Police, ambulance and air ambulance crews were called to reports of a fatal collision involving an HGV lorry and a cyclist at Thurlow Park Road at the junction with Gallery Road shortly before 9.20am.
A spokeswoman for London Ambulance Services said: We treated one patient, a female believed to be aged 30, who was in cardiac arrest. Sadly despite extensive efforts she was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor from Londons Air Ambulance.
While officers believe they know who the deceased is they are awaiting formal identification. Her next of kin have been informed.
Meanwhile, the 40-year-old driver of the refuse vehicle stopped at the scene and was subsequently arrested in connection to the incident.
He was taken into custody at a south London police station and has since been bailed pending further inquiries due to take place in early December.
A Veolia spokesman said: Due to the ongoing investigation we cannot comment any further at this stage.
Lorry safety equipment
The incident came on the same day the Mayor of London announced a new set of measures aimed at protecting cyclists from heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in the capital, including the establishment of an HGV Task Force to promote safety regulations.
‘We treated one patient, a female believed to be aged 30, who was in cardiac arrest. Sadly despite extensive efforts she was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor from Londons Air Ambulance’
London Ambulance Services spokeswoman
Under the Mayors proposals, Londoners are to be consulted on the introduction of a Safer Lorry Charge, which would be levied against drivers of any HGV not fitted with basic safety equipment to protect cyclists.
Furthermore, Transport for London (TfL) yesterday announced a new funding scheme offering grants of up to 5,000 for community groups to encourage Londoners to cycle more.
According to the Mayors office, between 2008 and 2012, HGVs were involved in 53% of London cyclist deaths despite making up only 4% of the traffic. They have been involved in four of the six cyclist deaths in London so far this year.
Exemptions
Under national legislation, many HGVs are fitted with sidebars or low skirts which protect cyclists from being dragged underneath the vehicle and crushed.
However, waste vehicles, construction lorries, tipper trucks, cement mixers and certain other forms of HGV are exempt from these and other safety requirements.
Launching the plans yesterday, Mayor Boris Johnson said that no lorry should be allowed in London unless it is fitted with equipment to protect cyclists.
He said: I have long been worried that a large number of cyclist deaths involve a relatively small number of problem lorries which are not fitted with safety equipment.
Also commenting on the new measures announced yesterday, transport minister Stephen Hammond said the government was committed to improving the safety of cyclists, adding that he would be pressing the European Union to improve safety vehicle design as soon as possible.
The London Cycling Campaign said it it was campaigning for the lorries to be fitted with the best safety equipment and for HGV drivers to be trained on a government-approved Safer Urban Driving Course.
Commenting on yesterday’s incident, Charlie Lloyd, LCC campaigns officer, said: Theres a problem with inherently large lorries on the road. Cyclists are at risk from these vehicles and whatever the situation, that woman did not deserve to die. We are very upset about this.
HSE
Yesterdays incident involving the Veolia refuse vehicle comes in the wake of figures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in July showing that there were a total of 13 deaths in the waste and recycling industry in 2012/13 double the number recorded the previous year (see letsrecycle.com story).
This led to the HSE described the waste industry figures as both disappointing and worrying.
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