London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Experts are calling for a ban on heavy goods vehicles on urban roads, after a study found they were involved in 43% of cycling fatalities in London. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine carried out an analysis of police road casualty data between 1992 and 2006, in London, and estimated the annual fatality rates per 100,000 cyclists per kilometre. Their findings are published today in the journal BMC Public Health.

The study followed on from a previous study, published in 1994 by Gilbert and McCarthy, which looked at fatalities between 1987 and 1992.

The LSHTM study found that, between 1992 and 2006, there was an average of 16 cycling fatalities a year. Out of a total of 242 fatalities, sixty per cent (146) of deaths were in inner London, and 96 deaths (40%) were in outer London. Heavy goods vehicles were involved in 103 (43%) of all incidents, and the vehicle was making a left turn in over half of these (53%).

Andrei Morgan of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and lead author of the study, comments: 'This unnecessary death toll cannot be ignored any longer. Our research, combined with that carried out previously, reveals that there has been no reduction in cycling fatalities in almost a quarter of a century. At a time when we are seeking to encourage more people to cycle, both for health and environmental reasons, this is not good enough. Measures are required to make cycling safer and to reduce the number of people dying so needlessly on our roads.'

'Heavy goods vehicles are involved in a disproportionate number of cycling fatalities on the capital’s roads. It is for this reason that we are calling for all freight vehicles over 3.5 tonnes to be removed from urban roads, and for safer, alternative solutions to be sought for transporting essential goods.'

Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and himself a keen cyclist, comments: 'If the streets of London were safer for cyclists, many more people would cycle, thereby improving their own health and reducing pressure on the capital's transport system. Not only should we be taking freight vehicles off the roads, but we should also be investing in cycle lanes that are separate from motorised traffic'.

Andrei Morgan concludes: 'Earlier this month, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, proposed a ban on the most heavily polluting HGVs in central London. If it makes sense to do this for environmental reasons, then it makes even more sense to do so in order to prevent people dying and being seriously injured on the capital's roads.'