Press Release - Stop Killing Cyclists Condemn London Mayor’s Photo Stunt when his Traffic Enforcement Measures are in Chaos

Stop Killing Cyclists Condemn
London Mayor’s Photo Stunt
when his Traffic Enforcement Measures
are in Chaos

Dated: 27th May 2014

Whilst the London Mayor stages yet another photo-opportunity stunt today, Stop Killing Cyclists call on him to instead urgently tackle the real crises, failures and bias in London’s Road Safety Enforcement.

These include:

1. Mayor’s Failure on Dangerous Trucks

The London Mayor promised increased funding for safety inspections of the lethal trucks which are responsible for the majority of recent cycling killings and numerous pedestrian deaths. But the project was delayed due to a recruitment freeze forced on the Metropolitan Police by the Mayor.

2. Mayor’s Failure on RoadSafe

The London Mayor also promised increased funding for the video online reporting system RoadSafe London. But again the project was delayed due to the same recruitment freeze imposed by the same Mayor who promised increased staffing. The lack of staff meant that many video-reports by the public went unanswered for weeks on end, making a mockery of the system.

3. Mayor’s Failure on Cycle Lane Enforcement

The enforcement of mandatory cycle lanes across London is in chaos as there are so many different groups responsible for the enforcement of cycle-lanes that the Metropolitan Police on the ground almost never know whether they can enforce illegal parking in the lanes or not and so almost nobody bothers.

4. Mayor’s Biased War on Victims

The Mayor wrongly claimed that Operation Safeway was not biased against the victims of truck killings i.e. cyclists. Yet it actually issued Fixed Penalty Notices to cyclists at a rate nearly 8 times higher than to drivers based on the actual numbers on the roads.

Meanwhile In just one truck enforcement action carried out by the Metropolitan Police during Operation Safeway a horrifying 70% of trucks or truck drivers were found to be in a dangerous condition or were being driven illegally.

 

Stop Killing Cyclists Co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy said,

“The Mayor rather than staging photo-stunts should sort out the mess his Traffic Enforcement schemes are in. Police resources should be targeted at the truly alarming levels of lethal trucks being driven on London’s roads.

Whilst he fiddles, cyclist and pedestrian lives continue to be endangered by dangerous trucks being driven illegally on London’s roads and children are forced into the path of double-decker buses by inconsiderate drivers parked on un-enforced cycle-lanes.”

He added:

“We recognise that safety enforcement should be targeted at all road users including cyclists, but it must be targeted in proportion to the danger caused and in proportion to numbers using our streets.

Operation Safeway failed on both counts and the Mayor and Metropolitan Police must ensure future operations do not mimic this flawed approach.”

RSVP: [email protected] or 07947 884299
End.

Note to editors:

  1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the direct action protest group set up after the recent spate of cyclist killings in London. They arranged the mass Die-In at TfL HQ where 1,500 cyclists lay down in the road in protest at lack of safety investment in London.
  2. 30% of Fixed Penalty Notices were issued to cyclists during Operation Safeway, whilst cyclists made up less than 4% of vehicles on London’s roads.
  3. 96% of injuries due to Red Light Jumping are caused by motorists. 99.7% of pedestrian casualties are caused by motorists.
  4. Over 10,000 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed and injured on London’s roads since the Mayor was elected.
  5. No extra funding has been allocated to cycling safety since the November spate of cycling tragedies, despite the London Mayor claiming that cycling safety is one of his top priorities.

The proposed 10 year Mayoral cycling budget has remained at 1.2% of TfL’s total budget despite the fact that cyclists make up 4% of traffic and despite numerous repeated press-releases and photo-opportunities since then on already agreed funded projects.

Stop Killing Cyclists are demanding that 10% of the TfL budget be invested in cycling infrastructure in future.

One thought on “Press Release - Stop Killing Cyclists Condemn London Mayor’s Photo Stunt when his Traffic Enforcement Measures are in Chaos”

  1. Operation Safeway was NOT the supposed “blitz on unsafe driving” that it was publicised as. See http://rdrf.org.uk/2013/11/29/is-there-a-police-blitz-on-unsafe-driving-in-london/ for an account of what really happened. Law enforcement is a good idea, but as Mr McCarthy says “We recognise that safety enforcement should be targeted at all road users including cyclists, but it must be targeted in proportion to the danger caused and in proportion to numbers using our streets. “Operation Safeway failed on both counts and the mayor and Metropolitan Police must ensure future operations do not mimic this flawed approach,”

    There is a lot that the Met could and should do for the safety of all road users: see http://rdrf.org.uk/2013/11/29/what-traffic-policing-could-be-like/

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