Vigil for lorry victims in London today (Friday), followed by Tower Hill to Aldgate protest ride

A vigil will be held outside London’s City Hall this evening to commemorate two people who lost their lives in London in the past week, one while riding a bike, the other while on foot.

Organised with the support of the London Cycling Campaign (LCC), CTC, British Cycling, Living Streets and RoadPeace, the vigil, which starts at 5.30pm, will be followed by the previously announced protest ride being led by LCC, which starts at 6.00pm just across the Thames at Tower Hill.

That ride follows the death last Friday of French national Philippine de Gerin-Ricard while riding a 'Boris Bike' on Barclays Cycle Superhighway CS2, while the preceding vigil also commemorates an as yet unnamed pedestrian killed as he crossed Fulham Palace Road on Monday.

A statement from RoadPeace inviting supporters to join the vigil said:

Whilst much is being done by the London Mayor and TfL to reduce these deaths, we are calling for the immediate implementation of measures that will protect both cyclists and pedestrians from the most dangerous vehicles on our streets, including:

• low cost and life-saving HGV safety technology which can eliminate the blind spot should be mandatory for ALL lorries that operate in our city

• TfL must expedite the study of the experience of cities such as Paris and Dublin, where lorry bans exist (Safer Streets for All p11).