Save our cyclists: Clamour for flood of avoidable road deaths

Urgent action is needed to protect cyclists from lorries and buses, with 230 cyclists killed or seriously injured every month on Britain's crowded roads, campaigners say.

Legislation requiring hauliers to fit the 450,000 lorries in Britain with sensors and emergency braking systems is being examined in Brussels following intensive lobbying by relatives of a young woman killed when she was dragged under the wheels of a HGV as it turned without the driver noticing her in the vehicle's "blind spot".

But a spate of deaths in London this year, and a growing toll of casualties nationwide, has prompted demands for better education of lorry and bus drivers, as well as cyclists themselves. Last year, 3.1 billion miles were cycled in the UK – a 4 per cent annual increase – while cycling in the capital has increased by 91 per cent since 2000.

Paula Jurek, a 20-year-old student from Poland, became the latest victim of the clash between cyclists and drivers last week when she was crushed by an articulated lorry on a stretch of road in Camden, north London, known as "death mile". Ms Jurek died from horrific injuries at the scene and the 65-year-old driver of the vehicle was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.