The mother of a cyclist crushed to death by a bus is setting up a memorial fund for the families of other riders killed in London.
Roger De Klerk, 43, had spoken with his mother Ann on the telephone minutes before he was hit in Addiscombe Road, Croydon.
The IT entrepreneur, who was opening his own recruitment agency after a career at publishers HarperCollins, died in hospital last Tuesday — the third of six cyclists killed in two weeks in the capital.
Today his mother Ann De Klerk, 71, said: “I’ve had a lot of support from people who said they wanted to come to Roger’s funeral and do something in memory of him. So if we can do something that could help others then great.
“One of the things I thought I wanted to do was help bereaved relatives of cyclists who have had these accidents, but also to promote cycle safety.
“There must be people who are hit by these deaths who have no money for funerals or who don’t know where to turn. Roger always wanted to leave a legacy.”
Mrs De Klerk, from Forest Hill, criticised Mayor Boris Johnson for appearing to blame cyclists’ “very risky” decisions for fatal accidents in recent weeks.
She also urged him to rethink the blue cycle superhighways, saying cyclists should be physically separated from other vehicles.
Mr De Klerk moved from South Africa to London in 1990 studying at Kensington Business School and Thames Valley University, now the University of West London.
He lived in Forest Hill and had been planning to launch his new business this week.
Mrs De Klerk said: “He was just a lovely, very caring son, brother and friend. He was very determined and he overcame all the hurdles in his life. He was just a wonderful, gentle, caring person without a malicious bone in his body.”
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