“No one should suffer this heartbreak”: Family of cyclist killed in collision with a driver call for “immediate deployment of speed and road traffic cameras”

According to the Metropolitan Police, the incident occurred shortly after 12:20pm on 16 June near the junction of Woodford Road and Capel Road, on the edge of Wanstead Flats.

The Standard was told that provisional police data suggests the collision happened on Centre Road — around 55 metres north of the junction with Forest Road — just after the end of a cycle lane marked by flexible plastic bollards and close to a zebra crossing and car park entrance.

Barry Shonibare, described by his loved ones as a “much loved father, brother, uncle and friend” and “a genuine, kind and caring man”, was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries several days later. His family are now calling on the Mayor of London, Transport for London (TfL) and the borough of Newham to act.

“Our family, alongside the police, seek justice and resolution,” they said in a statement. “We appeal to the Mayor of London, TfL and the borough of Newham for the immediate deployment of speed and road traffic cameras on Centre Road. No family or individual should suffer this heartbreak again.”

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Police say the driver, a 26-year-old man, did not remain at the scene, but later returned on foot. No arrests have been made at this stage, and it is not currently known whether speed was a factor in the collision.

Centre Road, London (credit: Google Street View)

Newham Cyclists, part of the London Cycling Campaign, announced it would hold a vigil for Shonibare on Monday 14 July at 7pm near the site of the crash. The group said the location was widely recognised by cyclists as unsafe and backed the family’s demands.

“People are exposed to danger every day on Centre Road/Woodford Road — with no protected space for cycling on the Newham part of the road, wide lanes and a painted median that invite speeding, and poor driver compliance at the zebra crossing at Capel Road,” the group said in a statement.

“We completely concur with Mr Shonibare’s family in their call for speed cameras on Centre Road, and also urge the Mayor of London, TfL, and Newham and Redbridge councils to fund and deliver safe cycling infrastructure to ensure no-one else is killed or hurt on this important corridor.”

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The borough boundary between Newham and Redbridge runs through the area. While Woodford Road on the Newham side has a 20mph speed limit but no cycle lanes, Centre Road in Redbridge features a painted cycle lane with plastic wands — though these do not continue along the full stretch of road.

A Redbridge Council consultation on proposals to install road humps on Centre Road to reduce traffic speed closed last month.

TfL said that it is awaiting the outcome of the police investigation and will work with the relevant council to explore possible road safety interventions. “It is our priority to make London’s transport network safer for everyone,” a spokesperson said, “and we will continue to work closely with boroughs, local partners and the police to respond to concerns about road safety.”

Mr Shonibare is the fourth person to be killed while cycling in the capital in 2025. The first was a rider who died on Stratford High Street earlier in the year, whose name has not been made public.

Last year, the parents of Emma Burke Newman, a 22-year-old student killed while cycling in Glasgow, described the junction where she was dragged for over 50 metres by a lorry driver as “an accident waiting to happen”. Following the sentencing of the driver this March, they called for improved infrastructure, changes to HGV design standards and broader cultural change — urging more people to cycle as a way of building public pressure and political momentum.

“We want the roads to be safer. Not even just for cyclists, but drivers too,” her mother Rose said. “No driver wants to be in that dock… We want people to get on bikes because there’s safety in numbers. The more people that are out there, the safer it will become. It’s like this virtuous cycle and that’s our vision.”

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Emma Burke Newman (Pedal on Parliament) (credit: road.cc)

Emma Burke Newman (credit: Pedal on Parliament)

In a blog post for Pedal on Parliament, the family wrote: “Society has accepted death and serious injury as a cost of getting from point A to B? We don’t accept that… Since [Emma] has not [survived], we are taking on the mantle. It will help us of our grief, to ensure that her death was not in vain.”

Other families have echoed that same frustration at a lack of urgency or care in the wake of cycling deaths. In Cambridge, the family of Steve Moir — who died after clipping a kerb and falling into the path of a guided bus while overtaking pedestrians — said they were “incredibly frustrated” at the lack of physical protection installed on the busway, adding: “The authorities aren't really bothered that their dad died.”

In Ireland, the parents of André Castro Ladeiro, an eight-year-old boy killed while riding his bike on a green signal at a pedestrian crossing, said that drivers breaking road rules were still a routine sight at the exact spot where their son was fatally struck. “Any simple thing that we see on the road that is against the rules just makes us mad,” his father said. “We boil from the inside seeing someone not stopping at a red light.”

Mr Ladeiro and André’s mother, Filipa Castro, who both witnessed the crash, also criticised the “unduly lenient” two-year prison sentence handed to the driver. “The value of my child, for the state of Ireland in this case, killed by dangerous driving, is a two-year sentence,” he said.

Anyone with information about the collision that led to Barry Shonibare’s death — including dash-cam or mobile phone footage — is urged to contact the police on 101 quoting 3399/16JUN.