London’s most dangerous cycling junctions revealed

A cycling campaign group has released a list of 10 of the most dangerous cycling junctions in the capital – with the top four all in South London.

Using the latest emergency services “Stats19” collision reporting data from the Government, the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has today launched a new map that identifies the 10 most dangerous junctions for cycling in London.

Number one on the list is Upper Tooting Road in Wandsworth, where a dangerous cluster of junctions for cycling have been located with Ansell Road, Derinton Road, Price Close and Lessingham Avenue.

There is currently a wand-protected Cycle SuperHighway CS7 on this route.

About 3,000 cycling journeys are made there daily, but campaigners say the side streets are heavily used as cut-through routes for drivers, with high numbers of vehicles turning into and out of them.

As a result this cluster has seen 11 serious injuries – an injury often with life-changing consequences, involving a stay in hospital – with those cycling and 18 slight injuries in the past five years.

Dr Cleo Kenington, consultant surgeon at St George’s Hospital in Tooting and co-chairwoman of Bicycle Users Group, said: “The Tooting section of the CS7 Cycle Superhighway is the most popular cycle route used by St George’s Hospital staff according to the hospital’s Bicycle Users Group survey.

“However, that survey also reports of the serious dangers in using CS7. The dangers listed include: the lack of maintenance of CS7; cars pulling out across CS7 at junctions; the lack of enforcement of illegal car parking; the absence of and damage to cycle wands; and illegal turns by cars into ‘no left turns’ junctions.

“These problems make cycling to work by staff from St George’s Hospital an unnecessarily risky mode of active travel. Improvements along that section are urgently needed to reduce the number of collisions.”

The campaign claims the council and Transport for London (TfL) have not taken action to reduce the issues in the area.

LCC launched its “Dangerous Junctions” campaign in 2022 following the deaths of Dr Marta Krawiec and Shatha Ali in Holborn, both killed while cycling through notoriously dangerous junctions.

The campaign believes safer junction design is one of the key methods of not only reducing road danger but also enabling more people to walk and cycle comfortably and safely.

Tom Fyans, chief executive of LCC, said: “Behind this horrific data are hundreds of stories of families torn apart by tragedy and lives changed forever.

“The Mayor has committed to a ‘Vision Zero’ for London by 2041 – but that would mean more than 17 years more fatal and serious collisions for Londoners – we need to be faster and bolder.

“While cycling and indeed walking and wheeling remain relatively safe, healthy ways of getting about London, TfL, the Mayor and our boroughs must move faster and be bolder on road danger to stem the human cost posed by dangerous junctions and poor road designs.”

A TfL spokeswoman said: “We have reduced danger at 44 junctions across London as part of our Safer Junctions programme and we continue to work on designs for a significant number of further locations in collaboration with our partners in the London Boroughs, including many of those highlighted by this data.

“We welcome London Cycling Campaign’s research and will be working closely with campaigners, councils and local communities across the capital on our investment in new infrastructure over the coming years.”

A Wandsworth council spokesman said: “The council is fully committed to improving safety for cyclists and pedestrians and has unveiled a series of measures to make travelling by bike and on foot much safer.

“This includes the installation of a protected cycle lane across Wandsworth Bridge, changes to road layouts near schools in Chestnut Grove and new upgraded cycle and walking routes in Burntwood Lane. We are committed to working with TfL to improve safety on its red route network.”

Pictured top: A cyclist on the Upper Tooting Road Cycle SuperHighway CS7 route as a car pulls out behind (Picture: LCC)