TfL Opens Pedestrian Safety Consultation

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 119 months ago
TfL Opens Pedestrian Safety Consultation

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Transport for London has opened a consultation on its plans to improve safety for pedestrians. As we saw recently, pedestrians made up 51% of all road fatalities in 2012; 1,123 pedestrians were killed or seriously injured (KSI) in that year alone. The number of pedestrian KSIs has been creeping up since 2010 after five years of KSI reductions, and TfL wants to bring those numbers down again — to 40% by 2020, from a baseline of 2005-2009.

This isn't going to be easy. So many factors beyond TfL's control can play a part in pedestrian collisions: drink or drugs, drivers using mobile phones or speeding and dangerous HGVs are just a few. A new draft Pedestrian Safety Action Plan looks at things TfL can change, including:

  • more use of countdown timers at pedestrian crossings
  • trials of SCOOT technology, which senses how many people are waiting to cross and adjusts green man time accordingly
  • trials of two 20mph zones in central London, across Blackfriars and London Bridges
  • fitting buses with sensors that detect pedestrians and cyclists
  • upgrading and installing more cameras to discourage speeding by vehicles
  • using data analysis to better target police activity like Operation Safeway
  • road safety education programmes for schoolchildren.

The plan also notes areas outside of TfL's direct influence where it can lobby, like police and court procedures, as well as bus and HGV design.

The consultation runs until 9 May and you'll need to read the draft Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (it can be downloaded from the consultation website) as the only feedback option is a free text box.

Update: the London Assembly has also released a report making eight recommendations for improving pedestrian safety, including appointing a 'pedestrian champion' to the TfL board, review green man crossing times and publishing more data more often on road safety. The Assembly also wants fast action on collision hotspots and 20mph speed limits. You can read more and download the report on the GLA website.

Photo by El Zoid from the Londonist Flickr pool

Last Updated 01 April 2014