Speed limiters are promised to reduce road deaths by 20 percent.
Jake Holmes 26/3/19
New cars sold in Europe after May 2022 will be required to have a variety of new safety technologies, including speed limiters and systems to monitor the driver’s attention levels. The European Commission announced the rules Tuesday, saying that intelligent speed limiters alone could reduce fatalities on European roads by 20 percent.
The speed-limit systems would use road-sign recognition or data from navigation maps to warn the driver of the current speed limit and whether he or she is exceeding it. Such technology is actually offered on many new vehicles already, but the EU plan is to make it standard on every car.
Other technologies that would be required include systems to determine whether a driver is distracted or drowsy, automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, backup cameras and an improved event data recorder to store information from before a crash. The rules still need to be formally approved by the EU Parliament later this year, the Commission said.
Nov ’20) The Paramedic Case for Safer Streets – College of Paramedics
By Jules Mattsson, Student Paramedic And Committee Member Of The London Cycling Campaign In Hackney
27/11/2020
An ambulance response car uses a protected cycle lane to bypass general traffic. Picture: Cyclingmikey
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, one big change for residents of towns and cities has been how we get around. With public transport capacity reduced, many took to private cars to avoid the guy wearing a mask under his chin while sitting opposite you on the train. Unfortunately, if this trend had continued we were heading towards long-term gridlock – so urgent action was needed to enable alternatives like walking and cycling.
Lockdown walking habit could outlast the pandemic, survey suggests – TransportXtra
Coronavirus regulations may have a lasting impact on the population’s behaviour even after restrictions are lifted, according to a study to mark 12 months since the first national lockdown came into force in the UK.
Walking, working from home and shopping locally are among lockdown behaviours that people will maintain after pandemic restrictions are lifted, according to the survey, which was commissioned by the BBC.
The research, by the Policy Institute at King’s College London and Ipsos MORI, is part of a wider study with BBC News to mark the first anniversary of the announcement of a national lockdown by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 23 March 2020.
Ipsos MORI interviewed 2,442 people aged 16 and over about how the pandemic may change their lifestyles in the long term.
What Rupa Huq is getting wrong on low traffic neighbourhoods – Medium
Sarah Berry
In an address to Parliament earlier this week, the Member of Parliament for Ealing Central and Acton, Rupa Huq, asked a question of her peers. Dialing in over Zoom from her home, Huq raised the issue of women’s safety on the UK’s streets, which in light of the recent kidnap and murder of South London woman Sarah Everard, is understandably at the forefront of many minds.
But in a confusing move to many, Huq didn’t reference women’s safety generally, but instead she specifically asked about the connection between safety and low traffic neighbourhoods, urging her peers to ensure that any reappraisal of LTNs across the country ensure
Lockdown did not reduce air pollution from tyre wear in London | The Guardian
Gary Fuller 26/03/21
Less traffic meant less congestion, but the remaining vehicles went fasterI asked William Hicks how he felt when lockdown suddenly happened in the middle of his year-long air pollution investigation. “Excited,” he replied. Not the answer that I expected. “It was like moving the field laboratory to a whole new road.” Hicks, and his team from Imperial College London, were studying tiny particles from tyres, brakes and road surfaces on London’s Marylebone Road.The inside of the field laboratory is a noisy environment full of the rattle of pumps, as an array of equipment measures the size and chemical nature of the air pollution. Hicks was measuring metal particles in the air to work out how much pollution came from each source. Barium particles are released from brake pads and zinc, used to vulcanise rubber.
The true cost of driving in cities? – transportxtra
Even now, after everyone has been told to stay at home, any of those who have the time and money are back in their cars. It’s really important to remember that it is a luxury, an expensive luxury that isn’t available to as many people as we think.
Fresh data shows that Manchester is the most expensive UK city to drive in, costing on average £1,058.99 based on fuel, insurance, parking and MOT. Yet still in Greater Manchester there are around 250 million car journeys of less than one kilometre each year – the equivalent of a 15-minute walk or a five-minute bike ride.
Some have noticed that driving might be a tad expensive, like the insurance companies, who have higher profits left over from the fact people weren’t driving around and crashing into each other.
Pop-Up Cycleways And Low Traffic Neighborhoods Not Delaying Ambulances, Say NHS Trusts – forbes.com
:excerptstartCarlton Reid 26/03/21A Freedom of Information (FoI) investigation of NHS ambulance trusts in England, Scotland and Wales has found that none were opposed to the new pop-up cycleways or “low traffic neighbourhoods” (LTNs) installed during the COVID-19 lockdown last year.The FoI requests were placed by member organisation Cycling UK.The so-called “active travel” schemes were funded by the Department for Transport… [Read More]
Movin’ on up: Transport for a net zero future – Spreaker
:excerptstart Local Zero: pathway to #COP26 Transport makes up nearly 40% of the average UK household’s carbon footprint (with wide variation between different sections of society). While other sectors have made progress on cutting carbon, the dial has barely moved on transport emissions. So is the elephant in the room actually an SUV? Joining the team… [Read More]
Nick Forbes – Today Show, BBC Radio 4 –– 23/03/21: Soundcloud – Carlton Reid
“We can’t turn the clock back. We know that if people want convenience, they’re going to shop online or go to their local neighbourhood store. So what we have to do is reimagine our city centres as places for people where we create the right outside spaces for people to socialise, where we give pedestrians… [Read More]
ULEZ extension could save Southwark NHS £100 million by 2050 – southwarknews.co.uk
Katherine Johnston
The ultra-low emission zone is set to expand to the North and South Circular roads in October this year
The extension of the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) to include all inner London boroughs will save NHS services in Southwark nearly £100 million by 2050, a study claims, writes Kit Heren…
The ULEZ will expand from central London to the North and South Circular roads on October 25. The zone already includes part of Southwark, from Blackfriars Bridge in the north-west to the Elephant & Castle roundabout in the south, and Tower Bridge Road in the east.
The study, carried out by Lumen Health on behalf of Transport for London and the Greater London Authority, suggests that the ULEZ will cut diseases linked to air pollution in London by nearly 30%, possibly saving the NHS £4 billion in total over the next 30 years.
Some £97.8 million of that could be saved in Southwark – money that can be ploughed back into local services, a local politician said.
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