Last Friday saw around 600 cyclists reclaim the streets for London’s Critical Mass. It followed a call by many London bloggers and forums to come together to mark three recent deaths on London’s roads caused by large goods vehicles.
On 9 February, Professor David Vilaseca was knocked off on the corner of Tower Bridge Road and Druid Street. Then, on Tuesday 9 March, Muhammad Ahmad, a medical student, collided with a tipper truck on the corner of Weston Street and Snowsfields, only a few hundred metres away. And, just the day after, Shivon Watson, a charity worker was killed on Victoria Park Road in east London.
Critical Mass, which meets on the South Bank by Waterloo Bridge on the last Friday of each month, visited all these sites to lay flowers and pay respects to the victims.
These tragic deaths come as the London Mayor unveiled his Cycling Safety Action Plan. It has been criticised, however, by Jenny Jones, a Green member of the London Assembly, as inadequate. She believes the Mayor is encouraging novice cyclists on to dangerous roads, while cutting the numbers of traffic police and safety cameras. She also called for a peak-time ban on HGVs on key routes
The March Critical Mass ride was also swelled by members of the London Fixed-Gear and Single Speed forum, which had planned – before the memorial ride was announced – to celebrate its 5th birthday at the event. The forum, a tight community of London cyclists, is becoming increasingly active in promoting road safety for all the capital’s cyclists.
