It has been a sad autumn, with two cyclists killed on Ealing’s roads. On 12 October, Claudia Manera, a 51 year-old fitness instructor was hit with a lorry on the Uxbridge Road at the junction with Northfield Avenue. She died a week later. Then, on 9 November, Darshan Singh Heer, an 86 year-old retired teacher, was hit with a lorry on South Road in Southall while cycling to a local park.
Following the death of Claudia Manera,
Ealing Cycling Campaign organized a march calling on Ealing Council to Make the
Uxbridge Road Safe. Over 250 people, including Rupa Huq, MP and councilors from
all parties, walked from the town hall to the Lido junction in West Ealing
where a minute’s silence was held in memory of Claudia. The police did an
excellent job marshaling the procession – Claudia had worked for them before
setting up as a fitness instructor. After the march, the council invited
cyclists to a meeting at the town hall to exchange views on cycling in the
borough. About 50 cyclists attended the workshop and contributed ideas. Sadly, two days later, Darshan Singh Heer was killed in Southall. On the evening of 10
November, around 25 cyclists joined his family and friends for a vigil.
In the wake of the march, a new group has
formed: Make Uxbridge Road Safe, which is campaigning to make the road safe for
all road users. Between 2012 and 2016, three people were killed on the Uxbridge
Road and over 300 people injured, 46 of them seriously. Although the Uxbridge
Road makes up only 2% of Ealing’s road network, it accounts for 20 percent of
pedestrian casualties, and 25% of cycling casualties in the borough. More
alarmingly, over a third of cyclists killed or seriously injured in Ealing were
injured in collisions on the Uxbridge Road. The new campaign has started a petition calling for Ealing Council to carry out a safety review of the
Uxbridge Road. If it achieves its target of 1500 signatures by 27 November, it
will trigger a full debate of Ealing council – probably on Tuesday 19th
December.
There are several possible sources for
funding improvements. Transport for London’s Strategic Cycling Analysis, published
earlier this year, identified the Uxbridge Road corridor as one of the top 25
routes in London for potential growth in cycling, and has targeted it for
further study. The council has put in a
bid to TfL’s Liveable Neighbourhoods scheme for 8 million pounds to improve
West Ealing. ECC would like to see the scheme include improvements to the Lido
junction, a better crossing from the Dean Gardens shared-use path to Mattock
Lane and a cycle crossing of the Uxbridge Road to link Broughton Road and Broomfield
Road.
Over the past 3 years, HGVs have been
involved in over 70% of cyclist deaths in London. LCC has led the calls for a
redesign of lorry cabs so drivers have a clear view ahead, and we are now
beginning to see the first ‘Direct Vision’ cabs on the road. For details, and
information on safe cycling around lorries visit: lorrysafety.lcc.org.uk
The only thing more dangerous than cycling is not cycling.
Notwithstanding the sad events reported on this page, remember that studies have consistently shown that the accident risk of cycling is far outweighed by the general health benefits of cycling.
Cyclists’ life expectancy is above average!
