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.
Stop Killing Cyclists will stage a Vigil and Die-In on Monday, 26 January 2015 at 18:00 (for 18:30) at the Amhurst Park Junction with Seven Sisters Road, N16, in memory of the cyclist who was crushed under the wheels of an HGV at 8am on Tuesday, 20 January 2015.
She was the 13th cyclist to be killed in the UK in 2015 (a list can be found at: UK CYCLING FATALITIES 2015) - Each leaves a grieving network of friends and family. Over 26,000 cyclists were killed or seriously injured across England and Wales between 2006 and 2013.
The UK Government must take urgent action to improve safety for cyclists and reduce road danger. We need Dutch style infrastructure, with well designed, safe, segregated cycle lanes, now. Safety improvements to improve the ability of lorry drivers to see cyclists and pedestrians, which will be required under EU law from 2022, must also be made mandatory immediately.
The Dutch government spends £28 per person on cycling infrastructure, compared to our paltry £2. To bring ourselves up to their standards we need to spend £40 per person. Then, the UK would be a safe, attractive place to cycle, with all the health and environmental benefits that would bring, but most importantly to prevent tragedies such as the one we recognize on Monday with our Vigil and Die-In.
Stop Killing Cyclists calls on the government to amend the Infrastructure Bill currently before the House to fund appropriate and safe infrastructure for cycling and mandate safety improvements to lorries.
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.”
Ends.
Press contact: Abby Taubin on 0777 5151 816
Release Dated: 22 January 2015
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.
3. Statistics on the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) can be found at each of these government websites: ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, WALES, and NORTHERN IRELAND.
5. 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.
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.
Oxford Street - Horse-drawn Funeral Protest
and
Marble Arch Mega Die-In
For Cycling/Pedestrian Safety
* For immediate release *
National Funeral for the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence
When:
Saturday November 15th, 2014 from noon.
Where:
Oxford Street/Marble Arch, London
What:
Oxford Street: A symbolic funeral protest led by a horse-drawn hearse containing a coffin representing all the unknown victims who have lost or had their lives destroyed on Britain’s roads.
Marble Arch: Mega Die-In around the coffin of the unknown victim and rally.
Cycling, Pedestrian, Climate Change and Medical Staff grassroots activists who are part of the Stop Killing Cyclists and Stop The Killing Coalition* are organising the first ever massive peaceful, dignified National Funeral of the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence.
It will go from Bedford Square along Oxford Street to Marble Arch., to symbolically mark all the unknown victims who have lost or had their lives destroyed on Britain’s roads including:
Traffic Crash Violence
Death from traffic air-pollution
Obesity related deaths through fear of walking or cycling
The millions dying worldwide as a result of climate change.
The Facebook page for the event is at http://goo.gl/DX2l13 where we welcome people letting us know they wish to attend this dignified protest.
Stop the Killing Co-organiser Fred Smith said:
“The UK’s road network is not fit for purpose. We need to end the culture of acceptance which surrounds traffic-violence and unite road users of all kinds from across the country to create positive human-friendly roads and public-spaces in Britain.”
Stop Killing Cyclists Co-organiser Donnachadh McCarthy also said:
“The staggering number of deaths and injuries resulting from motorised traffic over the last decade stands at 2,400,000 people!
This horrifically equates to the combined populations of Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Cardiff!!
Hundreds of thousands more are suffering life-impairing terrible diseases.
This symbolic protest funeral and mega die-in is an urgent clarion call to end this carnage and environmental destruction.”
The National Funeral Protest will place 10 Demands calling for urgent action from local and national government – see details below.
End.
*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 will include 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.
Mayor Must End London’s Illegal Truck Epidemic Now!
Online Petition Launched by Stop Killing Cyclists
After yet another cyclist was killed by a truck at Vauxhall Cross, Stop Killing Cyclists have today (22nd June 2014) launched a petition calling on the London Mayor to set a target of reducing the illegally driven trucks on London’s roads down from its current epidemic levels (estimated to be over 30%) to a maximum of 1%.
The petition also calls on the Mayor to:
Provide the funding to achieve this to the Metropolitan Police Enforcement Unit
End the dangerous driver time-penalty systems used by TfL Buses and trucks used on the Crossrail Project.
It is estimated that up to 30% of all trucks being driven in London were in an illegally dangerous state or were being driven illegally.
Stop Killing Cyclists petition author Fred Smith said:
“After yet another preventable killing at Vauxhall Cross we are calling for thousands of Londoners to sign this petition to pressure the Mayor to end the illegal truck epidemic on London’s roads and set a 2 year target to reduce illegality to a maximum of 1%, from its current estimated level of 30%”.
“Stop Killing Cyclists held a demonstration at Vauxhall Cross in December 2013, following the 6 awful November tragedies, calling for greater enforcement of truck safety regulations to protect London’s pedestrians and cyclists, yet almost nothing has changed. Dangerous illegal trucks keep putting Londoners lives at risk.
London’s vulnerable road users cannot tolerate TfL’s complacency any longer. The Mayor must target the killers not the victims.”
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after the recent 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.
4. This press release was revised on 22nd June to add a quote from the author of the petition and to provide a clearer hotlink petition web address (item 2, above).
Full Text of Petition
“Following the tragic death of yet another cyclist at Vauxhall under the wheels of a HGV truck, Stop Killing Cyclists call on the London Mayor to urgently increase enforcement of Truck Safety Laws and set a target of pushing the level of illegally driven or in an illegally dangerous state trucks down below 1% by the end of 2015, from the current estimated 30% level.
The Mayor must:
Increase the funding to the Metropolitan Police Truck Enforcement Unit to achieve this target
Amend all TfL Bus and HGV contracts (including Crossrail) to ban the practice of penalising drivers using time or load-based key performance indicators (KPI)
Ban the use of iBus to text TfL Bus Drivers while they’re driving and introduce safety performance KPIs which reward drivers for driving safely
Why is this important?
In London over half cyclist fatalities involve HGVs, despite HGVs making up only 5% of traffic [1].
The Metropolitan Police found in one targeted action that as few as a third of lorries met safety regulations [2]. The police must step up enforcement efforts to catch dangerous lorries before they kill more Londoners.
TfL and other bus and truck companies must stop using incentives which encourage dangerous driving, a practice which has been linked to the disproportionate number of accidents involving HGVs, especially those from the construction industry [3].
A TRL study showed texting whilst driving could be more dangerous than drink or drug driving [4]. Therefore it is unacceptable that TfL is using a text based system to communicate with bus drivers while they are driving.
With one cycling death a month so far in 2014 and even more pedestrian deaths, urgent action must be taken to prevent further fatalities on our roads.”
Minister for Cycling Agrees to Consider Call for ‘National Cycling & Highways Agency’
Ahead of today’s (June 11th) All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group (APPCG) bike ride, the co-founders of Stop Killing Cyclists Steven Routley and Donnachadh McCarthy, met with the Minister for Cycling Robert Goodwill MP on Monday.
He agreed to consider amendments to the new Infrastructure Bill that would ensure cycling was included in the remit of the proposed re-structured Highways Agency.
Donnachadh McCarthy said,
“We welcome the Minister’s commitment to considering such an amendment from MPs. It is crucial that a National Cycling & Highways Agency takes the lead for funding and overseeing the creation of a National Cycling Infrastructure.”
Steven Routley said,
“Cycling must be included in the title and remit of the reformed Highway’s Agency.
For too long cycling provision has been the invisible Cinderella of Britain’s transport investments despite its enormous potential to reduce epidemic levels of diabetes, lung and heart diseases from traffic pollution and obesity, improve economic competitiveness through congestion reduction, making our roads safer for pedestrians and other road users and reducing carbon emissions.”
Other items discussed during the Stop Killing Cyclists meeting with the Minister for Cycling were:
1. The creation of a national version of TfL’s Mini-Holland cycle funding scheme for councils across the country.
2. The introduction of improved national standards for truck safety equipment on existing trucks.
3. Raising the penalties for texting and speaking on a mobile phone whilst driving, to the same severity as drink driving.
4. Increasing UK cycling funding levels to modern Dutch levels.
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after the recent 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.
3. A study by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) found that a driver’s reaction times slowed by 46% when he or she was making a call on a hand-held mobile, by 37% when texting while driving and by 27% during hands-free calls. For those on the drink-drive limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, reaction times were reduced by 13%. For those who had used cannabis it was 21%. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1420279.ece
London Mayor Must Tackle London’s Lethal Truck Epidemic
Dated: Monday June 2nd 2014
As yet another truck kills yet another cyclist on London’s roads Stop Killing Cyclists calls on the London Mayor to take immediate action to stop the carnage.
The London Mayor must urgently focus resources on tackling London’s horrifying dangerous truck epidemic.
In just one pilot project by the Metropolitan Police last winter they found 70% of targeted trucks stopped were driven illegally.
It is estimated that up to 30% of all trucks being driven in London were in an illegally dangerous state or being driven illegally.
When Stop Killing Cyclists met with the Metropolitan Police in February we were told a recruitment moratorium was in place in the truck enforcement team and in the Roadsafe dangerous driving reporting scheme.
“Our hearts go out to the family of yet another cyclist killed on London’s roads.
Stop Killing Cyclists held a demonstration at Vauxhall Cross in December 2013, following the 6 awful November tragedies, calling for greater enforcement of truck safety regulations and emergency segregated cycle lanes to be installed at left-hand turn junctions like Vauxhall Cross and Elephant & Castle.”
He added:
“The Mayor must immediately tackle the illegal dangerous truck epidemic on London’s roads and set a 2 year target to reduce illegality to a maximum of 1%, from its current estimated level of 30%.
It is time to call an end to this complacency and false priorities. The Mayor must target the killers not the victims.”
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after the recent 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. The London Boroughs including Lambeth where today’s tragedy took place 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.
3. Lambeth Council has not installed a single meter of segregated cycle-lane in the 4 years since the last election.
4. A recent FOI survey by Stop Killing Cyclists revealed that 24 London Boroughs had installed ZERO meters of segregated cycle-lanes since the last elections in 2010. See http://StopKillingCyclists.org.uk/WallOfDeathFoi
Over 350 cyclists have already signed up to attend a protest at London’s most dangerous junction this Wednesday, following the death of Abdelkhalak Lahyani last Monday at Elephant & Castle. Protesters are so frustrated at the lack of urgent action that they will chalk in the route of the segregated cycle-lane that Southwark Council and TfL failed to include in the recent multi-million junction refurbishment, despite the calls by campaigners to do so.
“This was not an accident but a designed-in killing. TfL insisted on lethally prioritising traffic speeds through the junction and Southwark Council’s Transport Plan opposes segregated cycle-lanes.”
He added,
“Southwark was warned that its policy of using cyclists bodies to slow HGV trucks and buses would end up in carnage on our streets. It is time now for Southwark & TfL to send in emergency crews to install the safe segregated left-hand turn by-passes that campaigners have demanded for years.”
Stop Killing Cyclists have consulted professional traffic engineers and they confirm our proposals are sensible, practical and cost less than £10,000. Action is now needed before yet more lives are needlessly sacrificed and families cruelly torn-apart.
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after the spate of cyclist killings in London, in November 2013. They arranged the mass Die-In at TfL HQ where 1,500 cyclists lay down in the road in protest at lack of safety investment in London.
2. The London boroughs, including Southwark, 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.
3. Southwark Council has not installed a single metre of segregated cycle-lane in the 3 years since their Head of Planning, Simon Bevan announced a policy of using cyclists to slow the traffic.
4. The Southern Roundabout where the tragedy took place was resigned in 2010. The redesign was planned to speed traffic flow and failed to install any adequate physical protection for cyclists, despite TfL being told their designs failed to protect them.
5. A recent FOI survey by Stop Killing Cyclists revealed that 24 London Boroughs had installed ZERO metres of segregated cycle-lanes since the last elections in 2010.
To mark yet another unnecessary cycling tragedy at the Elephant & Castle and to protest at the continued total failure by Southwark Council and TfL to install emergency protected by-passes at dangerous junctions across London such as the Elephant, we will draw in Green and White Chalk the protected cycle-lane that Southwark and TfL should be installing immediately.
We will also stage a die-in with our bodies and bikes along the route of the urgently necessary cycle-lane.
“The carnage from trucks horrendously killing cyclists at Left-Hand-Turns has got to stop. Southwark, TfL and the other London Boroughs need to urgently install safe protected turns at junctions across London urgently, where there is sufficient space for pedestrians and cyclists.“
He added:
“Stop Killing Cyclists are so frustrated at the lack of action, that we will ourselves on Wednesday draw in green and white chalk the route of a protected junction cycle by-pass that Southwark and TfL lethally left out of the recent multi-million refurbishment of the southern Elephant junction.
Alongside the chalked cycle-lane, we will also stage a Die-In to represent the hundreds of London pedestrians and cyclists being killed unnecessarily on our City’s roads. We welcome all road users to the protest.“
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after the recent spate of cyclist killings in London. They arranged the mass Die-In at TfL HQ where 1,500 cyclists lay down in the road in protest at lack of safety investment in London.
2. The London Boroughs including Southwark 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.
3. Southwark Council has not installed a single meter of segregated cycle-lane in the 3 years since their Head of Planning, Simon Bevan announced a policy of using cyclists to slow the traffic.
Entire Route of New Cycling Superhighway CS5 to be 20 mph Zone.
Cycling Commissioner Agrees to Survey all 33 Boroughs’ Cycling Safety Performance Annually
Following negotiations with Stop Killing Cyclists, Transport for London and London’s Cycling Commissioner agreed this month to introduce a 20mph Zone along the entire length of the new Mayoral Cycling Superhighway CS5 from Victoria to New Cross Gate in South London, via the Oval. Currently almost the entire route has a 30mph speed limit.
Co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy said,
“Reducing the speed of traffic from 30 to 20mph reduces deaths and serious injuries by up to 50%. We are delighted that TfL have agreed to our request to make this entire new major cycling route a 20mph zone, making it safer for pedestrians and cyclists.”
He added,
“This is an initial modest step towards our goal for a pan-London 20 mph zone and a safer London for all.”
In a second agreement, TfL agreed to carry out an annual survey of the cycling performance of London’s 33 boroughs.
Stop Killing Cyclists have been pressing for such a survey in order to expose boroughs that are making their streets more dangerous for cyclists and those that are taking positive measures to make them safer.
Earlier this month Stop Killing Cyclists released a report which revealed that 24 boroughs had not built a single metre of segregated cycle lanes since the last elections in 2010, and 13 boroughs have never built a single metre of segregated cycle-lane.
“We welcome TfL’s commitment to carry out an annual survey of the Boroughs’ cycling safety performance. It will shine a powerful light of accountability on those town halls whose transport departments are stuck in a lethal 1950s’ motorised time-warp and refuse to protect their residents who cycle. It will reward those who invest in “Go Dutch” standard segregated cycle lanes so that everybody from young kids to pensioners can travel safely.”
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after the recent spate of cyclist killings in London. They arranged the mass Die-In at TfL HQ where 1,500 cyclists lay down in the road in protest at lack of safety investment in London.
2. The London boroughs 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.
