Olympics are delaying safety work on road where my Ellie died
The father of a cyclist killed by a truck near Tower Bridge has spoken of his anger that safety measures could be delayed for years because of the Olympics.
Allister Carey called on Boris Johnson not to let his daughter Ellie's death be in vain and improve road safety after she became the 16th cyclist to die in London this year.
It came after he was told by council officials that a Transport for London investigation will take until March - and changes are unlikely to be made to the junction until "2013 or 2014" because it is so focused on the Olympics. Miss Carey, 22, an international development student at London Metropolitan University, was killed on December 2 when she collided with an HGV turning left at the junction of Tower Bridge Road and Long Lane. The driver was arrested.
Mr Carey, who met TfL deputy chairman Daniel Moylan last week to show him the "human agony rather than mere statistics" of cyclist deaths, told the Standard: "I find it extraordinary that implementation would take such a long time.
"TfL seems to be more concerned with the Olympics than road safety. I'm very keen that we follow it through until there is action. Having gone through the sadness and the whole horrible affair...it's just something other people shouldn't have to go through."
Mr Carey said it was "unbelievable" that as he and his son Peter were laying a memorial to his daughter Tory members of the London Assembly walked out to prevent a debate on cycle safety. Mr Carey said: "It does make one angry that people are playing games. It's like children in a kindergarten." He described his daughter as a "marvellous girl" who wanted to do aid work.
Mark Gettleson, a Lib-Dem councillor for the area, said: "How many more casualties do we need to have before TfL do something about this? "
TfL's Leon Daniels said: "As part of the existing plans to upgrade this junction for pedestrians, we will examine whether there are measures which could be incorporated to address any cycling issues highlighted by this incident."
