Olympic cycling gold medalist Bradley Wiggins has prompted debate over whether cyclists should be forced to wear helmets following the death of a 28-year-old man in collision with a bus outside the Olympic Park.
The cyclist was named as Daniel Harris, from Ilford, Essex, as an inquest into his death was opened and adjourned at Poplar Coroner's court today.
Reacting to the tragedy, which occurred within hours of Wiggins' time trial victory, the Tour de France winner said he believed cyclists would be offered better protection if it was illegal to ride without one, "because ultimately, if you get knocked off and you ain't got a helmet on, then how can you kind of argue".
News of the fatality, which involved an official Olympic bus ferrying journalists between venues, emerged as Wiggins was about to give a press conference following his gold medal win on Wednesday. Asked about cycling safety, he said "[People] shouldn't be riding along with iPods and phones and things on and [they] should have lights and all those things. So I think when there's laws passed for cyclists, then you're protected and you can say, well, I've done everything to be safe."
He added: "It's dangerous and London is a busy city with a lot of traffic. I think we have to help ourselves sometimes.
"I haven't lived in London for 10 to 15 years now and it's got a lot busier since I was riding a bike as a kid round here, and I got knocked off several times.
"But at the end of the day we've all got to co-exist on the roads. Cyclists are not ever going to go away, as much as drivers moan, and as much as cyclists maybe moan about certain drivers they are never going to go away, so there's got to be a bit of give and take."
Wiggins later took to twitter to clarify his remarks, tweeting: "Just to confirm I haven't called for helmets to be made the law as reports suggest.
"I suggested it may be the way to go to give cyclists more protection legally I[sic] involved In an accident. I wasn't on me soap box CALLING, was asked what I thought #myopiniondoesntcountformuch."
Harris was reportedly a web specialist who had only begun recently using his bike to commute into London.
His was the 10th death involving bikes in the capital this year.
A 65-year-old male has been bailed pending further inquiries. The Metropolitan police has issued an appeal for witnesses. It said, in a statement: "At 19.42hrs, police were called to a collision between a coach and a pedal cyclist at Ruckholt Road (A106) junction with the East Cross Route (A12)."
Safety campaigners said the death brought the toll so far this year to the same number as in the whole of 2010.
The London mayor, Boris Johnson, who was wearing a helmet as he cycled into Whitehall on Thursday, said there were no plans to force cyclists to wear helmets. "I think they should do if they want to," he said.
There were no plans to provide helmets for the capital's fleet of "Boris bikes".
"It's quite right to say that people should do if they have got one, but we have absolutely no plans to make it mandatory," Johnson added.
"The evidence is mixed. I have to say that in countries where they have made them compulsory, it hasn't always necessarily been good for cycling."
AA president Edmund King, a keen cyclist, said: "The Highway Code says 'You should wear a helmet' and we certainly advise cyclists to wear helmets but are not convinced it should be compulsory."
Martin Gibbs, British Cycling's director of public policy, said a lot more could be done to make the roads safer for cyclists.
"We have been calling on the government to show its commitment to a variety of measures including better dedicated provision for cyclists on roads and junctions, improvements to HGV safety measures, and a commitment that all future road and major transport schemes should be subjected to a Cycling Safety Assessment prior to approval.
"Experience from abroad has shown conclusively that what is needed is a commitment from the government to ensure that cycling is brought into the heart of transport policy and proper provision for cyclists is designed into roads and junctions."
Darren Johnson, a Green party member of the London Assembly, said: "Every death of a cyclist on our roads makes me feel sick. As the details emerge of this man's death, it seems clear that he was killed by a vehicle turning left, as is so often the case with fatalities.
"Calling for cyclists to wear a helmet completely misses the point - a helmet is not an issue when a person is killed by massive body injuries. We need to focus on the solutions to the problem of left-turning lorries and other big vehicles in London."
