Here’s how Boris wants to stop cyclists dying on the roads
Boris Johnson has pledged to cut London’s serious road casualties by 50 per cent by 2020.
Despite the latest figures showing numbers of people killed or seriously injured was down to its lowest levels on record (meeting the Mayor’s previous target six years early) Johnson is keen to push the numbers down further.
Read more: How London's streets became a death trap for cyclists: Every bicycle accident mapped
The figures
Cutting the target would mean 14,000 fewer people killed or seriously injured in the years up to 2020.
Compared to 2013:
- The number of people killed or seriously hurt was down seven per cent
- Pedestrians and car occupants killed or seriously injured fell seven per cent and six per cent respectively to their lowest ever levels
- The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured was down 12 per cent, despite huge increases in the number of people cycling
- The number of children killed or seriously injured fell to the lowest level recorded, down 11 per cent. This means that child road deaths have been reduced from 18 in 2000 to three in 2014
Why it’s interesting
One area of particular interest is cycling. The number of people cycling to work keeps rising, and, while roads remain dangerous, the number of injuries is falling.
However, there remain serious issues with London’s infrastructure for cyclists and many people still feel too afraid to cycle on London’s roads. The main trouble is heavy goods vehicles, which have killed six cyclists in 2015 so far. Many cycling groups argue not enough is being done.
TfL and London boroughs will introduce the Safer Lorry Scheme from 1 September, which will require all lorries entering the capital to be fitted with basic safety equipment including sideguards and mirrors.
Here's every 2013 cycling collision mapped
To scroll past this visualisation on mobile, swipe down on the right-hand side of the map.
What Boris said
These figures show quite clearly that road safety in the Capital continues to head in the right direction. However, with a growing population and more people on our roads, we’ll have to pull out all the stops to ensure that such positive trends continue. Today, we’re setting a new target to halve the number of people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads by 2020.
This will help to guide all of the hard work that TfL and its partners are carrying out to make our roads as safe as possible. It is an ambitious target, but I believe it is one that we can achieve.
In short
A 40 per cent reduction six years ahead of schedule is a huge step in the right direction, and Boris is right to keep the focus and pressure on continued improvement.