White bikes placed at roadside as poignant memorial to cyclists
By The Editor
12th May 2021 | Local News
White bikes have been placed at the roadside in Richmond in a poignant commemoration of two cyclists killed in crashes.
The bikes were placed beside Twickenham Road (A316) on Saturday.
It is a particularly treacherous area for cyclists; since 2005 there have been (at least) 35 crashes along this 400m stretch of the A316, with many more in the surrounding streets.
The first memorial bike is for Imelda Seymour 'Mel', 58, a married teacher who was killed in a collision with a van driver on the A316 on Tuesday, March 30.
She was taken to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington where she later died.
Police are investigating whether Seymour died due to careless driving.
The second bike is to commemorate Henry Lang, 40, from Twickenham, who was killed in a collision with a refuse lorry on July 21 2014 at the junction of Kew Foot Road and St John's Grove. The bike has been placed at this location.
Tim Lennon, head of the Richmond Cycling Campaign, said: "Since before the sad death of Henry Lang here we've asked for this cycle route to be improved.
"This old design, by providing some indication of safety, has shown the widespread desire of locals to cycle.
"It's high time that TfL fixed problems like this. Especially with this particular exit, there really is no reason not to pursue the simple but very effective solution of simply closing this dangerous exit immediately.
"We cannot wait for more people to die or be injured to act on things like this.
"Imelda's death is a horrible tragedy brought about entirely by the poor design of this junction, and the abject failure of TfL and the club who own the car park to take appropriate safety steps."
White bikes, also known as ghost cycles, are white-painted bikes which are permanently placed as memorial for a victim of a crash, usually those who have lost their life.
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