2021-10-19 Rider down (fatality), Wood Lane, near the junction with the A40 Westway

It seems that we missed this crash last year completely. A hit-and-run, RIP Kong Chuijiang.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/wood-lane-hit-and-run-london-accident-a40-b961314.html

Here's more information about her:

A total of 10 cyclists were killed in 2021, including Imperial student Chuijiang Kong, 23. Known as Christina, she was hit by a lorry on Wood Lane, near the junction with the A40 Westway on October 19. She died at the scene.

The lorry was later traced by police and the driver interviewed. Scotland Yard said consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service was ongoing.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/road-safety-cyclists-london-tfl-funding-sadiq-khan-warning-b980559.html

No details of how the crash happened, but perhaps there will be follow-up articles, as there still seems to be an ongoing legal process. It's possible that there is also CCTV footage in this location.

Rip

Really sad to read this.
Rip

RIP. Very sad.

Christina was someone I'd worked with many times within the Department of Materials - she was a real loss for us in several ways. I must admit that I hadn't realised she was cycling at the time, it was not mentioned anywhere internally and is hard to gleen from the first Standard article.

I do know she was making the journey from the SK campus to the new White City campus. By bike there is no current alternative to the Wood Lane route requiring use of that junction. There have been many plans for alternative entrances etc, but none have materialised.

So sorry to hear about your loss, Jon.

RIP Rider. My thoughts to those who knew and loved you.

So sad to hear this.

RIP rider, really sad reading and so young. My thoughts are with your family, friends and work colleagues. @hamrack this must be really tough, please pass on our sincerest condolences to those that worked with Christina at Imperial campuses.

RIP rider. Very sad and sorry for you loss @hamrack and everyone in Imperial

RIP

Devastating.

10 losses of life in a year is 10 too many. Really breaks my heart, thoughts and prayers to all that knew and loved her.

Months after the crash, the Standard has added this article that references tributes to Chuijiang available on-line:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/christina-kong-wood-lane-cyclist-lorry-westway-london-b980674.html

Some tributes:

https://www.abcairns.info/single-post/chuijiang-christina-kong

https://www.theonlinebookcompany.com/OnlineBooks/ChristinaKong/Member/Registration

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/energy-materials-devices/news/ (see under 11 November 2021)

As hamrack says, at Imperial College it evidently wasn't known that she was cycling when she was killed; all the pages only reference a 'road traffic accident'. Needless to say, it would have been just as bad had she been killed any other way. However, fatal incidents involving pedestrians tend to get less press coverage because between 50 and 80 pedestrians are killed in London every year, out of a much larger number of trips undertaken on foot, and so this is less 'newsworthy' than the deaths of cyclists, which are fewer, but out of a much smaller number of trips undertaken by bike.

That Chuijiang's mode of transport has only just come to light is probably a combined result of the pandemic, the reduction in newspaper capacity in London, and the fact that it was a hit-and-run collision with initially undoubtedly unclear circumstances. Even if there was CCTV, it is possible that this didn't capture the moment from an angle that enabled investigators to see what exactly happened.

There will be an inquest into her death in which further information may come to light, but it often takes more than a year for this to be held.