGVs, as well as heavy commuter traffic, emergency vehicles, bicycles and motorbikes. In heavy traffic it can be difficult for other road users to spot cyclists and motorbikes – and as HGVs and buses are also known to have a blind spot at the rear, cyclists are put at risk when roads are congested or traffic is travelling at speed in central London.

Discussing the latest death toll among cyclists on London’s roads Boris Johnson said in a radio interview:

“There's no question of blame or finger-pointing – that doesn't work in these circumstances. But unless people obey the laws of the road and people actively take account of the signals that we put in, there's no amount of traffic engineering that we invest in that is going to save people's lives.”

Former Labour Transport Secretary Lord Adonis is calling for an urgent review of the London Mayor’s cycling superhighways. Lord Adonis said:

“The Mayor should appoint a rapid independent review of superhighways after the horror of all these cyclists' deaths in London.”

The Department of Transport said that exceptionally wet weather might be one reason for fatal cycling accidents this year.

For advice on compensation for injuries sustained in a cycling accident or road traffic accidents, contact Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.