Joan Collins calls on Sadiq Khan to “do something” about dangerous cyclists before London “is ruined”

Dame Joan Collins has called on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to “do something” about cyclists after one allegedly crashed into her on the pavement earlier this week, almost knocking her over.

The 89-year-old actress, who in 1983 was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was walking along Maiden Lane in Covent Garden at the time of the alleged incident on Thursday, on her way to dining with her husband Percy Gibson, Mamma Mia creator Judy Craymer, actor Christopher Biggins, and Stuart Machin, the chief executive of Marks and Spencer.

In an Instagram post, Collins said she was dropped off by a black cab driver and forced to walk to the restaurant Rules after discovering that Maiden Lane was closed to traffic.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Joan Collins (@joancollinsdbe)

“However, that didn’t stop a masked cyclist with no lights and weaving on the pavement from crashing into me, almost knocking me over,” she wrote.

The actress then turned her attentions to London’s mayor Sadiq Khan – who has faced criticism in recent weeks concerning his plans to expand the city’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) by the end of August – and called on the Labour politician to deal with what she believes to be the danger posed by cyclists, as well as the apparent inability to be dropped off at her destination by motor vehicle.

“How much longer must we live with closed roads and cyclists who consider themselves above the law?” she continued.

“Why don’t you do something, Sadiq Khan, before this beautiful city of London is ruined?”

> “Hostile and aggressive” pedestrian found guilty of killing 77-year-old cyclist in pavement cycling dispute

In response to Collins’ post, a spokesperson for the London mayor said: “The mayor is committed to making London as safe as possible for both cyclists and pedestrians.

“Walking and cycling have boomed in the last couple of years and the mayor has built hundreds of kilometres of new or upgraded cycle routes since the pandemic, and completed work to make some of the capital’s most dangerous and intimidating junctions safer.

“The mayor encourages everyone using London’s roads to do so safely to help make London the best city in the world to walk and cycle.”

> Transport minister: Responsible cyclists CAN ride on the pavement

Between 2016 and 2021, 2,472 pedestrians were injured in collisions involving cyclists in the UK, accounting for just over two percent of the total reported pedestrian casualties (122,961) in that period.