The death of cyclist Dan Harris on Wednesday evening close to the Olympic Park has prompted calls for a change in the law to make the wearing of cycle helmets compulsory.
The tragic incident involving Mr Harris, 28, occurred just outside the Olympic Park on Ruckholt Road, Stratford, at just after 7:30pm.
Police were called to the scene and arrested the bus driver, a man in his mid-60s, on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Mr Harris was cycling at a junction which is known to be a danger: the London Cycling Campaign had warned authorities for the past few years that the junction needed alteration to avoid a serious accident.
Although the bus driver was arrested at the scene, it is unclear whether he has been charged over the incident.
The incident has prompted cyclists and road safety experts to call for a change in the law to force cyclists to wear helmets.
Olympic gold-medal winning cyclist Bradley Wiggins supported the calls in a press conference that evening.
"Ultimately, if you get knocked off and you haven't got a helmet on, then how can you kind of argue?" he told reporters.
"Riders shouldn't be riding along with iPods and phones and things on and should have lights," he added.
However, he later appeared to back down from reports that he was calling for a change in law, stating that he thought such things should be considered by policy makers.
"Just to confirm I haven't called for helmets to be made the law as reports suggest," he tweeted.
Mr Harris is the tenth cyclist to be killed on London's roads this year. However, London Mayor Boris Johnson said there were no plans to change the law relating to cycling.
Martin Gibbs is the director of public policy at British Cycling.
"Our sympathies are with the family and friends of the cyclist who was killed. It would be inappropriate to comment further on this incident until the full facts are known, but at British Cycling we believe that a lot more could be done to make the roads safer for cyclists," he told the Press Association.
Source:
Cyclist's death '10th in capital' (Google / Press Association)
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