Feet First: Improving Pedestrian Safety in London

The London Assembly Transport Committee has published this report into what it describes as “a worrying rise in the danger to pedestrians on the capital’s streets”.

More than six million journeys are made on foot in London every day, and millions of people take to the streets as part of longer journeys made by public transport.

The report points out that more pedestrians are killed or seriously injured on London’s streets than any other road user group.

It also says that following a decade of progress in reducing the number of pedestrians killed or injured, casualty numbers began rising again in 2011. 69 pedestrians were killed and another 1,054 seriously injured in London in 2012 – an average of three people a day.

Recommendations in the report include adopting a “Vision Zero” approach to eliminating road death and injury, and appointing a senior representative to champion walking.

It also suggests adopting an assumed walking speed of 0.8 metres per second to calculate minimum crossing times and develoing plans to improve 24 pedestrian collision hotspots by October 2014.

Other recommendations include publishing a timescale for implementing 20mph speed limits on suitable roads and improving the safety record of large vehicles.