CTC condemns rising cyclists' death toll in London.

In a week where the total number of cyclists killed in London this year rose to a staggering 13, 8 of which were involved in collisions with lorries, CTC is calling for major changes to be made to the design of lorries, to the design of major junctions and to driver training, to avert more unnecessary deaths.

The Government is due to publish a Green Paper on the training and testing of drivers by the end of the year, CTC wants cycle training for new drivers to be integral to this paper. CTC especially wants drivers of large vehicles (lorries, buses and coaches)to be required to complete cycle training before obtaining their commercial licences.

Meanwhile the Government’s forthcoming Cycling Delivery Plan, intended to kick-start the ‘Cycling Revolution’ promised this summer by David Cameron, has to include a commitment to ensure high standards of cycle-friendliness in the design of all roads, junctions and other schemes.

CTC’s Chief Executive Gordon Seabright said:
"CTC and all cyclists are sickened by the continuing failure to protect cyclists, in particular from the dangers caused by lorries in our towns and cities.  We want to see the Mayor, Government, freight industry and others responsible for the safety of our streets living up to their promises to improve cyclists’ safety."

The charity also believes Transport for London and the Department for Transport should work together to ensure that all lorries need to be designed with cyclists’ safety in mind and that options are investigated for reducing the numbers of lorries on our busiest streets at the busiest times. In particular, the so-called ‘blind spot’ could be eliminated by lowering drivers’ cabs and making more of them transparent, to give lorry drivers a better view of the road. Lorries are involved in far more cyclists’ deaths than buses because the position of the driver high up in the cab considerably reduces visibility of the road, whereas bus drivers have greater vision through transparent doors and because of the lower position of the driver’s seat.