Lorry kills teenage cyclist at 'deathtrap' crossroads
A TEENAGE cyclist was knocked down and killed by a lorry at a busy south London junction labelled a "deathtrap".
The 16-year-old boy was hit by the articulated lorry in Tooting High Street as they pulled away from traffic lights at the crossroads.
Paramedics and police rushed to the junction with Blackshaw Road, where the Streatham Vale boy lay dying.
He was treated at the scene and taken to nearby St George's Hospital. Doctors worked for a number of hours to save the teenager but he later died of his injuries.
Witnesses today told how the junction was notorious for accidents.
Chandra Modi, manager of a chemist's opposite the crash scene, said there were accidents there every few months. He said: "Every two or three months something or other happens. It is dangerous.
"The boy was hit by a massive lorry a huge transporter. There were police and paramedics everywhere. The whole place was closed off for hours."
One resident, who lives yards from the crash scene said the junction was an accident hotspot.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: "Not a month goes by without an accident happening there. It is a deathtrap. Two years ago a boy was killed there, then this happens.
"They were trying to resuscitate him. It's so sad he died."
The death comes in the wake of the Evening Standard's Safer Cycling campaign, which has called for trucks to be fitted with extra safety mirrors to prevent accidents, and more cycle-friendly streets.
Scotland Yard said the driver of the lorry had stopped at the scene and no arrests had yet been made.
Any witnesses or anyone with any information about the crash is asked to call the Collision Investigation Unit at Hampton Traffic Garage on 020 8941 9011.
