Memorial: Venera Minakhmetova
Erection date: /12/2013
Immediately after her death this site was visited by a protest ride of over 1,000 cyclists demonstrating for safer roads. A small shrine was set up with flowers, candles, "Space for cycling" notices and a hand-written sign: “RIP to the young lady killed here this morning + thoughts go to her family…. TFL you are to blame for this…. the CS2 is NOT SAFE and you have allowed cyclists to die needlessly!! Shame on you!”
December 2013 Andrew Lockley set up a ghost bike for Venera and kindly sent us a photo. "I met her a few times through work, but I didn't know her well. Nobody else left a bike for her so I did." Thank you, Andrew.
Site: Svitlana Tereschenko and Venera Minakhmetova (2 memorials)
E3, Bow Flyover Roundabout
Svitlana Tereschenko was killed when hit by a left-turning tipper lorry. Only a few weeks after this horrible death Brian Dorling died in the same way on the other side of the same roundabout. Almost exactly 2 years later Venera Minakhmetova was killed at exactly the same spot as Svitlana, in the same awful way.
Meanwhile The Guardian reports the Mayor of London saying "...people make decisions on the road that are very risky – jumping red lights, moving across fast-moving traffic in a way that is completely unexpected and without looking to see what traffic is doing....". None of the many cyclist deaths on the roads over the last few years have been attributed to this type of behaviour. Most of them have been caused by cyclists having to share the road with lorrys, driven by people who cannot see the vulnerable people on the road. The Mayor seems keener to maintain his popularity than saving innocent people's lives.
