It has been a year since the government announced a joint review of roads policing by the Department for Transport, Home Office, Highways Agency, and the National Police Chief Council (NPCC). And last week saw real progress with the lead organisation for inspecting the police--Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) -- …
Pedestrian Fatality Risk and Engine Size
by Adrian Berendt We often hear that British roads are among the safest in the world. What we hear less about is that they are no longer getting safer. The United Kingdom is one of just three countries out of 32 European countries where fatalities rose between 2010 and 2019. Since 2010, the long-term decline …
Safe Roads: The Key Role of Roads Policing
The lockdown has highlighted the huge importance of roads policing in reducing collisions and keeping the roads safe for us all and in particular those who are walking and cycling. Those on foot and cycling are especially vulnerable to the danger and intimidation that speeding vehicles cause. As traffic volumes fell at the start of …
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Changes to the London Congestion Charge: The importance for road safety and Vision Zero
There are strong reasons to support the proposed changes to the Congestion Charge (extending the charging hours to 07:00-22:00, seven days a week; increasing the daily charge to £15). As well as the significant environmental arguments in favour of limiting the numbers of motor vehicles which are circulating within the Congestion Charging Zone (CCZ), there …
Emerging from the Lockdown and Safe Roads: Vision Zero
During the lockdown we have seen huge increases in walking and cycling and the UK Government has given clear support for active travel in its recent policy announcements. At the same time though, we have seen the potential for increasing levels of road danger through higher vehicle speeds and more recently through rising traffic levels. …
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Getting speeding drivers off our roads
by Amy Aeron-Thomas It is great that the Department for Transport is appreciating the need and the opportunity for real change in the way that our streets and roads are viewed and providing genuine support for active travel. The UK Government sees that getting people back to work as part of the recovery from the …
Measures to reduce vehicle speed and road danger during and after Covid-19 lockdown
Difficulties of keeping a two-metre distance on the Walworth Road in South London. As streets emptied under lockdown, driving behaviour deteriorated. In one week in April, the Met Police enforced 2,020 speeding offences in London, including 50 in 20mph limits and 85 in 30mph limits. The combination of increasing traffic volumes and higher speeds will …
London Mayoral Election 2020: Action Vision Zero’s manifesto for safe streets
In 2019, 130 people were killed on London’s roads, including 71 people walking and five cycling. If London is to meet its target for zero deaths and serious injuries by 2041, a step change is needed in terms of its Vision Zero policies. Action Vision Zero calls on candidates for Mayor of London in 2020 …
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It’s not just speed that kills. New research recognises the danger of all traffic on our streets.
by Jeremy Leach and Emma Griffin The news that not one pedestrian or person cycling died on Oslo’s streets in 2019 came as a jolt to the countries and cities struggling to meet Vision Zero targets. Last year, 130 people died on London's streets including 71 pedestrians and five cyclists, according to TfL’s provisional figures. This …
Road Casualties in Oslo – Some More Detail.
We were really interested to see the news from Norway that Oslo saw no pedestrian and cyclist deaths in 2019 and wanted to know more about this. There is an excellent article about this from Curbed titled Oslo saw zero pedestrian and cyclist deaths in 2019. Here’s how the city did it but we went …
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