Industry ‘must do more’ to prevent cycle deaths

The death of three cyclists on the capital’s roads in the space of just one week underscores the need for architects, planners and developers to do more to create safer streets, the chair of the New London Architecture think tank has said.

Peter Murray said last week’s tragedies – which included the death of LOM architectural assistant Karla Roman – showed that the construction sector had to up its game in terms of both design and construction-traffic safety.

The deaths equate to one-third of the number of cyclists killed on London’s streets during the whole of 2015, the most recent year for which official Transport for London statistics are available.

Murray, who is a member of the Construction Industry Cycling Commission, said a series of continuing professional development sessions aimed at design professionals, would launch next month.

The commission was set up in 2014 to look at lessons from the numbers of cyclists killed or seriously injured on the capital’s roads – particularly in relation to large vehicles and construction HGVs.

Its conclusions reported an “urgent need” to train design professionals in the use of techniques contained in London Cycling Design Standards.

Murray said the free CPD sessions that would commence in just over two weeks were a step towards delivering that training.

“The talks have been developed by Charlie Palmer – who won the 2015 Norman Foster Travel Scholarship to study cycling in megacities around the world, Brian Deegan of TfL, author of London Cycling Design Standards, and Rachel Aldred of the University of Westminster,” he said.

“It is so important that architects are more aware and take greater responsibility.”

He added: “One of last week’s deaths was yet another construction HGV – and architects can do something about that and insist that all drivers on sites are properly trained and their lorries have the appropriate safety features.”

Murray said the one-hour CPD talks would start from next month and could be booked by large architecture practices, while New London Architecture would hosting a number of events for smaller practices.

In addition to the training drive for architects and masterplanners, the CICC is also pushing for building site hoardings and wraps to be used to convey key messages about safety.

Over the weekend, the central London road island where former Victoria and Albert Museum deisign director Moira Gemmmill was killed on a bike was named as the nation’s top urban accident blackspot for cyclists.

The table, created by data-services company Mapmechanics for the Sunday Times, said 53 accidents at the Millbank/Lambeth Bridge roundabout had been reported to police between 2009 and 2015.

Second-placed was the roundabout at the junction of Iffley Road and Cowley Road in Oxford.