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Holborn death cyclist named as Alan NeveBroken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)

Holborn death cyclist named as Alan Neve

54-year-old was riding to work when hit by lorry on Monday
by John Stevenson
Wed, Jul 17, 2013 10:15
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The bike rider killed on Monday when he was hit by a truck on London’s High Holborn interchange has been named as 54-year-old Alan Neve.

Alan was riding to work on Monday morning when he was killed. According to a waiter from a nearby restaurant who gave him CPR after the crash, it appeared Alan had been hit by the lorry as it drove straight toward a green light.

Alan’s cousin Jonathan yesterday told the Evening Standard his family was, “absolutely devastated by Alan’s death. Alan’s parents are heartbroken, he was their first born son and the apple of their eye. He was kind, compassionate, loving and affable.

“We had only got back in touch and had plans to spend time together in the future but now that is all lost.”

Alan worked for PRS for Music, the organisation that protects musician’s copyrights and collects performance fees,  and was on his way the organisation’s office in Berners Street, near Goodge Street when he was killed.

Alan’s cousin Jonathan said: “Music was Alan’s life and he loved his job at the PRS. He was a wonderful person and a joy to be around. He will be missed terribly by all who knew him.”

Robert Ashcroft, chief executive of PRS for Music, said: “Alan was a dedicated and popular employee, having been with the company for 30 years. We are all in shock at this tragic news and our thoughts are with his family at this time.

“We have lost a colleague and a friend, Alan will be deeply missed.”

At yesterday’s protest ride, London Cycling Campaign chief executive Ashok Sinha reiterated the organisation’s demand that London’s road network be made safer for bike riders.

He said: “Boris Johnson promised us a better London for cyclists at the last mayoral elections but so far we’ve just seen delay after delay.

“Cycling is on the increase in London and if something isn’t done soon then so will the number of cyclists dying on our roads. The last few weeks has shown that something needs to happen fast.”

London
LCC. London Cycling Campaign
cycling death
Collision with HGVs
Alan Neve
John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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4 comments

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banzicyclist2 | 11 years ago
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Last night some IDIOT pulled out in front of me, then stopped dead in the road to talk to his mate coming the other way in a landrover. This completely blocked the road and I had to do an emergency stop.

So it's not just London. These murderous idiots are everywhere even small country roads in the south Lake District!

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Avatar
JuiceQC | 11 years ago
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RIP Alan and keep up the good work at roadcc and all such individuals and organisations who campaign for safer roads for cyclists. I live in Suffolk and would not consider riding a bike in London. However, have a much loved younger brother who has two beautiful daughters who does commute on a bike every day. I worry. Thoughts and prayers go out to Alan's friends and family at this desperately sad time.

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Critchio | 11 years ago
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I dont live in London, just a moderate sized coastal town and I have been a keen amateur cyclist (not just a commuter) for many years. In that time I have lost count how many close shaves I have had with cars, vans and lorries despite being an experienced and competent driver that anticipates the other drivers actions very well. Some of those incidents could have ended horribly had I not taken avoiding action.

I cannot imagine what its like for you guys in the Smoke. You really do need a sixth sense to get through traffic safely. With all these tipper truck/lorry fatalities I can't accept its all down to cyclists being poor anticipaters and not understanding lorry drivers blind spots or manouevres. There has to be more to it with driver error, impatience, speeding, even the arrogance of drivers seein us an an inconvenience rather than equal road user(cyclists don't belong on the road kind of rubbish), etc.

Its really sad to read this stuff and somethinfg has to be done. Boris needs to get his finger out of his arse. Safety measures, and changes to improve our roads for cylcists do tend to spiral across the country when something new happens and becomes a proven road safety measure.

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mattjwalsh | 11 years ago
0 likes

An important article. It's vital that these tragedies don't just get turned into statistics.

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