Mayor pledges to halve road deaths
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone today pledged to halve the number of road deaths in the capital by the end of the decade.
It comes after the number of people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads fell by 19 per cent on last year – an improvement rate almost four times that of the national average.
The trend has been attributed to the introduction of more 20mph zones, better pedestrian crossing and cycling facilities, as well as a widespread education and advertising campaign and the introduction of more speed cameras.
“London is showing huge progress in cutting road injuries and deaths, disproving those who say that road safety measures have no positive impact,” Mr Livingstone said.
“Any death or serious injury is one too many but these figures show that London’s roads are getting safer more quickly than anywhere else in the UK.
“As we have very nearly met existing targets to reduce accidents by a full five years, I am setting even tougher targets to cut accidents further to 50 per cent by 2010. Transport for London will be working with the police and the boroughs to make our streets even safer for all our road users.”
According to Transport for London, 216 people lost their lives last year, a reduction of 56 on the previous year. There were also 939 fewer serious injuries than in 2003, with the figure now standing at 3,953.
In addition, despite a 40 per cent increase in the number of cyclists travelling through London, the number of deaths and injuries among this group is down 40 per cent on 1998 levels.
“The road casualty reduction is an amazing success story but there are still people being killed and injured unnecessarily on London’s roads,” Jenny Jones, the mayor’s road safety ambassador.
“We need the local authorities and police to do everything they can to ensure we meet and exceed these new targets.”
