Jenny Jones has questioned the London Mayor over rising death rates on the roads
The number of casualties among pedestrians and cyclists on London’s roads have risen each year since 2008, while spending on road safety in the capital has been more than halved since Boris Johnson became Mayor, according to research by Jenny Jones, the Green party Assembly Member.
Jones says that the amount of money spent in London on road safety measures has dropped from £59 million in 2008-2009 to £23 million this financial year.
“The Mayor has decimated the road safety budget since he was elected in 2008 and pedestrian casualties have risen since he was elected,” Jones said.
“Preventing deaths and injuries on our roads should be a major priority for the Mayor and cutting the budget is just irresponsible when you measure the impact on society and on the NHS budget.
“London had an amazing decade of success in reducing road casualties with the creation of the post of Mayor in 2000. The high levels of investment in road safety measures meant that casualties fell rapidly. That has now stopped.
“In 2011 the number of car drivers hurt or killed did fall, but the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed and injured went up. Vehicles are getting safer, but London’s roads are getting more dangerous. The Mayor must reverse this cut to the road safety budget, so that he can fund all the 20mph zones and other measures which save people’s lives.”
The London Road Safety Council estimates that 28,000 will be hurt on the roads of the city this year, 3,000 fatally.
In Croydon, pedestrian casualties in 2011 (the last year for which figures are available) were 205; there were 115 cyclists hurt on Croydon roads in 2011. This compares with 168 and 93 in 2008.
Croydon’s Conservative-run council has steadfastly rejected all recent calls for 20mph zones.
The Times has today re-launched its safe cycling campaign. Click here for more
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- Boris Johnson criticised over road safety spending drop (london24.com)
- More cyclists are seriously injured on Britain’s roads (thetimes.co.uk)