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Lorry death cyclist tributes
MORE than 500 family and friends said their farewells on Monday at the funeral of a young Holloway cyclist who was killed in an accident with a lorry.
Tearful friends read poetry and celebrated Amelia Zollner’s short life at Golders Green crematorium.
The funeral took place just days before London Mayor Ken Livingstone launched a new cycling safety campaign.
The Mayor’s roads arm Transport for London will unveil thousands of posters and stickers on Monday, warning both lorry drivers and cyclists to be aware of each other on the roads.
Ms Zollner, 24, who worked for the influential independent think tank the Institute for Public Policy, died in an accident at Russell Square.
She was one of two women cyclists killed in accidents within the past fortnight.
The other was Madeleine Wright, 26, from Islington Green, who was killed in an accident with a lorry in Pentonville Road.
Ms Zollner’s friend Jessica Blackstone, who shared a flat with her in Stock Orchard Street, said of the funeral: “Her family from South Africa, work-mates and old school and university friends were all there. There were so many people that the aisles, steps, and doorways were crammed.
“Several of her friends read poems, and a few people made speeches about her.
“We also made a booklet of photos of her life for people to remember her by. At the end of the service everyone was invited to place a flower on her coffin as they left.”
Transport for London said the cycling safety campaign was being launched at a time of widespread concern about cycling safety in the capital.
Twenty-one cyclists have been killed in accidents with lorries in London between January 1999 and 2004 – the majority (85 per cent) were women.
A spokeswoman said: “Lorry drivers must look out for cyclists. But at the same time cyclists must be aware of the dangers of cycling too close to heavy lorries.”
At the same a new report suggests that dangerous potholes in Islington and not being repaired quickly enough.
Cyclists’ campaign group CTC, which has set up a website to report potholes through the UK.
It claims that out of 70 reports of potholes to the website from Islington since January 24 this year only five have been repaired.
Environment spokeswoman Lib Dem Councillor Lucy Watt said that Islington had employed a new pot hole repair machine and that was improving the situation. She added: “I’m not aware of these current figures for pot holes. But I know we are getting round to repairing them as quickly as we can.” |
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