Green Assembly Member and Working Peer Jenny Jones warns the Mayor his delays will only result in more deaths, as another cyclist is been killed after a collision with an HGV. The man, believed to be in his sixties, is the sixth victim in the last two weeks.
Jenny Jones (left) and Green Party Local Transport Spokesperson
Caroline Russell at a “Critical Mass” demonstration
Green Assembly members have urged the Mayor to tackle the real problem of HGVs, buses and dangerous junctions and stop the “insulting” practice of victim blaming.
Despite this, however, the Met responded to the death by holding an exercise this morning targeting cyclists. Police were stopping those on bikes and advising them to wear helmets and high viz jackets, despite no scientific evidence that such measures improve safety and no legal requirement to wear them.
20 lorries were stopped, with 60 faults on them – yet no fines were issued.
Jenny Jones said:
“The longer the Mayor delays taking action, the more cyclists will die. A morning rush hour ban on HGVs is the minimum the Mayor can do to make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians. He should consult on this proposal immediately, as waiting for others to act on safety improvements such as European lorry design rules, could take years.”
“The Met Police do valuable work taking illegal vehicles and drivers off the roads, but targeting cyclists who don’t wear helmets, or hi-viz clothing, would be a bad exercise in blaming the victims and completely unacceptable. The Met Police can’t go around making up new laws. They should be using an evidence based approach to making our roads safer, which would mean tackling significant problems such as speeding, car dooring, faulty vehicles and taking illegal drivers off the roads. ”