A lawyer who became the eighth cyclist to be killed near a notorious London junction since 2008 had been battling her way through commuter traffic at the height of Transport for London’s strike action, it was revealed today.
Shatha Ali, a former corporate city lawyer, was riding through gridlocked roads when she was struck by a HGV near to the notorious Holborn gyratory in central London on Tuesday morning.
Data from GPS firm TomTom said that road congestion soared to 119 per cent by 9am on Tuesday – the highest figure for the capital in 2022 – as TfL strikes crippled the capital and forced commuters to pack out London’s roads.
Eyewitnesses and fellow riders described the traffic around central London on Tuesday as the worst they had seen in recent years.
Ms Ali, who previously worked at City law firm Latham & Watkins, died at the scene at around 10am.
Her childhood friend Dr Ala’a al Shehabi took to Twitter to pay tribute and demanded London Mayor Sadiq Khan do more to protect cyclists at the junction which has claimed the lives of eight cyclists since 2008.
Cycling campaigners have also called for further protective measures on the multi-lane road in the wake of Ms Ali’s death.
Prior plans from TfL to introduce safety improvements to the gyratory, which is known to be one of the capital’s busiest cycling commuting corridors, were postponed after it was revealed the transport body had run out of funds.
Shatha Ali, a former corporate city lawyer, was riding through gridlocked roads when she was struck by a HGV near to the notorious Holborn gyratory in central London on Tuesday morning
Rail, Maritime Transport union strikes crippled the capital and forced commuters to pack out London’s roads on Tuesday. Pictured: The Holborn gyratory, which is known to be one of the capital’s busiest cycling commuting corridors, and has claimed the lives of eight cyclists
This was the picture on Google Maps in the capital on Tuesday morning – with roads through the centre of London completely gridlocked, even after rush hour
Ms Ali, who was born in the UK and grew up in London, graduated with a law degree from King’s College London in 2003. She obtained her postgraduate law degree from BPP Law School a year later.
She moved on to work at renowned firm Latham & Watkins, where she was part of their corporate department as an expert on derivatives and Islamic finance.
The Metropolitan Police said no arrests have been made in the wake of her death.
Det Sgt Rebecca Collens said: ‘This is an incredibly tragic incident and we are working hard to establish exactly what happened.
‘We are especially keen to speak to a woman who handed in the victim’s mobile phone after it fell to the floor during the collision,’ she said.
BBC presenter and cycling enthusiast Jeremy Vine had previously described the junction as ‘dangerous’ and called for TfL to ‘put safety first’.
London Cycling Campaign (LCC), which has long called for safety improvements to the gyratory, has planned a vigil for Ms Ali for 6pm on Friday.
Much-loved children’s doctor Marta Krawiec, 41, was the most recent cyclist to fall victim to Holborn’s ‘lethal’ gyratory.
Dr Krawiec had been on her way to see her patients when she collided with a lorry in the morning rush hour in August 2021.
Dr Krawiec trained at the Medical University of Warsaw and moved to London in 2016. She studied at King’s College allergology clinic before becoming a child allergology consultant in 2018.
Simon Munk, campaigns manager at LCC, said: ‘Just months from our last protest at Holborn, following the death of Dr Marta Krawiec, we are forced to return to this area and to junctions known for decades to be lethally dangerous to those walking and cycling, but where year after year nothing is done.’
In the wake of Dr Krawiec’s death, London’s walking and cycling commissioner Will Norman said he was ‘devastated’ and insisted his ‘top priority’ remains making the capital’s roads a safer place.
He said: ‘We’re working closely with Camden Council to make safety improvements to the junction further north on Holborn Gyratory.
‘We’ve got a permanent plan for improvements to the whole area, but uncertainty around TfL’s funding due to Covid forced us to pause.’
The Queen’s physician, Dr Peter Fisher, 67, was killed in the same area in 2018 when his bicycle crashed into a lorry travelling at 8mph.
After his death, his sister Suzie Herne called on Mr Khan to ‘urgently address the issue of cycle safety in London’.
The death of music executive Alan Neve, who was crushed by a lorry in 2013, also in High Holborn, sparked demonstrations.
Transport chiefs are said to be under pressure to explain why £12.5million of road safety improvements have been delayed in Holborn.
Construction for cycling safety improvements at the Southampton Row and Theobalds Road junction had been expected to start last month.
Location technology firm TomTom said at 9am the level of road congestion was 119%, which is the highest figure for the capital this year. The level was 80% at the same time last week. The figures represent the proportion of additional time required for journeys compared with free-flow conditions.
Ms Ali’s childhood friend Dr Ala’a al Shehabi took to Twitter to pay tribute and demanded London Mayor Sadiq Khan do more to protect cyclists at the junction which has claimed the lives of eight cyclists since 2008.
Eyewitnesses and fellow riders described the traffic around central London on Tuesday as the worst they had seen in recent years as they pointed the blame at RMT strikes in the capital
It comes as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union enacted a 24-hour strike on Tuesday – causing the vast majority of TfL services to be shut or severely disrupted following a walkout of 10,000 workers.
There has been widespread fury yesterday at the timing of the strike – in the first full week since the end of all remaining Covid restrictions, with workers returning to the office in their droves – which sparked the worst traffic in the capital in three years.
And commuters were still left to battle lengthy queues and disrupted travel by 5pm yesterday – more than 18 hours after Tuesday’s industrial action ended – as there were still five lines running reduced services.
Tory former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith told MailOnline: ‘I’m appalled that they should choose the midst of a serious crisis to go on strike rendering it very difficult for civil servants to get in to make these important decisions, and causing mayhem among businesses just trying to recover from lockdown.’
The MP added that it should encourage the government to automate Tube trains – pointing out that was already the case on other lines.
‘All this does is show how unreliable the unions are and they will be accelerating their demise’, he said. ‘They will have accelerated the day we move to automation.’
Financial estimates over how much a single-day Tube strike can cost London’s economy range between £10million and £50million.
Restaurateur David Moore, owner of Michelin-starred Fitzrovia’s Pied A Terre, who has seen bookings plummet four-fifths this week, told the Evening Standard: ‘We’re all supposed to be pulling together after two years but it’s all “me, me, me” with the union.
‘It’s even worse that the union’s chosen two of the days that most people are working now. If it had been Monday and Friday it would have been far less impact but clearly they wanted to hurt everybody.’
Simon Thomas, chief executive of the Hippodrome casino in Leicester Square, added: ‘Presumably the strikers will still want a night out in central London when they’ve finished kicking us in the teeth and crowing at the disruption to the lives of millions. Despite their best efforts we’ll be providing timely service with a smile at a competitive price. Something the Tube has notably failed to do for years.’
Michael Lloyd, FSB London Infrastructure Lead, added: ‘The orchestration of these strikes has been to have maximum impact, slap bang in the middle of the working week.
‘At a time when businesses are returning to a new normal and seeing a cagey return of their staff and custom, they are faced, once again, with reduced footfall and another step back down the mountain to recovery. London’s small businesses are apoplectic and want to see an abrupt end to the strike misery.’
Ms Ali’s death makes her the eighth cyclist to have been killed near the Holborn gyratory, central London (pictured), since 2008
Much-loved children’s doctor Marta Krawiec, 41, (pictured) was on her way to see her patients when she collided with a lorry in the morning rush hour in August 2021
Left: Dr Peter Fisher, who was crushed by a lorry in the same area to where Dr Krawiec was killed. Right: Federica Baldassa, 26, a passionate cyclist who was killed in 2015
Left: Alan Neve, who was killed in 2013 by a red light jumping tipper truck drive. Right: Francis Golding died in hospital from injuries sustained in November 2013
MPs joined the backlash over the strikes, with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden tweeting: ‘When Sadiq Khan first ran for Mayor of London he promised ‘zero days of strikes’ on the tube.
‘Now we are entering yet another period of damaging strikes that threaten to bring London to a standstill. When you struggle to get to work today, remember: this is Sadiq Khan’s London.’
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen slammed the appearance of ‘extremely indulgent’ strikes while the West watches on as Russia invades Ukraine.
‘Considering all that’s going on in the world right now, this strike action looks extremely indulgent,’ he told MailOnline.
‘This is the last thing the country and the capital needs right now.
‘It’s clear they [RMT] have stretched this strike out for a longer impact in order to maximise the disruption caused. The tube is a key component of the London economy.
‘I would advise them to settle this matter through negotiations rather than attempting to hold the capital to ransom.’
Tory MP Greg Smith added: ‘Billions in taxpayer bailout into TfL – and now despite ‘zero strike’ promises the Labour Mayor can’t even keep the tube open. My constituents who commute into London – and our nation’s capital more widely – deserve better.’
His colleague Greg Hands called it ‘a disgrace and an insult to hard-working Londoners who have sacrificed so much the last 2 years.’
