Filippo Corsini, a 21-year-old business student at Regent’s University London and heir to one of Florence’s oldest families with lineage dating back to Pope Clemente XII, died in London this week following a collision with a lorry in Knightsbridge. A keen equestrian and promising young student with plans to establish his own wine business when he graduated and returned home, he left behind a long-term girlfriend and devastated friends, his parents and two younger sisters. His death brings the number of cyclists who have been killed in the capital this year to eight - only last week a young Italian waitress was also killed in London on her way to work.

© www.principecorsini.com/it/content/la-famiglia

While the practicalities and convenience of cycling around the city are undisputed, the danger it poses is on the rise and it’s scaring people off the roads. As the East-West Superhighway is due for completion this winter, aiming to make it quicker and safer for cyclists to navigate London’s busy streets, will residents be encouraged to use it? In the Vogue office, the opinion is divided.

Emily Sheffield, [i]Vogue[/i] deputy editor © Mike Trow

Emily Sheffield, deputy editor:“There were many benefits to my years of cycling to the office in Hanover Square, W1 from my West London home. It meant that every day I kept in touch with the seasons as I cycled through Hyde Park; it was faster and more reliable often than the Tube (except for the odd puncture); it saved me a fortune in Tube fares; and it kept me fit as my day revolves around desks and meetings. And I enjoyed the thrill of trying to out-pace the MAMILs (middle-aged man in lycra) always furious that I had an electric bike. They would often stop at traffic lights to point out the obvious – that I wasn’t working as hard as them. Doh! Less appealing was the cough I developed from the fumes, the cycling hat I wore (of course) that left my hair flattened; the dirt I would scrape off my face when I got home at night; the endless rolling and careful packaging of my work outfits because commuting in London in rush hour on a bike means you will arrive dishevelled and sweaty. Céline high-waist silk trousers do not a good cycling accompaniment make. And the Vogue showers leave quite a lot to be desired. But what took me off my bicycle after five years was one too many close scrapes: angry men in white vans who thought you had no right to be there, however carefully you cycled, and veered across your path shouting obscenities; lorries that sped past you then suddenly indicated left, forcing you onto the pavement unless you wanted to get crushed. The fear that you would not get away fast enough at the traffic lights before a lorry or bus roared past you, pulling you, wobbling dangerously, into the vacuum of air behind them. Then, one morning on my normal route, a red bus, at a big junction off the Harrow Road, swerved suddenly to overtake another bus and moved directly into my lane, now travelling towards me head-on at speed on the wrong side of the road. He was going too fast to stop and I narrowly avoided being killed by pulling sharply out of his way seconds before impact. That was the last day I cycled to work. I have two young sons; it felt like it was only a matter of time before I was badly injured. And that was if I was lucky."

**Mike Trow, picture editor: ** “I’ve been a commuting cyclist in London for 25 years, riding an average of 12 miles a day. I cycle everywhere and really hate being driven. It’s safer now than ever: there are more provisions for cyclists and drivers are more aware than they used to be. Saying that, of course accidents happen and I’ve had a few – mainly my own fault – it’s never fun going over the bonnet of a car or having stitches put in your eyebrows, but I’ve been lucky.

The latest death highlights the continuing danger caused by huge vehicles on tight, jam-packed roads. Until the construction mania in London abates, cyclists will continue to be in danger; cyclists need to be responsible for themselves and how they ride. You need to be seen, have great awareness of your surroundings. A technique that I find useful is to look for escape routes whenever I find myself in any potentially dangerous situation – whether it’s the pavement, the middle of the road or just getting ready to stop completely. Cycling is safe if you take how and where you ride seriously.

For me, nothing beats cycling. I know where I’m going, what time I will get there and it’s exercise I do without even thinking about it. No waiting in traffic, no tube trains and I always feel good after a ride. The more people who cycle, the safer it will become and the healthier everyone will be."

© Rex

Naomi Smart, shopping editor:“I live in Hackney, where riding a bicycle is as about as common as avocado on toast, weekends are full of bicycles whizzing past, not too dissimilar to the banks of Amsterdam. But it was last June, that I took the decision, (and it wasn’t taken lightly) to make the leap from neighbourhood cycling to a daily commute to Vogue House in central London, mainly because if you have to make a 35 minute commute you may as well get fit doing it, and save money. The monthly tube fare that I was saving equals a flight to Lisbon, Marrakesh or Seville; much more fun and picturesque than the confines of a Central Line sauna carriage.

So I joined our Cycle to Work scheme and purchased a navy Tokyo Bike; the only brand of bike that was as elegant as a Pashley. The perfect helmet I’m yet to find, but I’d never forfeit safety for style - that goes without saying. My boyfriend cycles 16 miles a day on his commute (Hackney to Battersea), so he knows the roads inside out - as well as the dangers - so he insisted we do a dummy route run on a quiet Sunday so I could be more alert and prepared. Here is what I learnt:

Potholes are the enemy. Particularly at Old Street and New Oxford Street. Never go over them; they will make you flip over your handlebars.

Wet drains will make you slide off your bike. Avoid.

When it comes to HGVs, always give them a wide birth. Never sit in their front inside lane; if they turn left, you’re going with them. Always position yourself five meters in front, otherwise they can’t see you.

Beware of pedestrians on their phones - often crossing the road without looking. Ding your bell just in case; better to be annoying than in A&E.

Don’t cycle too close to the curb, you’ll get pushed up on the pavement.

Watch out for parked car doors – especially taxis. Keen an eye on passenger and driver doors in your path.

Do not undertake busses, they often stop and let people out regardless of whether they are at a bus stop or not

Be alert, be safe."

© John Lindquist

**Katie Franklin, fashion assistant: ** “Hearing the news of yet another cycling fatality caused by London’s terrifyingly lorry-loaded streets breaks my heart. I speak as a commuting cyclist, used to winding around the back streets avoiding busy roads chocked with pollution and out of harm’s way.

The general reaction I get when I tell people that I cycle into work every day is one of shock. And they are quite right: it is dangerous. But I absolutely love cycling and will avoid getting the tube or a taxi given the opportunity. I would sooner cycle than be stuck underground - probably in someone's armpit - or tearing my hair out in a taxi during rush hour. I also hate going to the gym, so it is an effortless way to spend an hour a day (half an hour there, half an hour back) working on my fitness. Best of all though, it allows me to be outdoors.

There is the money saving side of it also, but what I most enjoy is that I get to be nosy. I love nothing more than looking through the windows of the houses I cycle past, admiring the change of seasons in the tree-lined streets I have come to know so well. The romance of it runs out when I reach Oxford Street, where there is nothing I can do to avoid being squeezed between a bus and the pavement, making that last mile to the office the longest of all.

I wish the roads were safer for cyclists throughout the whole city. While the new designated cycle path won’t help me (it isn’t on my way to work), I do hope it encourages people to get on their bikes because despite it all, it really is an uplifting way to get around.”

Sarah Harris, fashion features director"I’ll be honest. I’m strictly a fair weather cyclist, you know, the type that serious cyclists will often sneer at, because there is absolutely nothing enjoyable about cycling in the rain, or even drizzle for that matter; a rain shower changes the entire experience of a bike ride in an instant, but cycling in the sunshine is one of life’s pleasures. My route takes me through the entire length of Hyde Park – another treat – if my route involved roundabouts and busy roads I wouldn’t cycle, not because I find that scary, but more because there’s no fun in fumes. I like that I know exactly what time I will arrive at my destination, no traffic to consider, no signal failures to factor; it takes me 25 minutes door to door. I always prefer the journey home to the journey in, there’s something exhilarating about cycling after work; it feels like freedom, which admittedly, you don’t get in the back of an Uber."