Author name: Steven Edwards

Deniz Huseyin 16 January 2022
TfL is to press ahead with plans to introduce a 20mph speed limit on 13km of its roads in Westminster. This would include Marylebone Road, Vauxhall Bridge Road and Edgware Road between the A40 and St John’s Wood Road.
Other changes would include installing raised tables at six existing pedestrian crossings on roads with newly lowered speed limits and making the temporary 30mph limit on the A40 Westway and temporary 20mph limits on Park Lane northbound and Grosvenor Road permanent.
Nearly half of London’s roads now have a 20mph speed limit. In March 2020, TfL introduced 20mph speed limits on all its roads in the central London Congestion Charging zone, completing the first lowering speeds action in the Mayor’s Vision Zero action plan. TfL said it has worked with the boroughs to deliver 20mph speed limits in nine town centres, including Whitechapel, Archway and Brixton.

Elly Blake
A new rule will see drivers fined £1,000 if they open the door with the wrong hand, as the Highway Code is updated.
The ‘Dutch Reach’ requires drivers to use the hand furthest the door to open it to ensure cyclists are not injured.
Those sitting behind the wheel are required to use their left hand, while passengers would use their right.
Drivers and passengers must adhere to the new rule to protect cyclists instead of blindly opening a door, which campaign group Cycling UK estimates can injure up to 500 people every year in the UK.
The rationale behind the move is opening the door with the hand furthest away prompts the driver to turn their body towards the door and look over their shoulder as they exit the vehicle.

@Chris_Boardman summarises everything that’s wrong with

A pilot project offering holders of a Prague public transport pass free access to short-term bike rides has been successful and will become a permanent offering from the city, Prague Integrated Transport has announced this weekend.

April 11, 20218
PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) – France is offering the owners of old, exhaust-belching cars the opportunity to hand over their vehicles for scrap in return for a 2,500 euro ($2,975.00) grant to buy an electric bicycle.
Lawmakers in the National Assembly have just approved the measure in a preliminary vote. It was an amendment to a draft climate bill passing through parliament that aims to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% in 2030 from 1990 levels.
If adopted, France will become the first country in the world to offer people the chance to trade in an ageing vehicle for an electric or folding bicycle, the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB) said.
“For the first time it is recognised that the solution is not to make cars greener, but simply to reduce their number,” said Olivier Schneider of the FUB.

Moveable explores the future of transportation, infrastructure, energy, and cities.
You have probably heard that almost all car crashes are due to human error. You may have even heard an exact, scientific-sounding number attached to it: 94 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). And it’s also likely this number made sense to you, like it did to me when I first heard it, because most drivers are impatient and easily distractible. 
But persistent advocacy from safety experts has brought to light that this statistic is made up. And, in fact, there is no good evidence to support the claim that “human error” is the cause of most crashes. Their argument has been so convincing that the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, has officially called on NHTSA to remove the 94 percent statistic from their website, deeming it reflective of a “culture that accepts” 40,000 people dying in fatal car crashes a year.

Demand for electric cargo bike couriers has boomed since first lockdown, bringing the hope of cleaner, quieter, safer streets

Government advises older people and those with lung or heart issues to avoid strenuous activity altogether