Focusing road safety activities has produced good results and since 2000,casualties have fallen every year in London. In 2004 KSI fell by 19%, with a 23% fall in cycle KSI and a 22% fall in KSI involving P2Ws. These reductions have largely been due to the application of tried and tested methods of the three road safety E's - Engineering; Education and Enforcement. Focusing engineering works at sites with relatively high casualties has continued to give excellent improvements; along with 20mph zones, which have given reductions of 57% in KSI. The enforcement activities have included installing over 600 cameras in London, which have helped to treat some of the sites where speeding has been the cause of collisions. Research shows fatal and serious casualties at camera sites fall by over 40%. The Mayor's transport strategy has focused on increasing cycling and walking in London, which have both risen in volume since 2000. Casualties in these vulnerable modes, however, have been falling recently, which means walking and cycling are getting safer as the network is adapted for the vulnerable modes.This is due to investment in facilities for cyclists, such as advanced stop lines at many signal junctions and cycle lanes on busy roads. The numbers of Powered Two Wheelers (P2Ws) has been rising in London for many years, and P2W casualties have been rising along with this increase, until recently. Major advertising campaigns, aimed at both car drivers and motorcycle riders have raised the awareness of the dangers and consequences of hitting P2Ws. Child casualties have been a particular concern to the Mayor. TfL funds the Children's Traffic Club, which provides free information to all 3 year olds in London. This has proven to be very successful when used in other countries, and is an excellent long-term road safety investment. Teenagers and young drivers are particularly vulnerable and TfL has severalcampaigns that bring home strong direct messages about the potential to lose your life on the roads. The 'don't die before you've lived' campaign has used cinema, TV, radio and posters to get the message across. All the above have contributed to large reductions in casualties in London, such that the targets set by the Mayor have been met already (all except those for motorcycles) - some 5 years early. The Mayor has therefore recently decided to announce revised targets, with 50% reductions replacing the previous 40%, and 60% replacing 50% for children. The exception is for powered two wheelers, where the original 40% target is kept. The new target reduction for slight casualties is 25%. While we intend to continue with the triedand tested methods, it is also planned to use new technology. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135582.
Abstract