The 10 most dangerous junctions for cyclists in London revealed

London Cycling Campaign has highlighted 10 junctions in London that it says have, over the past five years, seen the most accidents and fatalities to cyclists and pedestrians.

According to its analysis, the most dangerous junction for cycling is the Upper Tooting Road cluster in Wandsworth, which has been top of the list for the last three years. 

It highlights three ratruns that cross the road: Ansell Road, Lessingham Avenue and Derinton Road, as accident blackspots where, on average over the last five years, two cyclists a year have been seriously injured and four slightly injured.

LCC’s analysis shows that two other high-risk junctions are on the same CS7 Cycle SuperHighway corridor: Clapham High Street and Gauden Road, and Balham High Road and Ramsden Road.

The second most dangerous junction, according to the LCC, is between Great Eastern Street and Curtain Road in Hackney. 

It also highlights the junction on Cycleway C9 between King Street and Weltje Road in Hammersmith, which it says is used by motorists as a ratrun between the A4 and King Street, and that crosses the cycleway. It says Hammersmith & Fulham council has failed to take action, despite a number of serious collisions.

Looking at the data overall, LCC says its analysis highlights two factors that underlie accident blackspots: poor-quality junction design along designated cycle routes and the absence of adjacent low-traffic neighbourhoods, which would deter cross-traffic.

Limited mitigation

LCC has also followed up what action, if any, has been taken to mitigate the risks at the dangerous junctions it has identified. In most cases, it states, little has been done to prevent a future serious collision or fatality, including on the Upper Tooting Road, which we highlighted as one of seven London cycling accident blackspots as long ago as 2016.

LCC's analysis underlies its interactive dangerous junctions map on its site, which it has just updated with the latest 2024 data from emergency services. The map clusters junctions close to each other, and also weights collisions by severity and how recently they occurred. 

LCC asserts that Transport for London, which recently reported nine cyclist fatalities on London roads in the previous year, has avoided or delayed changes to accident hotspots, claiming that it has aimed to balance collision reduction with its impact on bus journey times. 

It suggests more rigorous separation of buses from private motor vehicles, giving them priority and reducing capacity for private vehicles, would be a greater contributor to reduced bus journey times, though.

Alongside its analysis, LCC has launched a new email campaign, directed at the Mayor for London, to highlight its campaign for faster action to reduce risks at known dangerous junctions. You can read more and email the Mayor from its Dangerous Junctions page.