Mayor says “no huge alarm” over rise in pedestrian casualties

The London mayor responded to questions about an extra 151 slight child pedestrian casualties last year, by saying that he felt that there was ‘no huge alarm’ as long as the number of killed and seriously injured was still declining. He said that he was looking at “the blip in statistics” which has seen child pedestrian casualties rise for two years running, after a nineteen year on year decline in the number injured. However, he had not discussed the issue with advisers since March, despite Jenny Jones writing to him in May asking for an urgent investigation into the reason why. The Mayor says that TfL have not identified the reasons for the increase.

The Mayor also said that he felt it might be to do with the growth of mobile electronic devices, which some people used whilst cycling, driving or crossing the road. Casualties have continued to decline in the rest of the UK. London is the only region in the country where they have risen since 2008. The Mayor has more than halved the budget for road safety in London.

Jenny Jones said:
"We can't accept more injuries to children in London when numbers are falling in the rest of the country. Something has gone wrong in London since 2008 and the Mayor needs a moratorium on the policies which could be responsible. That means putting a stop to all the changes to traffic lights which are part of his smoother traffic flow agenda and reversing the cuts to the road safety budget until such time as he publishes a proper investigation of the likely causes.
Footnotes

1. Figures for child pedestrian casualties obtained from TfL– ‘Casualties in Greater London’ fact sheet 2. The total number of pedestrian casualties has declined every year since 1989 since 2008 (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/ped-casualties-in-greater-london-march-2009.pdf)

3. Information on budget cuts provided in response to question no 628/2010