Dozens of people laid down outside Kensington and Chelsea council offices on Thursday (October 12) evening as part of a "die-in" following the death of a cyclist at Chelsea Bridge .
The vigil was organised by campaign group Stop Killing Cyclists and saw speakers address the crowd before and after the die-in.
Among those who spoke was the chairman of road crash victims’ charity, whose daughter died when her bicycle was hit by an HGV lorry.
Victoria Lebrec, who lost her leg when she was in a collision with a lorry while cycling nearly three years ago, fought back tears as she also addressed the crowd.
Cycling in the news
The event was called following the death of a 36-year-old woman on Chelsea Bridge on September 27.
Despite the accident happening on the Westminster side of the bridge, Stop Killing Cyclist co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy criticised the council for its past objections to a Cycle Superhighway 9 (CS9) .
He also said it was one of the few boroughs in London not to implement a 20mph zone , stating there was a 5% chance of death following impact with a vehicle travelling at 20mph compared with a 45% chance of death following impact at 30mph.
Cynthia Barlow is the chairman of road crash victims charity RoadPeace.
Her 26-year-old daughter Alex McVitty died in 2000 while cycling at London Wall when she was involved in a collision with a left-turning concrete mixer.
She called for change saying a disproportionately high number of construction vehicles were responsible for the most fatal and serious traffic collisions.
Ms Lebrec had her left leg amputated through the knee when she was hit by a left-turning lorry in Clarkenwell Road, central London in December 2014. She was 24 at the time.
She said: “I’m here because there’s more that can be done to prevent these accidents happening.
“Until we make roads safer for cyclists these accidents will continue to happen - and they’re preventable.”
A council spokesman said: “The latest statistics show that fewer cyclists were hurt in Kensington and Chelsea than in most central London boroughs, but we understand that we are not talking about statistics, we are talking people – so one accident is one too many.
“We have created 8km of new Quietway routes in the last year, meaning people can travel around on roads which generally have fewer heavy vehicles, but we will continue to look at ways to make our streets safer.”
In September plans for a new CS9 were announced running from Brentford to West Kensington .
Members of the public can respond to the CS9 public consultation which runs until October 31.
Documents can be found here .
Ms Lebrec said the driver of the lorry which hit her was originally charged with causing injury by dangerous driving.
However the charge was downgraded to dangerous driving.
He received a fine and had his license endorsed.
Ms Barlow said the driver of the lorry which killed her daughter was acquitted in court.
Police are not naming the woman who died on Chelsea Bridge following a request from family.
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