In a heart-rending interview in this week’s Camden New Journal, Deep Lee’s (Min Joo Lee) boyfriend Kenji Hirasawa reveals that TfL have approached him to remove the ghost bike placed as a memorial to her tragic and totally avoidable death on the notorious King’s Cross gyratory system.
Kenji says that authorities in charge of traffic in London should feel “ashamed” that a cycling blackspot still existed in “one of the most advanced cities in the world”.
Yet at a meeting at Camden Town Hall earlier this week officers from TfL and Camden trotted out the same old, same old responses to calls for action: targets are already being met… changes would cause traffic delays… they don’t have enough time as the Olympic Games approaches… they can’t find a workable solution… they are complying with existing standards…
With the Mayoral election fast approaching it’s going to be interesting to see which candidates put road safety for ALL road users at the top of the agenda, who will give an unambiguous commitment to remove the perilous and outmoded KX gyratory system completely. There is a workable solution, it is likely to be radical and costly, it needs to be identified and implemented and it will stop deaths like Deep’s. She was clearly a beautiful and well loved human being with her life in front of her. This isn’t the time for the usual platitudes and bureaucratic responses.
Kings Cross Environment 
TfL have asked for the ghost bike to removed!!! I can’t believe what I am reading! How out of touch can these people get FFS (excuse my french but I am incredibly angry).
Comments like this make me wonder whether we should move forwards with some plans for direct action. What about a cycling flashmob event through the gyratory system or similar?
Direct action road signage has been used in other places, sometimes with a humourous twist – paying 0.25c per bay for a line of parking bays and then creating a cycle lane was an international stunt at a cycling conference in Montreal in 1992. Other signage has appeared overnight to make a point, much as the ghost bikes shout a clear message.
I’d suggest looking up section 39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 which spells out statutory duties from TfL and other Roads Authorities concerning the investigation of ‘accidents’ s.39(a) and the action to be taken as a result s.39(b). There are various ways to seek an answer on whether and how TfL is delivering this.