Mostly Left Turns

Mostly Left Turns is a project visually documenting the locations of all cycling fatalities in London during 2015. It consists of a series of photographs depicting the last movements of the eight cyclists killed so far this year. Thankfully there has been no further deaths since June, but as the year is not yet complete, Mostly Left Turns is by its own definition still a work in progress, although I sincerely hope there are no more pictures to add to this series. The title reflects the fact that all but one these deaths were caused by left-turning lorries. The one exception being the death of Clifton James in Harrow who was killed by a car. Of the seven cyclist killed by lorries it’s notable that six of these were women. The eight fatal accidents presented here are in chronological order. Each photograph is taken at the site of the accident, and a light-trail depicts the last moments of the journey of the cyclist. Where the light trail ends is the spot the cyclist was struck, and more often than not, killed instantly. The light trails were created by a cyclist riding towards the camera set to a long exposure, their bike fitted with a very bright, but commonly available, bike-light. It seemed important somehow that a bicycle be used as an integral part of making these images. In every instance myself and a friend, Tim May, rode to the scenes at dawn in order to take the photographs without any traffic present. Last year cyclists undertook a record 23 million journeys in the capital. This is expected to rise by ten per cent in 2015. Despite 2014 being called “the safest year on record” by Transport for London, 13 cyclists died on London’s roads — “safest” maybe, but certainly not safe. My hope is that in a small way this work will help highlight the issue that cyclists are needlessly dying and bring some radical solutions — as have been adopted in many other European cities — to make cycling safer in the capital. Graeme Weston, London, October 2015