Widow fears superhighway victim will 'end up as a statistic'

The widow of the first cyclist to be killed on Boris Johnson's cycle superhighways has said her life has been left "completely irrelevant" by his death.

Debbie Dorling, 51, said she feared father-of-three Brian Dorling, 58, would "end up as another statistic" of the Mayor's scheme that encourages cyclists to ride on main roads.

She said Mr Dorling, a cost consultant working on the Olympic site, was an experienced cyclist who was "very road aware".

He was killed instantly in the morning rush hour on Monday last week in a collision with a tipper lorry at the Bow Road junction with the A12. He was riding on a new £10 million cycle superhighway - a painted blue lane that offers no physical protection to cyclists - that had been the subject of safety concerns.

Original plans to extend it to the Olympic park were scrapped after separate objections from Newham council.

Speaking from the family's home in Hounslow, Mrs Dorling said his death had left a huge void in her life and that of their children, Charlie, 24, Alexandra, 21, and Rowena, 15. She said: "We were planning for our future. The kids were leaving home and now it has been taken away in one fell swoop. My life is now completely irrelevant.

"He may have been 58 but he was very fit and very road aware. He has not just decided to cycle to work - he has always cycled.

"It's awful, just absolutely awful. To think that Brian will end up as another statistic on Boris Johnson's cyclist superhighway."

She said her husband, a keen rower, had been riding motorbikes since he was a teenager. She said: "He cycled 40 miles a day every day except if it was raining when he would get the train or if he was tired he would motorcycle."

Recalling how they parted, she said Mr Dorling, a chartered surveyor for Sense Consultancy, had said goodbye as usual: "I said, 'I'm taking the dogs for a walk, I'll see you later.' And now he is never coming home and I will never get to see him again.

"After 25 years of being married it's tough because we did everything together. We were friends, we motorcycled, we brought the kids up together, walked the dogs together."

Mrs Dorling thanked work colleagues for their support, adding: "We are members of the local Catholic church and we've had so much support. People are coming around with meals to make sure we are eating."