Antony "Smudge" Smith

Antony Smith, aka 'Smudge', was killed in a collision with a truck at the corner of Middleton Road and Kingsland Road in Hackney, east London on Monday April 21 this year. He was a graphic designer, cycling his usual route to work.

The ghost bike for Smudge was locked to the railings on the corner where he died by friends, who tend it with fresh flowers. A laminated order of service is attached to the frame and a photograph to the front wheel, from which you learn that Smudge's real name was Antony Smith, that he came from Clitheroe, Lancashire, and had a nice smile. They played Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' at his funeral. On the front of the order of service, it said: 'You hold your child's hand for a while, but you hold his heart for ever.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/oct/05/art

Antony Smith, 37 - killed on 21 April 2008 as he was cycling to work. May he rest in peace! A memorial bike at the site of the fatal accident - Middleton Rd. just east of the A10 (Kingsland Rd), Hackney, London. There have been two fatalities so far this year on this stretch of busy road in Hackney. This is a particularly dangerous junction for the many cyclists who travel through this junction on one of the principal east-west bicycle routes in North and East London. The traffic light phase for traffic on Middleton Rd / St Peter's Way is very short; I've observed a number of drivers accelerating as they approach the junction to get through the light. It is also dangerous because virtually all westbound traffic from Middleton Rd must turn left or right crossing the path of cyclists travelling through the junction. Traffic often stops beyond the Advanced Stop Line. This would be a good spot for speed humps close to the junction. I hope this ghost bike helps to galvanize thinking about the need for change. How many more people need to be killed?

http://dasphotos.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-memory-of-smudge-killed-in-hack...

Antony Smith (37) died instantly from serious injuries when his bicycle was in collision with a tipper lorry in Hackney, London.

The tragic accident happened at 8-44 a.m. on Monday, April 21st, as Antony was cycling to work.

Antony was brought up in Clitheroe and attended Pendle Primary School and Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. The son of Tony and Suzanne, of Edisford Bridge, Clitheroe, he worked at Ultraframe before leaving for a new life in London.

http://www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk/clitheroenews/Funeral-of-cyclist-ki...

The family of a cyclist killed in a collision with a truck has called for heavy goods vehicles to be banned from London during the rush hour. Antony Smith, 37, was cycling to work when he was crushed by the tipper truck as it turned left into Kingsland Road, Hackney. Paramedics were sent to the scene, but Smith suffered head injuries and was dead by the time they arrived.

Smith, a graphic designer, was the fourth cyclist in the area to die after being hit by a lorry in the past two years. In a tragic irony, the truck and cyclist had been waved on by police officers carrying out a road-safety campaign moments before the collision.

Antony’s brother, Alistair Smith, 30, said today: ‘The truck was in the cycle lane and was warned by police and waved on. The cyclists were waved on before that and that’s how he accident was caused. Antony couldn’t see the truck indicating and the truck didn’t see Antony.’

(The London Paper, 30 April 2008, page five)

http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.com/2008/05/killing-of-antony-smith.ht...