A cyclist killed in collision with a HGV in Putney was a brilliant young man “living his best life” in London, his father has said.
Dean Jones, 27, was riding a hired Forest e-bike on the way to meeting friends for lunch in central London when he was killed shortly after leaving his home in Putney.
Mr Jones, an accountant, was a South African who had been living and working in London for about three-and-a-half years.
His father Ian, speaking from South Africa, described him as a “superstar” and “a legend”.
Mr Jones told The Standard: “Dean was an amazing guy. He was 27. He had just qualified as a chartered accountant the month before.
“It’s tragic. He was just at the beginning of his career. He had spent nine years studying. He was a superstar. The guys at work loved him.
“A lot of people are hurting. He was a legend.”
About 450 people attended his funeral in London earlier this month. So many were there that some had to stand outside the church. “It was very humbling,” Mr Jones said.
“It sounds weird but, though we spent an incredibly sad three days in London, it was uplifting. There were so many people who knew him.
“He was living his best life. For some reason, he had lots of time available for planning his weekends and making sure they were full of fun and beer.”
The crash happened at about 1.45pm on Saturday November 2. The tanker lorry had been turning left into a side street, Lytton Grove. Mr Jones is understood by his family to have been killed on impact.
Mr Jones is thought to have been riding in a non-segregated cycle lane - marked only with a broken white line - prior to the collision.
He worked as an accountant for the financial advisory firm BDO, in Baker Street, and was a member of Putney Running Club, Fulham Running Club and the Midnight Runners.
He had run marathons, including in Barcelona, and was a trek runner.
The Met police is investigating the collision. The driver stopped at the scene.
Mr Jones’s father said: “How do we prevent this happening to other people?”
A Forest bikes spokesperson said: "We were deeply saddened to learn of a young life taken too soon. Our thoughts are with Dean's family and friends at this time."
Mr Jones is the second Forest e-bike rider to be killed in London this year. LSE PhD student Cheistha Kochhar, 33, was killed in collision with a bin lorry in Clerkenwell in March.
At least six people have been killed cycling in London in 2024, most recently a man in collision with a bus last weekend.
Mr Jones, who has a younger brother, Cameron, went to the University of Cape Town.
His friend Luc Janssens, who he met on his first day at university, said: “We were best mates and had the same friendship group.
“He moved to the UK a few months before me, in April 2021. I moved in with him from March 2022. We lived together for two-and-a-half years.
“He was very energetic. He instantly lit up a room and made everyone with him feel super good about themselves.
“You could put him in a room and he would make friends with half the room. He always wanted to make the most of his life. Everybody wanted to be part of his life.”
He said Mr Jones often cycled in London – including from Putney to his workplace - and was “not a novice” rider.
He said Mr Jones was “100 per cent” aware of the potential danger that cyclists faced in London.
“Compared with Copenhagen and Amsterdam, I think London is very much a ‘road and public transport’ city,” he said. “They don’t really prioritise pedestrians and cycling. It’s very congested.”
Mr Janssens added: “The cycle lane [on West Hill] is very narrow. It does almost disappear at some points, towards where the service station is. It’s not a solid cycle lane on the road.”
Last week the London Cycling Campaign criticised Wandsworth council for apparently failing to improve road safety.
The Wandsworth Cycling Campaign held a vigil in honour of Mr Jones last weekend. Fleur Anderson, the Labour MP for Putney, sent a message of support in which she said she was “heartbroken” and “determined to find out what happened and campaign for change”.
Ms Anderson added: “I will do everything in my power to ensure that this can never happen again.”
We held a minute's silence to remember Dean, and then heard some words kindly sent by local MP Fleur Anderson @PutneyFleur who, like us, wants to see an end to these unnecessary deaths on our streets pic.twitter.com/yHEzsmnklp
— Wandsworth Cycling (@wandscycling) November 24, 2024
Celia Duncan, of Wandsworth Cycling Campaign, said at the vigil: “What I’d like to do, on behalf of the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign, is to address Wandsworth council, and in particular the council leader, Simon Hogg, and to ask: Where is his outrage?
“Why does he continue to prioritise motor traffic flow and parking? Why is he so quick to respond to complaints about people cycling - tweeting about parked Lime bikes, putting barriers up on the Thames Path and Wandsworth Park?
“Why does he refuse all invitations to get on a bike and see what it’s like to cycle in Wandsworth? And why is he absolutely silent when Dean Jones is killed cycling to meet friends?”
Ms Duncan added: “The council must work with Transport for London to put in proper, protected cycle lanes on main roads like West Hill, and create a safe way to get across West Hill on a bicycle.”
However, Mr Hogg has posted or shared messages on his X social media account supporting the creation of school streets and “quiet” cycle routes.
Welcome back to the new school year!
— Simon Hogg (@CllrSimonHogg) September 3, 2024
Great to see St Boniface Primary School’s nice new traffic calming measures today.
There are now 27 school streets across Wandsworth to help children make safer & healthier journeys pic.twitter.com/tOdNxraJf3
🚲 Have your say on 'quiet' cycle routes proposed across Wandsworth.
— Fleur Anderson MP (@PutneyFleur) August 19, 2024
It would be brilliant to have these routes in place which follow side streets and parks to avoid busy roads.
Have your say: https://t.co/cAO8Trh0ON pic.twitter.com/J9x0IpAZ5X
According to the road signs, HGVs are not allowed to use Lytton Grove other than for access - meaning they are banned from using it as a through road.
Jeremy Leach, from London Living Streets and Action Vision Zero, said the number of people killed or seriously injured in London had increased from almost 700 in 2017 to 941 in 2023 – bucking the trend of a wider decline in road casualties.
He said that cyclists “now make up more than a quarter of all of those seriously injured and killed on London’s roads”.
Mr Leach said: “For far too long we have had warm words and insufficient action as London continues to put the needs of drivers ahead of people who walk, wheel and cycle, even though the policies have been adopted that say the opposite should be the case.”
Nedah Darabi, a GP and academic who lost a leg and was nearly killed when she was hit by a left-turning lorry in Chelsea in 2022, said: “I am heartbroken by this tragic and avoidable loss of life—of a young man, clearly loved by many, who was simply going about his day.
“I stand here to honour Dean and to demand action: We know that HGV’s disproportionately kill and injure cyclists and so we need to continue to improve lorry safety standards.
“We have maps and information about the most dangerous junctions in our boroughs – several of them being here in Wandsworth, and need to take action to change them, putting lives over driving convenience.
“This tragedy must serve as a turning point—one where we commit to making sure it never happens again.
“I, along with LCC, urge [Wandsworth] council leader Simon Hogg to meet with us and work toward real change. While we know dangerous junctions can’t be fixed overnight, urgent steps must be taken to begin making cycling safer—for everyone.”
The Met police told The Standard on Tuesday: “There have been no arrests made. Inquiries continue.”
Wandsworth council said West Hill - part of the A3 - was a TfL road, while Lytton Grove was a council road. It said the cycle lane on West Hill was not a council cycle lane.
Wandsworth leader Mr Hogg said, in a statement issued to The Standard: “I send my condolences to the family and friends of the cyclist who tragically died in the accident.
"We are working hard with TfL to ensure safety is improved for everyone using the roads and we are keen to see the safety standards for lorries improved further, to help avoid accidents."
Asked if Mr Hogg would meet cycling campaigners, a council spokeswoman said: "The council has been in regular communication for many years with both the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign and the London Cycling Campaign discussing road danger and how we can work with TfL to make roads safer.
"Jenny Yates, cabinet member for transport, recently met with the WCC in September and October at the Healthy Streets Forum and officers have bi-monthly meeting with the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign to run through every project and provide update and discussion."
