Woman ‘poses as killed cyclist's aunt to argue against bike lane that would have saved her life’
Mother urges stranger to 'apologise for having the effrontery to claim to know what my dead daughter would think'
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Your support makes all the difference.The family of a cyclist killed in London say a woman posed as her aunt during a meeting about a proposed bike lane to argue against the scheme they say would have saved her life.
The unknown woman claimed to be a relative of Eilidh Cairns and said she would not have supported a segregated route running through the west London borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The 30-year-old television producer was killed in February 2009 when her bike was trapped by a tipper truck as she cycled through Notting Hill Gate in morning rush hour traffic.
Seriously injured, she lay under the wheels of the 32-tonne vehicle still conscious and able to talk to witnesses. She was airlifted to hospital but died hours later. She was one of nine cyclists killed by heavy goods vehicles on London's roads in 2009 – eight of them women.
Ms Cairns' mother, Heather, and sister, Kate, have both complained about the incident at the meeting organised by the Kensington Society earlier this month, when the council abruptly announced it was shelving plans for a segregated cycle lane despite the public consultation having not yet concluded.
Kate Cairns, a road safety campaigner, tweeted after the meeting that a "fake 'auntie' ... claimed at the public meeting: had Eilidh been alive she would not have supported the segregated route (that would have saved her life)". A separate report claimed the woman referred to herself only as a "relation" of Eilidh.
Heather Cairns has now written to the leader of the council, Elizabeth Campbell, urging her to help identify the "woman masquerading as the aunt".
She wrote: "My request is that you ask this person to contact me to explain her behaviour and apologise for having the effrontery to claim to know what my dead daughter would think - no one can make that claim, she is no longer here to blow out te candles on her cake and make a wish."
She also asked Ms Campbell to reconsider the council's decision not to build the protected cycle route.
The site of the 2009 crash in Notting Hill continues to be marked by a painted-white "ghost bike". In the letter, her mother added: "Whenever I visit the ghost bike some of the residents come and chat, are kind and considerate. I thank them for this."
Ms Cairns' death, ruled as accidental at an inquest, triggered a renewed push aimed at making lorries and buses less dangerous to vulnerable road users after a spate of horrific accidents involving cyclists. Her sister's See Me Save Me campaign continues to campaign to eliminate death caused by heavy goods vehicles.
The driver behind the wheel of the lorry that killed Ms Cairns, Portuguese national Joao Lopes, claimed he did not see her and avoided a driving ban.
He received three points on his licence and a £200 fine after admitting driving with defective vision.
While there are still thousands of cyclists injured or killed in the capital each year, casualty statistics suggest London's roads have become gradually safer since Ms Cairns death.
In 2009, there were 3,669 cyclist casualties, compared with 4,521 in 2017, but over the same period the number of people cycling rose by around 50 per cent.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's lead member for transport, Johnny Thalassites, said the bike lane scheme had been shelved because of widespread opposition from local residents, including to the felling of trees along the route.
He said the local authority was "planning a range of cycle routes that will help people to move safely on our streets without causing congestion or making poorly thought out changes to local streets that people rely on".