Free lorry mirrors to stop cycle deaths

A thousand free safety mirrors are to be handed out to lorry drivers in the City, in an attempt to halt the rising number of cyclists being killed.

Police and Corporation of London staff will stop drivers entering the Square Mile at checkpoints and hand out the stick-on mirrors.

The "Fresnel" lenses are fitted to the cab window so drivers can see cyclists on the passenger side of the lorry. Without these, drivers have a blind spot which has been blamed for a string of fatal accidents involving cyclists and left-turning lorries across London.

The most recent victim was City worker Catriona Patel, 39, who died near the Oval cricket ground on her way to her office last month. She was the seventh cyclist to be killed in a collision with a lorry in less than five months — six of them women.

The spate of deaths has prompted an Evening Standard campaign to change the law to ensure all lorries are fitted with better mirrors. The handout of lenses is part of a major road safety campaign due to be approved by the corporation at a meeting tonight.Cyclists will also be stopped at the checkpoints and given free high-visibility belts, as well as road safety leaflets. "Our message is: don't ride out into that suicide space'," said Matthew Collins, the corporation's road safety officer. Latest figures show 17 cyclists were killed or seriously injured last year, compared with eight in 2000.

City chiefs point out this is partly due to a rise in the number of people cycling to work, but are determined to meet TfL's target of reducing major accidents to 14 by next year.

Cyclists caught breaking road rules — like jumping red lights or riding on pavements — will be fined £30 or can opt to attend a safety seminar. Some 50,000 maps showing where pedestrians and cyclists have been hurt or killed will be handed out at stations.