Moira Gemmill, 55, was killed on Thursday 9 April 2015 in the Lambeth Bridge roundabout in Westminster (photo: Evening Standard)
Moira Gemmill was killed in a crash whilst cycling at Lambeth Bridge and Millbank, Westminster on Thursday, 9 April 2015.
Over 400 people joined a vigil and die-in organised by ‘Stop Killing Cyclists’ on Monday, 20 April 2015 at Lambeth Bridge from 6pm.
Moira was the 25th person killed whilst cycling in the UK in 2015. She was the 5th person killed in London whilst cycling – all in crashes involving an HGV. All but one of the victims were women.
(photo by Sam Khamtonwong)
Our deepest condolences go to victim’s family and friends.
Our thanks go out to all the volunteers who helped organise the event, made speeches and shared their photos and videos of it. Special thanks go to the members of the MET Police who cycled to the vigil and kept us all safe.
You can read about the vigil and die-in, plus see videos, pictures and news reports, here:
For the third 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 for Federica Baldassa who died on the evening of Friday, 6 February.
Everyone who cycles or walks in London is invited to the site of this tragedy, Vernon Place, Bloomsbury Square, WC1A on Monday, 16 February, at 6pm, on a bike, or on foot.
These vigils are sadly becoming far too frequent in London, as the group seeks to draw attention to the terrible cost of traffic violence in our city. Last week, 300 people converged on Homerton High St to remember Akis Kollaros, bringing traffic to a halt as they lay on the road with their bikes observing a two minute silence.
The last few weeks have seen announcements of two major initiatives to make cycling safer for Londoners, the new protected routes on which work is already underway [1] and the Safer Lorry Scheme due to start in September [2]. These are a start, but more must be done if Londoners are to be safe on their bicycles.
Stop Killing Cyclists calls on Camden 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 cyclists.
Camden Council must take immediate action to improve provision for cyclists in this area. After the death of Francis Golding only a few meters away on the corner of Vernon Place and Southhampton Row, the Coroner called for an investigation. Camden Council investigated but did nothing, citing a lack of space and funding [3], and now another person has died. It is time for Camden Council, and TfL, to give priority to the needs of the growing number people who cycle, and for central Government to increase funding available to meet those needs.
Vigil Co-organiser Abby Taubin said:
We must put an end to these terrible tragedies and invest in making our roads safe for all who use them.
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.
Akis Kollaros (bottom centre), a music producer, shown here with the Monument band, was killed on Homerton High Street on Monday 2 February 2015.
For the second time in less than a month, London’s cyclists will gather to commemorate the tragic and untimely death of one of their own in a vigil and die-in organized by the direct action protest group Stop Killing Cyclists.
On Monday, 9 February 2015 at 6pm (for 6:30pm) at Homerton High Street, near the Fire Station at Wardle Street, London E9, hundreds will riderode in memory of Akis Kollaros who was crushed under the wheels of a tipper truck a week before.
We ask as many of you as possible to attend and to remember our fellow cyclist as well as highlighting the need for space and decent infrastructure for cyclists.
If anyone knew the victim and would like to take part in the vigil, you would be very welcome. But we also respect the privacy of family and friends if they do not wish to take part.
Our deepest condolences to the family and friends.
For the second time in less than a month, London’s cyclists will gather to commemorate the tragic and untimely death of one of their own in a vigil and die-in organized by the direct action protest group Stop Killing Cyclists.
On Monday, 9 February 2015 at 6pm (for 6:30pm) at Homerton High Street, near the Fire Station at Wardle Street, London E9, hundreds will ride in memory of Akis Kollaros who was crushed under the wheels of a tipper truck a week before.
This week, Transport for London approved two new cycle superhighways, which, by 2018, will finally start to provide the infrastructure needed to make cycling safe for anyone who wants to ride – young or old, experienced or new. The cyclists at the vigil will call on the Government, TFL and local authorities to take urgent action to build on this excellent start, and set up Dutch style infrastructure, with well designed, safe, segregated cycle lanes throughout London and the rest of the country.
They will also call for other safety improvements, such as bringing forward the regulations to improve the ability of lorry drivers to see cyclists and pedestrians, which will be required under EU law from 2022.
Stop Killing Cyclists calls for segregated lanes, and safer lorries to prevent tragedies such as this, and allow many more people to enjoy the convenience, better fitness and money-saving benefits of getting on their bikes.
Vigil co-organiser Abby Taubin said:
“What people across Britain want to see is real investment in making our streets safe for humans, not billions more for the motor lobby.”
1. 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.
6. The 10 Demands made by Stop Killing Cyclists and Stop the Killing Coalition are:
Stop the Killing of Children – set up national multi-billion pound programme to convert residential communities across Britain into living-street Home Zones to abolish dangerous rat-runs.
Stop the Killing of Pedestrians – establish a national programme to fund pedestrianisation of our city and town centres, including the nation’s high-street – Oxford Street.
Stop the Killing of Pensioners from excessive speed. Introduce and enforce speed limit of 20 mph on all urban roads, 40 mph on rural roads/lanes and 60 mph on all other trunk roads.
Stop the Killing of Cyclists. Invest £15 billion in a National Segregated Cycle Network over the next 5 years.
Stop the Killing by HGVs. Ban trucks with blind spots by making safety equipment mandatory and strictly enforce current truck-safety regulations, to reduce levels of illegally dangerous trucks down from estimated 30% to less than 1%.
Stop the Killing without liability – introduce a presumed civil liability law on behalf of vehicular traffic when they kill or seriously injure vulnerable road-users, where there is no evidence blaming the victim.
Stop the Killing from Lung, Heart and other Diseases caused by vehicular pollutants. Make it mandatory for particulate filters that meet latest EU emission standards to be fitted to all existing buses, lorries and taxis.
Stop the Killing at Junctions. Introduce pedestrian crossing times long enough for elderly disabled to cross. Legalise filtered junction crossings by cyclists with strict legal priority for pedestrians and carry out urgent programme of physically protected left-hand turns for cyclists.
Stop the Killing from CO2 emissions from impacts of the climate crisis. All transport fuels to be from environmentally-sustainable renewable sources within 10 years.
Focus on Life! Transport governance must make safety and quality of life the top priority. Reform all council transport departments, the Department of Transport and Transport for London into Cycling, Walking and Transport Departments with formal pedestrian and cyclist representation.
UPDATE: Thank you!! Please now see the post-event page: CLICK HERE
Following the very sad news of the death of Stephanie Turner on Tuesday, 20th January 2015 near Bethune Road, Hackney, at the junction with Amhurst Park, and Seven Sisters Road, London N16, there will be a Vigil and Die-In at this spot on MONDAY 26th JANUARY, meeting from 6pm for Die-In and Vigil at 6.30pm.
We ask as many of you as possible to attend and to remember our fellow cyclist as well as highlighting the need for space and decent infrastructure for cyclists.
If anyone knew the victim and would like to take part in the vigil, you would be very welcome. But we also respect the privacy of family and friends if they do not wish to take part.
Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Stephanie.
Thousands See Dramatic Funeral Protest
Bring Oxford Circus to a Standstill
in Memory of all those killed
by UK’s Lethal & Poisonous
Car-culture
* For immediate release *
Cycling and pedestrian safety protesters staged a symbolic funeral protest down Oxford Street to Marble Arch yesterday, Saturday 15th November.
The horse-drawn hearse paused at Oxford Circus for 2 minutes silence, to allow the crowds to mark the terrible toll of death, injuries and poisonings caused by motorised transport.
It then proceeded to Marble Arch, led by a lone bagpiper, where the protesters placed the symbolic coffin on a catafalque and staged a Dutch style die-in around it, in a ten minute meditation to mark the memory of the dead.
The crowd was then addressed by a range of crash survivors, victims’ families and grassroots campaigners. Among the marchers’ 10 demands were:
A multi-billion pound fund to create home zones to make our residential neighbourhoods safe for children again;
£3 billion annual investment fund for the creation of a national segregated cycle route; and,
The reform of national, regional and local Transport Departments into Walking, Cycling and Transport Departments.
Speakers included Professor Brendan Delaney, Kings College; Tom Kearney, Safer Oxford Street; and Caroline Russell, Green Party Transport Spokesperson.
“Saturday’s powerful protest sent a loud message to the Government and London’s Mayor that the time for meaningless spin-doctoring about cycling and walking are over. What people across Britain want to see is real investment in making our streets safe for humans, not billions more for the motor lobby.”
Tom Kearney, Safer Oxford Street campaign in his speech said:
“I am just one of thousands of cyclists and pedestrians who’ve been killed or seriously-injured from a collision with a TfL bus since Boris Johnson became Chairman of Transport for London. Boris you cannot ignore us.”
Professor Brendan Delaney in his speech said:
“This car culture is destroying our bodies through pollution and inactivity as much as it destroys lives through so called accidents and our environment through emissions.”
He added:
“I spend my working life dealing with the end results of our collective blindness to the hidden killer. Diseases of inactivity will break our national health system in the coming decade. We have to stop.”
End.
Donnachadh McCarthy, co-founder of Stop Killing Cyclists, stands in Oxford Circus, as part of the National Funeral for the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence protest organised by the Stop The Killing coalition (Photo by Brendan Delaney, used with permission, click to see larger version)Thousands watched the horse-drawn hearse travel along Oxford Street and through Oxford Circus, as part of the National Funeral for the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence protest organised by the Stop The Killing coalition (Photo by DrMorocho, used with permission, click to see larger version)People by the hundreds marched through Oxford Circus, as part of the National Funeral for the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence protest organised by the Stop The Killing coalition (Photo by Tom Kearney, used with permission, click to see larger version)Die-in at Marble Arch, part of the National Funeral for the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence organised by the Stop The Killing coalition (Photo by Brendan Delaney, used with permission, click to see larger version)
*Stop the Killing Coalition includes: Westminster Living Streets, Campaign Against Climate Change, Stop Killing Cyclists, London Green Party, Safer Oxford Street Campaign, The Ecologist Magazine, Permaculture Magazine.
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after last November’s terrible spate of cyclist killings in London. They arranged the mass Die-In at TfL HQ where 1,500 cyclists laid down in the road in protest at lack of safety investment in London.
2. Stop The Killing is the associated group of pedestrian, cycling and environmental grass-root activists who want to eliminate Traffic Violence which includes Westminster Living Streets, Stop Killing Cyclists and the Campaign Against Climate Change.
3. Some of the statistics which the National Funeral wishes to highlight:
UK Cyclists Killed:
1,233 (DoT)
UK Pedestrians Killed:
5,787 (DoT)
UK Motorists Killed:
19,293 (DoT)
UK Patients Killed by Transport Pollution:
50,000 (NHS)
UK residents killed through physical inactivity due to lack of cycling infrastructure (estimated):
400,000 (Prof. Garfield UCL)
Ten Year Total Killings:
476,313
Thus the number of people whose deaths can be attributed to traffic violence over the last decade is the equivalent of the population of Manchester!
Total Cyclists killed seriously injured or injured:
198,000
Total Pedestrians killed, seriously injured or injured:
298,300
Total Motorists killed, seriously injured or injured:
1,913,502
Total killed, seriously injured or injured on UK Roads:
2, 409,802
This is the equivalent of the entire populations being injured or killed of Birmingham (1.1 million), Glasgow (0.6), Cardiff (0.3) and Manchester (0.5) combined!
4. The rally after the Mega Die-In under Marble Arch included Medical Professor Brendan Delaney, Oxford Street Bus Victim Tom Kearney, HGV cyclist victim Bart Chan, Poet Helen Moore, Opera Singer Louisa Beard and Stop Killing Cyclists Co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy.
5. The National Funeral for the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence 10 Demands are:
Stop the Killing of Children – set up national multi-billion pound programme to convert residential communities across Britain into living-street Home Zones to abolish dangerous rat-runs.
Stop the Killing of Pedestrians – establish a national programme to fund pedestrianisation of our city and town centres, including the nation’s high-street – Oxford Street.
Stop the Killing of Pensioners from excessive speed. Introduce and enforce speed limit of 20 mph on all urban roads, 40 mph on rural roads/lanes and 60 mph on all other trunk roads.
Stop the Killing of Cyclists. Invest £15 billion in a National Segregated Cycle Network over the next 5 years.
Stop the Killing by HGVs. Ban trucks with blind spots by making safety equipment mandatory and strictly enforce current truck-safety regulations, to reduce levels of illegally dangerous trucks down from estimated 30% to less than 1%.
Stop the Killing without liability – introduce a presumed civil liability law on behalf of vehicular traffic when they kill or seriously injure vulnerable road-users, where there is no evidence blaming the victim.
Stop the Killing from Lung, Heart and other Diseases caused by vehicular pollutants. Make it mandatory for particulate filters that meet latest EU emission standards to be fitted to all existing buses, lorries and taxis.
Stop the Killing at Junctions. Introduce pedestrian crossing times long enough for elderly disabled to cross. Legalise filtered junction crossings by cyclists with strict legal priority for pedestrians and carry out urgent programme of physically protected left-hand turns for cyclists.
Stop the Killing from CO2 emissions from impacts of the climate crisis. All transport fuels to be from environmentally-sustainable renewable sources within 10 years.
Focus on Life! Transport governance must make safety and quality of life the top priority. Reform all council transport departments, the Department of Transport and Transport for London into Cycling, Walking and Transport Departments with formal pedestrian and cyclist representation.
Emergency services attend to a crash at the Elephant and Castle roundabout in London on 13th May 2014. Photo by Nyron Gopeesingh, used with permission.
Remember: this protest is taking place at the southern intersection, next to the Strata building.
Dignified and Peaceful
Some family members of those killed and injured may be attending - so we are asking that people treat the event as a dignified peaceful Direct Action expressing our anger but our peaceful determination to get emergency action to protect cyclists and pedestrians asap from Southwark Council and TfL.
Timings
Approximate timings of the event today - rain or shine. Subject to change depending on situation, weather and media goals.
The Die-In may take place before the Rally at 6pm as London Tonight, Evening Standard, Live TV, South London Press and Southwark News have all said they want to cover the event - possibly on their evening broadcast.
The police have been very helpful liaising to ensure its safe.
NOTE: Timetable may vary slightly from that published. Be there for 5:30p and then you won’t miss a thing!
5:00 Pre-event meet-up for volunteers to sketch the outline of where a segregated cycle lane should go
5:30 Start of “Draw-In” event. Protesters invited to colour in the cycle route in whatever way they feel moved to -whether images or messages. We must be respectful as the protest is a result of Abdelkhars Lahyani’s terrible death last week.
6:00 Die-In (bring something soft for lying on the ground!)
6:10 Rally - speech by Steve. Poem to be read by Abby. Special message to the protest from Thames Street victim Bart Chan to be read out by Will. Possibly other statements.
