Road safety campaign
Pedestrian accidents in the City
have doubled – with distracted MP3 users especially warned to
be careful.
- In 2006, the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured
increased from 12 to 26, a rise of 117% over the previous
year.
- The figure for “slight casualties” has increased by 8%, from 80
to 86.
The main contributory factor attributes inattention as the main
cause of pedestrian casualties in the City.
Many other London boroughs are also seeing a rise in casualties.
The situation in the City is concerning but not unique. The rise in
pedestrian activity and the significant rise in cycling activity
provide a major challenge.
The City of London Corporation’s Road Safety Team is running a
road safety campaign from 3-7 March, targeting
pedestrians.
Pupils from the City of London School for Girls and boys from
the City of London School will be helping the Road Safety Team
distribute information and advice at mainline rail and tube
stations every morning this week.
The Government has set a new national challenge to reduce
casualties by the year 2010, compared with the average number for
the period 1994-1998. The City of London is committed to achieving
these targets. The Road Safety Plan 2002 sets out the current
and future policies and objectives of the City of London to meet
these challenging targets and reduce accidents in the 'Square
Mile'.
Download the Road Safety Plan 2002
The City of London has a dedicated Road Safety Unit with the
following functions
- Education, training and publicity on all road safety
matters
- Pre-driver / advanced driver training and theory test
training
- Cycle training for schools
- Business road safety exhibitions
- National and local road safety campaigns
- Casualty reduction
- Driving assessments
Facilities include training bicycles and safety helmets, and the
unit is well-stocked with DETR and ROSPA leaflets and posters.
The business exhibitions are one week in duration and
approximately 12 are held each year. The roadside campaigns are
held around nine times per year and also last one week.
For road casualty reduction, pre-driver/advanced driver
training, cycle training, road safety presentations, courses and
driver assessments, work is carried out all year on an ongoing
basis.
The telephone number for the Road Safety Team is: 020 7332
1234
The correspondence address for the Road Safety Team is:
Department of Planning and Transportation
PO Box 270
Guildhall
London EC2P 2EJ
Fax 020 7332 1806
Email
plans@cityoflondon.gov.uk
The Road Safety Unit works closely with
The Royal Society
for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the
Local Authority
Safety Officers Association. One aspect covered by RoSPA is
the
quality and effectiveness of child car seats.
Safer driving
Improve your driving at the City's Careful Driver event
Download further details (141kb)
-
Road safety
- cycling and walking to school
- Promotion of safer, more environmentally sustainable and
healthier ways of getting to and from school with particular
emphasis on walking and cycling.
-
Road
safety - cycling proficiency
- The RoSPA national cycling proficiency test is offered free to
children over the age of nine to help develop their essential
cycling skills, often through their school and generally
administered by the local authority. Some authorities may also
offer similar training to adults.
-
Road safety -
dangerous road junctions
- The Council should have a continuing programme of schemes to
improve the safety and operation of the highway network. Many of
these schemes originate from requests made by the public. As well
as concerns about the safety of individual road junctions, there
are requests for pedestrian crossing facilities, speed restraint
measures (such as road humps), and minor issues such as new warning
signs.
-
Road safety
- driver training
- Driver education programmes that are available to both
recreational and professional drivers.
-
Road
safety - pedestrian crossings
- Provision and maintenance of pedestrian crossings in locations
where it is likely that pedestrians may need to cross roads within
the local authority area e.g. at major road junctions, near
shopping areas, outside schools.
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Road safety -
speed humps
- In areas where excessive speed is considered a risk to public
safety the local authority may construct 'speed humps' for the
purpose of reducing traffic speeds. Speed humps are typically
constructed in residential roads and in areas where there may be a
large amount of pedestrian traffic (such as near school entrances).
The local authority makes provision for speed road humps to reduce
speeds and improve safety of residential roads.
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Road safety
- traffic schemes
- The local authority is responsible for proposing and
implementing traffic schemes to reduce road accidents and
congestion on roads in the local area. Local residents/businesses
may apply to the authority for a review of traffic where they
believe there is a problem.