A cyclist has been killed this afternoon on Barclays Cycle Superhighway CS2 in east London, the third cyclist to die on the route in a little over two years. Once again, a tipper lorry is reported to be the vehicle involved.
The incident that claimed the life of the male bike rider (later identified as hospital porter Brian Holt) took place on Mile End Road in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, reports the BBC. It happened at 4.38pm, according to the Metropolitan Police.
That location lies between the western end of the route, where student Philippine de Gerin-Ricard lost her life in a collision with a lorry in July this year, and the eastern end of the route at Bow Roundabout, where Brian Dorling was killed by a tipper truck in October 2011.
The latest fatality on CS2 takes place a fortnight after a Coroner gave Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who chairs Transport for London, 56 days to respond to a Prevention of Future Deaths report issued following the inquests last month into those two previous deaths.
It comes just one day before the eastern extension of CS2 from Bow to Stratford is due to open.
The new route incorporates safety features including kerbed cycle lanes that have been welcomed by cycle campaigners but which are missing from the existing route – described by a police accident investigator at the inquest into Mr Dorling’s death as “just a piece of blue paint.”
Simon has been news editor at road.cc since 2009, reporting on 10 editions and counting of pro cycling’s biggest races such as the Tour de France, stories on issues including infrastructure and campaigning, and interviewing some of the biggest names in cycling. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, his background has proved invaluable in reporting on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, and the bike industry. He splits his time between London and Cambridge, and loves taking his miniature schnauzer Elodie on adventures in the basket of her Elephant Bike.