Press Release for 7th Vigil and Die In; To remember Clifton James and Ying Tao

Press Release Header with logo
Mass Vigil & Die In Protest to close Bank Junction

* For Immediate Release *

Event summary:-

  • When: Monday 29th June. Assembling from 5.30pm; Start 6pm
  • Where: In front of The Bank of England, Bank Junction, Threadneedle Street, City of London, EC4N
  • What: A Vigil and Die-In to mark the tragic killings of the 7th and 8th people killed while riding bicycles in London in 2015

For the seventh time this year, Stop Killing Cyclists, the cycling activist group, will commemorate cyclists killed while riding their bicycles, with a Vigil and Die-In.

The people being remembered are 60 year old Clifton James who was killed in Harrow after midnight on Sunday 21st and Ying Tao, who died as a result of her bicycle being hit by a lorry at Bank on the morning of Monday 22nd June.

Stop Killing Cyclists co-organiser Nicola Branch said,

“Enough is enough. The City of London and Transport for London must make our streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Our protest on Monday is calling on the Mayor to summon an emergency Killer Tipper Truck summit to deal with the plague killing London’s cyclists.”

She continued,

Our demands include:

1/ Close Bank junction to motorised traffic and make it into a beautiful people friendly square at the heart of the City;
2/ City of London Corporation to drop its long-standing official opposition to protected cycle lanes;

3/ Compulsory CCTV for the left hand side of all Tippers/HGVs to eliminate blind spots – it should not be the responsibility of pedestrians or cyclists to memorise the design defects of dangerous motor vehicles;

4/ Ban on Tipper Trucks in central London during morning and evening rush-hours; and,

5/ TfL and City of London to allocate 10% of transport budget to cycling infrastructure.

Protesters are asked to bring candles and placards.
Ends.

Press contact: Donnachadh McCarthy on 07947 884299, [email protected]
Release Dated: 25 June 2015

Event Listings (including feeder rides info):


Notes:

Stop Killing Cyclists - logo with website in red

  1. The Corporation of London has built ZERO physically protected cycle lanes over the last 5 years;
  2. The London Boroughs including the City of London are responsible for 95% of London’s roads, whereas the London Mayor and TfL control the remaining 5% i.e. the very large arterial routes.

PDF version: 2015_06_24_Bank Vigil and Die-In - press release


Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up in November 2013 after the terrible spate of cyclist killings in London. They arranged the first mass Die-In at TfL HQ where 1,500 cyclists laid down in the road in protest at lack of safety investment in London.

All photos on the website are available for media use (with credit given to the photographer and Stop Killing Cyclists), and representatives are available for interviews and media contact by emailing [email protected] or by calling Donnachadh on 07947 884299

Press Release - Vigil for Sixth London Person Killed While Cycling This Year

Press Release Header with logo (Abby Taubin)
Vigil for Sixth London Person Killed While Cycling This Year

* For Immediate Release *

For the sixth time this year, Stop Killing Cyclists, the cycling activist group, will commemorate a person killed by a lorry while riding her bicycle, with a Vigil and Die-In.

The person being remembered is 32 year old Esther Hartsilver, who died as a result of her bicycle being hit by a lorry on Denmark Hill at the junction with Orpheus Street just before 8am on Thursday, 28th May.

Esther was on her way to Kings College Hospital where she worked in the Physiotherapy Department but very sadly died of her injuries at the hospital.

Stop Killing Cyclists will begin gathering from 6pm on Monday 8th June at Camberwell Green, and the vigil will formally start after 6.30pm. In this sadly increasingly familiar sight on the streets of London, short speeches will be given, candles lit, and flowers laid around a ghost bike in memory of Ms Hartsilver, before hundreds of people will lay on the road, many with their bikes.

Traffic will be brought to a standstill for two minutes, and all will be given a space to contemplate the terrible price paid by Esther Hartsilver, and by cyclists and pedestrians killed and seriously injured on the streets of London.

Southwark Council (LBS) is notorious for poor cycling provision, and must take responsibility, along with the construction industry, for this latest tragedy. They are complicit in her death. Southwark Council’s Transport Department proposed a by-pass two years ago to allow cyclists to avoid that junction by using Love Walk, but Deputy Leader Labour Cllr Ian Wingfield refused this proposal due to cyclists being according to him “a danger to pedestrians” - thus insisting all cyclists, including children to use the major junctions.

Stop Killing Cyclists co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy said:

“Let’s make sure Southwark Council is held accountable for their murderous policies. They refused a proposal to have a bypass because (they said) it would endanger pedestrians on Love Walk”

Ends.

Release Dated: 1 June 2015

Event Listings (including feeder rides info):


Notes:

Stop Killing Cyclists - logo with website in red

Stop Killing Cyclists calls on Southwark Council and Transport for London to truly recognise that cycling must be a priority for road design and transport planning if London is to become a safe place for everyone to cycle, not just the fit and the brave, but the pensioner, the child, the parent taking children to school, the ordinary person going about their daily business.

Transport for London must appoint cycling representatives to its board, to balance the representatives of the HGV and taxi industries. It should allocate 10% of its budget to cycling provision, and ensure that every facet of road maintenance, building and planning considers the needs of people to cycle.

Southwark Council must take immediate action to provide protected lanes for people who cycle in this busy borough. No money has been spent on segregated cycle lanes in the borough in 4 years, with LBS having deleted ALL cycle provision proposals in the Peckham & Camberwell Action Plan. Camberwell Green Junction is being refurbished and Southwark Council are refusing to include safe protected left hand turns for cyclists. We call on LBS to reverse their policy on both Camberwell Green and the junction where Esther Hartsilver was killed IMMEDIATELY. It is criminal not to make improvements.

See http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/02february/pages/cycling-safety-a-special-report.aspx for statistics re the health benefits of riding a bike and what needs to be done to cut down the cost to the country through KSIs.


Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up in November 2013 after the terrible spate of cyclist killings in London. They arranged the first mass Die-In at TfL HQ where 1,500 cyclists laid down in the road in protest at lack of safety investment in London.

All photos on the website are available for media use (with credit given to the photographer and Stop Killing Cyclists), and representatives are available for interviews and media contact by emailing [email protected] or by calling Donnachadh on 07947 884299