Mayoral aide 'wanted good news on road safety buried'
Discussion
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-234...
"A senior mayoral adviser ordered the authors of a report on road
safety to rewrite it so it was politically acceptable, it was claimed
today.
His alleged intervention came after a three-year study by Transport
for London into whether motorcyclists should be allowed to use bus
lanes. A trial had found that accidents on two routes where motorbikes
were allowed into bus lanes were nearly halved.
But aide Kevin Austin allegedly ordered the rewrite to avoid the loss
of the "green vote", because cycle groups opposed sharing bus lanes
with motorcyclists.
Now the authors fear the new version will be a whitewash and conceal
the road safety benefits shown by the trial, which took place in
Brixton Road and Finchley Road.
It found the bus lanes were much safer for pedestrians, cyclists, car
drivers and motorcyclists when motorcycles were allowed access, with a
42 per cent fall in the rate of collisions.
The report, presented to the Mayor in September, stated this, but
officials claim they have been told to "bury" the findings and rewrite
key sections to show the trial produced no safety gains.
City Hall insiders allege the order came amid fears that opening up
bus lanes would alienate thousands of cyclists opposed to the move.
A source told the Standard: "We have been told to cook the books and
expect the new report to be a whitewash. The original report showed
that the trial sites were far safer than on other 'control' roads,
including for cyclists.
"It meant the Mayor would have to open up bus lanes across London,
followed by other regions closely watching the experiment. Now it has
to be rewritten to appear the trial sites are no safer, so the Mayor
can announce he will not proceed."
The study of the trial routes found accidents directly involving
motorcycles fell by 45 per cent, compared with 19 per cent increase on
a nearby 'control' route. Pedestrian casualties fell by 39 per cent
against a three per cent rise on control routes. Collisions between
cyclists and motorcyclists fell by 44 per cent.
The draft report said: "These figures demonstrate that crashes
involving powered two-wheelers and other vulnerable road-users become
more infrequent even when considering the increased concentration of
riders."
Cycling campaign group CTC said "noisy" motorcycles travelling at
higher speeds would intimidate cyclists, threatening the increase in
commuters turning to bicycles.
But the draft report said: "The measure has no tangible adverse
consequences to cyclists. In contrast to the level of concern... the
number of casualties from collisions between cyclists and powered
two-wheelers users is remarkably small."
A spokesman for the Mayor said: "There are serious issues of safety
and efficiency involved in this issue so it required proper
consideration based upon the collection and analysis of the relevant
evidence.
"Transport for London had concerns about the validity of some of the
early results of the study. These concerns were shared by GLA
officials. TfL therefore undertook further work.
"All the results will be included in a final report, which will be
submitted to TfL senior management and the Mayor. A decision will be
made on the basis of full consideration of all of the evidence and
this will be made public."
"A senior mayoral adviser ordered the authors of a report on road
safety to rewrite it so it was politically acceptable, it was claimed
today.
His alleged intervention came after a three-year study by Transport
for London into whether motorcyclists should be allowed to use bus
lanes. A trial had found that accidents on two routes where motorbikes
were allowed into bus lanes were nearly halved.
But aide Kevin Austin allegedly ordered the rewrite to avoid the loss
of the "green vote", because cycle groups opposed sharing bus lanes
with motorcyclists.
Now the authors fear the new version will be a whitewash and conceal
the road safety benefits shown by the trial, which took place in
Brixton Road and Finchley Road.
It found the bus lanes were much safer for pedestrians, cyclists, car
drivers and motorcyclists when motorcycles were allowed access, with a
42 per cent fall in the rate of collisions.
The report, presented to the Mayor in September, stated this, but
officials claim they have been told to "bury" the findings and rewrite
key sections to show the trial produced no safety gains.
City Hall insiders allege the order came amid fears that opening up
bus lanes would alienate thousands of cyclists opposed to the move.
A source told the Standard: "We have been told to cook the books and
expect the new report to be a whitewash. The original report showed
that the trial sites were far safer than on other 'control' roads,
including for cyclists.
"It meant the Mayor would have to open up bus lanes across London,
followed by other regions closely watching the experiment. Now it has
to be rewritten to appear the trial sites are no safer, so the Mayor
can announce he will not proceed."
The study of the trial routes found accidents directly involving
motorcycles fell by 45 per cent, compared with 19 per cent increase on
a nearby 'control' route. Pedestrian casualties fell by 39 per cent
against a three per cent rise on control routes. Collisions between
cyclists and motorcyclists fell by 44 per cent.
The draft report said: "These figures demonstrate that crashes
involving powered two-wheelers and other vulnerable road-users become
more infrequent even when considering the increased concentration of
riders."
Cycling campaign group CTC said "noisy" motorcycles travelling at
higher speeds would intimidate cyclists, threatening the increase in
commuters turning to bicycles.
But the draft report said: "The measure has no tangible adverse
consequences to cyclists. In contrast to the level of concern... the
number of casualties from collisions between cyclists and powered
two-wheelers users is remarkably small."
A spokesman for the Mayor said: "There are serious issues of safety
and efficiency involved in this issue so it required proper
consideration based upon the collection and analysis of the relevant
evidence.
"Transport for London had concerns about the validity of some of the
early results of the study. These concerns were shared by GLA
officials. TfL therefore undertook further work.
"All the results will be included in a final report, which will be
submitted to TfL senior management and the Mayor. A decision will be
made on the basis of full consideration of all of the evidence and
this will be made public."
ing full blown major scandal for I ride both motorcycles and bicycles in London, but I'm thinking of giving up on the pedal powered variety purely for political reasons.
I don't want to be seen as part of a group that includes a majority of intolerent, holier-than-thou tossers who talk about motorists obeying the law one minute, and then nearly run me down at the pedestrian crossing in the next moment.
If there is a cycle campaigner reading this, can you please tell me why you are campaigning for a course of action that is more dangerous for all road users, cause I'd really like to know WTF is going through your mind
I don't want to be seen as part of a group that includes a majority of intolerent, holier-than-thou tossers who talk about motorists obeying the law one minute, and then nearly run me down at the pedestrian crossing in the next moment.
If there is a cycle campaigner reading this, can you please tell me why you are campaigning for a course of action that is more dangerous for all road users, cause I'd really like to know WTF is going through your mind
i commuted through central london for a couple of years on a pushbike. the ones who should be excluded from the bus lanes are the black cabs, but kenny hasn't got the kahunas to do that as they'd hold him to ransom again as they did when originally excluded from using bus lanes.
how can there not be enough width in a whole lane for a motorbike and a pushbike?? if you're that intimidated by the traffic, then you're a liability as i can't think of a single practical route through london where you use bus lanes and cycle lanes only.
how can there not be enough width in a whole lane for a motorbike and a pushbike?? if you're that intimidated by the traffic, then you're a liability as i can't think of a single practical route through london where you use bus lanes and cycle lanes only.
For anyone who feels strongly about this, you might want to take some pleasure in lobbying the lobby group that is campaigning against motorcycles in bus lanes.
Keep it civil of course; we don't to give them any excuses to become even more close minded than they currently appear to be
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?Pageid=10
Keep it civil of course; we don't to give them any excuses to become even more close minded than they currently appear to be
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?Pageid=10
Lostusernamedamn said:
They don't have safety in mind (hasn't that been bleedin' obvious for years?), it's all about control and their love of public transport and their hatred of power of the individual (i.e., in this case, private car and motorbike users).
Indeed. More importantly - a crime has been committed here. Heads should roll.
mark69sheer said:
I am an ex racing cyclist who used to pedal 360 miles a week in training.
Modern city cyclist make me sick with their constant moaning. If they didn't knock down so many pedestrians and shoot as many red lights I might even have sympathy with them...however...
comparing road racing with london commuting is like comparing driving a tvr against a gwhizz!Modern city cyclist make me sick with their constant moaning. If they didn't knock down so many pedestrians and shoot as many red lights I might even have sympathy with them...however...
sensible road use is applicable accross the board. whether your an ipod wearing pedestrian, cycle courier, black cab driver or god forbid, driving a bendy bus!
tamore said:
how can there not be enough width in a whole lane for a motorbike and a pushbike??
That's not really the problem; buses and pushbikes is a lethal combination IMO.As for motorbikes in bus lanes, we have that here in Bristol and it works just fine - they don't hold up anyone and are generally spatially-aware enough to coexist with pedal cycles amicably.
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