Cyclist killed in collision involving lorry at one of London's most notorious junctions

A cyclist was killed this morning following a collision involving a lorry outside Holborn Underground station at what is one of London’s most notoriously dangerous junctions for bike riders.

The Metropolitan Police Service has confirmed that the victim, a man aged in his 60s, was pronounced dead at the scene and that no arrests have been made.

 The junction is the same one where cyclist Alan Neve was killed when he was hit by a lorry driven by Barry Meyer in July 2013.

Meyer, who was unlicensed and uninsured, was jailed for three and a half years for those offences and for causing death by careless driving, and lost a subsequent appeal against his sentence.

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There have been several other cyclist fatalities nearby in the past decade or so, and the Holborn area remains one of the most intimidating part of central London for bike riders.

Holborn, and Theobald’s Road which runs parallel to the north, are very popular east-west cycle routes – on the latter, there are 2.5 bikes for every motor vehicle at rush hour – but are woefully lacking in safe cycling infrastructure.

That led the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) last year to call for a protected cycle route to be built from Old Street to the junction of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road via Theobald’s Road.

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Simon Munk, infrastructure campaigner at LCC, told road.cc: “It is shocking that notorious junctions, known to be dangerous, even lethal, for so many years are left untouched too often.

“How many people need to be killed or seriously injured at places like Holborn, Old Street or the Woolwich Road roundabout in Greenwich before the mayor and boroughs take action?

“The mayor promised LCC members and all Londoners he would fix the worst junctions in London more quickly. Time for him to get a move on."

He added: "We continue to campaign for far better cycling along the London Boulevard from Old Street to Tottenham Court Road.

“We are waiting for a scheme to come forward from Islington Council for their section that they have publicly promised will be soon."