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Friends grieve for ‘incredible’ student killed as he cycled to lectures
Peter Dominiczak and Pippa Crerar11 Mar 2010
Friends of a medical student who was crushed to death in a collision with a tipper truck while cycling to lectures paid tribute to an “incredibly talented” young man today.
Muhammad “Haris” Ahmed, 21, died instantly in the collision near London Bridge on Tuesday morning.
He is the second cyclist killed by heavy goods vehicles in the capital this week. Mr Ahmed's death came on the day Boris Johnson unveiled his “cycle safety action plan”, in which he vowed to reduce the number of serious cycling accidents involving lorries.
Mr Ahmed was a fourth-year medical student at King's College and was on his way to the Guy's Hospital campus when he died at the junction of Weston Street and Snowsfields.
Friends today told how he was on course to become a successful psychiatrist or surgeon.
King's College medical student Sabrina Qureshi, 21, said: “Haris was an amazing person. He was beyond talented and was going to go far. It's such a tragedy and everybody who knew him is devastated. He had hundreds of friends and touched absolutely everyone he met. I was in awe of him and the incredible things he did with his life. He will be missed by us all.”
Ms Qureshi said students are holding a private memorial service for Mr Ahmed today at the King's College campus.
Another friend, medical student Rahel Mahmud, 30, said: “We are all so sad. Haris had an incredibly promising future and had so many people who loved him dearly.
“Haris loved sport. He was fantastic at tennis and enjoyed climbing and cycling in particular. He was so full of life.”
Mr Mahmud called on the Government to improve safety for cyclists on London's roads. He said: “Something has to be done. It is clearly far too dangerous for riders at the moment. Too many cyclists are being killed by trucks.”
Mr Johnson has faced criticism for cutting his road safety budget by £10 million this year and his traffic police budget by £2 million next year.
The Mayor has also come under fire for his decision to designate as cycling super-highways roads on which eight cyclists died and 84 were seriously injured in 2008. Green Assembly member Jenny Jones said: “Many of us feel a mix of sadness and anger at these latest deaths of cyclists in London.
“This summer the Mayor is encouraging thousands of inexperienced riders to use the cycling super-highways and share the roads with some of the main lorry routes through the capital.
“The most obvious action for him is to ban lorries from these cycling commuter routes at peak times. The least he can do is to re-engineer these routes to give cyclists priority.
“London's success in halving the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads in the last decade has been based on high levels of investment and tough decisions.
“All this is now under threat unless the Mayor restores the budget. The cut in traffic police, cameras and road safety schemes may cost lives.”
Reader views (19)
To Graham of Reading. Pay some respects please. This young promising medical student may have been the person to cure your and my ailments/disease one day.
I am a cyclist and drive fast cars too. But there are far too many automobiles in London already. more cyclist eases congestion and actually creates more room for cars on London streets.
- Steve, London, 26/03/2010 11:01
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when i have seen this news i really said about this .
really mr md.haris amazing personality for kings college.
last i pray to allah, mr haris bless to jannat.
best regards for.
akbar siddiqui
- Akbar Siddiqui, india, 18/03/2010 15:56
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Every time a cyclist dies, we get at least one person from the the pro car anti-cycling lobby using this as platform to point score. Graham, someone has died,have some respect and compassion. Remember this, cyclists serve to reduce the number of cars on the road, and therefore make Your life Easier, not harder, Do you want us to all drive instead, and swell car numbers still further, to gridlock the city? Cycling is green and you know it. The cause of your anxt is not cyclists, it's other motorists, forcing you to drive bumper to bumper everywhere you go. Get a life. My cyclist son had a life until he was killed by a motorist.
You have no idea what it's like for a bereaved parent to know that there are such short sighted, shallow people like you behind the wheel of a car. Very worrying at the very least.
- Dave, Reading, 15/03/2010 14:32
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It is another tragic and avoidable death of brilliant and young man who had so much to offer and he could have been pioneer of this country, if only Boris Johnson take his finger out and stop behaving like a clown and do something for the safety of the cyclists.Mohamed Haris tragic death have shattered his parents lives. Torys cut down budget is going to be disaster. Instead of of having congestion charges I feel these lorries should be banned for driving for certain times. I am sure Boris Johnson instead of talking endless would implement safety laws for the cyclists.????. My heart goes out for this young man and his family.His family is very decent highly educated and humble people who would help any body at anytime.
- Zahira Sheikh, Wembley, middlesex, 15/03/2010 10:17
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My heartfelt sorrow goes out to the family and friends of Muhammad'Haris'Ahmed. I didn't know the guy but the obits sing of his great nature and future talent within the health service now sadly snatched away by yet another tragic accident. On that Tuesday morning I saw a body in the road 'covered'near Weston St while two men were arguing about who's fault it was. I had just motorcycled from the Isle of Dogs on my way to work at Guy's, furious at the risk drivers and cyclist take to save a few seconds and wondered at my own stupidity at times when I saw the aftermath at what had just taken place. When it comes to schools, colleges, teaching facilities in general the approaching routes should be heavily biased in favour of cyclist and paedestrians - full stop. But attitudes of both motor drivers and cyclist need to adjust in anticipation of any structural or government led advances in road safety by not taking unnecessary risk and wearing the appropriate protection at all times. I don't know the circumstances that led to Mr Ahmed' death, but I hope lessons can be learned and reinforced from it so we can all get to where we are going, if possible in all safety.
- Jeff Walker, London, 12/03/2010 15:50
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"Cycles are not green transport as behind every cycle there is a queue of cars trying to get past while travelling at 10mph or slower."
Graham in Reading. Oh, come, come!
When I'm riding my bicyle and approaching a set of traffic lights of junction, there are up to 50 cars getting in MY WAY. Luckily, I'm riding a machine that is only 2ft wide, and I'm able to overtake all of them legally and go right to the front of the queue. That's why bicycles are FASTER than cars in town.
You seem to be working under the misconception that cars are faster than bicycles in the urban environment.
When I want to go outside of town, I use my car because its then generally the quicker of the two. And sometimes, I put the bike in the back of the car, and drive some of the distance, and ride the rest.
- George, London, 12/03/2010 09:06
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I will be intrested to hear the actual details of this truly sad incident as i cycle through out london and down this particular road. There are often tippers around london bridge area serving the Shard development in rush hour and when im cycling they often overtake me without slowing down.
I cycle safely and follow the rules of the road,but i am very aware that other cyclists do not.
I do beleive HGV's should be restriced to traveling at particular hours of the day, though many HGV's excluding tippers watch out for us cyclists.
Bus's are another problem they however do not drive in anyway to protect us, but collisons are not that bad as they travel at a much slower rate in comparison to the devistation tippers course.
- Old Kent Road, london, 11/03/2010 22:58
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This is a tragedy and I hope some sort of serious action should be taken by London Transport Authority.
Its very shocking since i know this person through extended family and know what they are going through.
May his soul rest in peace and God give courage to his parents , brother and rest of the family to face this great loss with strength.
- Zooni Shaikh, Dallas, TX, 11/03/2010 22:14
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20 mph all over London would make perfect sense, but what are the chances? My local authority is Sutton & we have cars travelling at 50 mph down roads which serve infant schools. We have pleaded in vain, and keep being told it's up to 'Transport for London.' Maybe when someone dies?
- Liz, London, UK, 11/03/2010 16:46
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It's pretty daft to expect lorries to be parked up as one contributor suggests. That is just not going to happen
If you invented bicylces, cars, lorries, etc., today, you would not permit them to travel on the same road. But that cannot happen now so all road users need to keep a sharp lookout for the unexpected - and that applies to cyclists just as much as it does to lorry drivers.
- Bob, Oxford UK, 11/03/2010 16:30
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I am saddened to hear of this tragic death, especially as I am a cyclist. I do not know the circumstances of the accident, but I do see loads of people creeping up on the side of lorries without thinking the vehicle may well turn left and not see the cyclist. I implore all cyclists to be very aware of the dangers at junctions etc, and lorry drivers to be more vigilent.
- Jose Luis, London SW18, 11/03/2010 15:47
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My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Muhammad “Haris” Ahmed. I believe this is the 15th cyclist whose life has been lost to a lorry collision this year. May I ask, How many lives will it take before someone does something to stop this madness? Why are these lorries still on London’s roads? And if they must stay, why no vigorous effort to train the drivers and place special equipment on the vehicles? They obviously pose a great danger? Where is the leadership? Where is the outrage? I don’t get it. I don’t get how the loss of these lives have not stirred the great city of London to say, “Enough is enough”.
Look, please park the lorries until you come up with a solution…to do otherwise is wrong.
- Joe Mizereck, tallahassee USA, 11/03/2010 15:18
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Whilst I agree with all the other comments, I feel there will be more needless tragedies while this subject is debated.
Surely the bottom line must be that cyclists should no longer be encouraged to use the dangerously congested streets of London until a way is found to make them safe?
- Huggy, Cumbernauld Scotland, 11/03/2010 15:16
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Graham in Reading.
London traffic struggles to achieve an average speed of 17km/h.
during peak hours, cars and vehicles are barely moving on some roads. The idea that cyclists are slow moving is a fallacy. The cyclists, motorcyclists and scooters on my route to work are usually the fastest moving vehicles on the road.
Bikes make up 1/3 of the peak hours traffic.
As such we deserve measures designed specifically to allow us to travel through the grid-locked traffic.
Collisions with cars at low speeds do little damage to either party. however, HGVs, even travelling slowly, kill or inflict horific injuries very easily.
This is why as a cyclist I would argue that lorries and other HGVs should be banned from London during peak hours. After the morning peak the traffic levels are lower, there are less cyclists about and lorries could move with less of the stop-start motoring that is both a danger to other road users and the cause of so much pollution.
- Alex Ball, London, UK, 11/03/2010 15:16
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Research in a number of countries and UK cities shows that as cycling rates increase, accidents decrease. broadly- the more cyclists there are on the roads the safer the roads become. It's called The "Virtuous Cycle" effect- you can look it up. In London cycling rates have doubled in a decade but accident rates have halved. The more cyclists there are the safer the roads are. However, in London, we have a specific problem with HGVs. research shows that it is usually the motorist/driver who is at fault in a vehicle/cyclist collision. Talented, intelligent young people are dying because lorry drivers are trying to shave a few seconds off their journey. It's a scandal, and Boris scrapping safety checks on lorries is idiotically reckless and stupid.
- Claire Burton, SE2, 11/03/2010 14:57
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How many young talented people will be lost this way. 20mph all over London is the only answer. In May only vote for those prospective local councilors who promise this.
- Arun Ahluwalia, Ealing, London, UK, 11/03/2010 14:04
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Surely the real outcome should be to admit that the experiment to turn London into Beijing has failed and has directly caused 100's of innocent people to abandon their normal common sense of self defense and ride small, light, effectively invisible devices on London's streets that are overly congested because of a burgeoning population.
This is effectively corporate manslaughter by TfL, Boris Johnson and all the rest of the politico's with a vested interest in appearing to be "green" while everyone else just wants to earn a living and still have a small amount of time at the end of the day to relax.
Cycles are not green transport as behind every cycle there is a queue of cars trying to get past while travelling at 10mph or slower.
- Graham, Reading, England, 11/03/2010 13:09
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so sorry to hear about his death. PLEASE BORIS JOHNSON make London a safe place for cyclists. There are too many irresponsible drivers nowadays with no insurance and especially those who hold foreign licenses - they should all be made to take a uk driving test.
- Asha Rani, london, 11/03/2010 12:58
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So sorry to hear about another fatality involving a cyclist and a tipper,whilst not wishing to apportion blame to either the tipper driver,or the cyclist,it is fact that tipper's seem to travel much faster than other HGVs,perhaps the time is ripe to stop the piecework rates paid to these drivers,ie,the more journeys completed,the more they earn.
- John Markham, London, 11/03/2010 11:28
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