Campaigners call for rethink after second death at redesigned Elephant and Castle roundabout

Campaigners today called for an urgent rethink of the redesigned Elephant and Castle junction as a motorcyclist became the second person to be killed there in less than two months.

The man, 20, collided with a biker in a seven-lane section of the two-way interchange by Newington Causeway at about 3.50pm and was pronounced dead in hospital. On February 6, pedestrian Johanna Hedger, 86, was killed by a lorry as she crossed the busy road.

The new layout was introduced by Transport for London in a £25 million scheme to cut accidents by a third on Britain’s most dangerous roundabout.

But campaigners, cyclists, motorists and pedestrians have criticised the scheme. Richard Reynolds, 38, who runs the Elephant and Castle Roundabout campaign, said: “These two deaths should be a wake-up call to TfL that urgent action needs to be taken.”

Commuter Katie Shearman, 20, who works nearby, said: “I cross it every day and I see near misses all the time.” Southwark Cyclists, part of the London Cycling Campaign, warned the new layout could lead to more collisions.

More than 80 crashes took place and 90 people were injured on the roundabout from 2012-14. The redesign, due to finish this summer, pedestrianised one half of the roundabout, with traffic routed down a road lined with partly segregated cycle lanes. Pedestrian crossings replaced underpasses, which the roundabout campaign want returned.

Leon Daniels, managing director of surface transport at TfL, said: “We will work closely with the police and emergency services who will be undertaking a thorough investigation.”