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Tributes paid to London art curator killed in collision with lorry last week

News of death coincides with efforts to get MEPs to back law designed to improve cyclists' safety...

Tributes have been paid to an up-and-coming art curator who died as a result of injuries sustained after he was involved in a collision with a lorry while cycling in East London last week. Daniel Cox, aged 28, who lived in Clapton, died at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel on Friday, two days after the collision in Dalston.

The Goldsmiths graduate had been working part-time at the PayneShurvell gallery in Shoreditch since last summer, whose owner James Payne told the Evening Standard that news of his death had come as a “massive blow.”

He added that Daniel had been so well thought of at the gallery that soon after his arrival there as an assistant, he was given the responsibility of curating an exhibition, Welcome To Paradise, by the Polish artist Anka Dabrowska.

Mr Payne said: "We all felt it today at the gallery and we will probably do some kind of tribute to him.

"He was very bright and within two months of starting I decided to let him curate a show. He did an amazing job, really spectacular. I think his career was going to change. He met so many artists through our gallery and everyone said he was really great. He was very outgoing and intelligent, particularly with art theory and practice.

"He was also very funny, the kind of person who lit up a room. Our artists got really attached to him. He was an exceptional person who will be terribly missed here. I really believe that he was a future star of the art world."

The 51-year-old driver of the lorry involved in the fatal accident has been bailed by police until July after being arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, while a coroner’s inquest into Daniel’s death has been opened and adjourned.

Daniel’s death came on the same day that Kate Cairns, whose sister Eilidh was killed after being hit by a lorry on Notting Hill Gate two years ago, issued an appeal under the See Me Save Me campaign for people to contact their MPs to urge them to support proposed European legislation designed to make the roads safer for cyclists.

The Evening Standard also reported that another cyclist was seriously injured yesterday in a collision with a petrol tanker in Kennington, South London.

The newspaper also repeated calls by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) for cyclist to sign its No More Lethal Lorries petition, which asks local authorities to give their drivers cycle awareness training.

The LCC’s communications officer Mike Cavenett told the Evening Standard: "At present cycle training for London lorry drivers is the exception.

"We aim to normalise this practice and want every lorry driver in London to have eventually done some form of cycle-awareness training."
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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9 comments

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skippy | 13 years ago
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THis subject is too complicated for an answer here so blogged an item www.skippi-cyclist.blogspot.com
Be interested in any feedback from the manchester area !

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Simon_MacMichael | 13 years ago
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Nelly Buck said: "The most in depth answer I had was from the UKIP MEP John Bufton."

Any relation to the respected and oft-quoted Tory backbencher Sir Bufton Tufton?

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antonio | 13 years ago
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I too answered the appeal to contact my mep's, so sad that this should happen just a couple of days later, action can't come soon enough.

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OldRidgeback | 13 years ago
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Very sad

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monty dog | 13 years ago
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I wonder if there was a threat of legal action against the truck driver's employer / liability insurance for their failure to make sure they'd provided training to address forseeable risks, then they'd pay more attention?

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Simon_MacMichael replied to monty dog | 13 years ago
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monty dog wrote:

I wonder if there was a threat of legal action against the truck driver's employer / liability insurance for their failure to make sure they'd provided training to address forseeable risks, then they'd pay more attention?

Their employers' liability insurance would only cover legal liability in respect of death/bodily injury to an employee arising out of and in the course of their employment.

Their public liability policy would specifically exclude any claims in connection with the use of a motor vehicle on the public highway (which would come under their motor policy, legal minimum requirement is third party liability).

In terms of enforcing health & safety style legislation against HGV firms though (which I assume is what you're getting at), that's the kind of issue addressed (in London) by the Met's Commercial Vehicle Unit (previously funded by TfL as the CVEU before Boris pulled the plug).

Unfortunately, it has nowhere near the resources and manpower it should do.

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That Guy Hex | 13 years ago
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My MEPs have responded uniformly positively to signing the Written Declaration - with the exception of the guy from UKIP. What a class act.

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nellybuck@msn.com replied to That Guy Hex | 13 years ago
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That Guy Hex wrote:

My MEPs have responded uniformly positively to signing the Written Declaration - with the exception of the guy from UKIP. What a class act.

The most in depth answer I had was from the UKIP MEP John Bufton. In amongst his rant against the dilution of power for the UK, he says that he will support the Declaration. Obviously not a united front!

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lokikontroll | 13 years ago
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This is all so very, very sad. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

What is it going to take for politicians in this country to keep cyclists safe? How many more lives are going to be needlessly lost before change happens?

Transportation laws in this country must be amended immediately to better protect cyclists and pedestrians as manslaughter on the streets should not be tolerated in a civilized society. Enough!

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