“Why is Britain such a dangerous place for walkers?”

Worth reading: Nick Cohen’s article in yesterday’s Observer. The hook for the article is last week’s Greater London Assembly report about rising deaths among pedestrians in London – and what can be done to stop it.

The article is about the raw deal suffered by urban walkers (aka people on foot). Even compared with walkers in the countryside. And especially compared with all the other self-identifying interest groups, whether people in cars (aka “motorists”) or even people on bikes (aka “cyclists”).
A pity that Nick hasn’t heard of Living Streets, the national charity that stands up for pedestrians, but the gist of the article is pretty unarguable.

GLA says “20 is Plenty” for more of London

The Greater London Assembly Transport Committee has released Feet First – Improving Pedestrian Safety in London.  



This is in response to the risks and challenges for pedestrian safety in the capital: after years of decline, the numbers of pedestrians killed and injured in London is rising - 69 pedestrian deaths and 1,054 seriously injured in London in 2012.



The report (with its Abbey Road lookalike cover shown above) states that a key policy option is to reduce speed limits from 30mph to 20mph to create a fairer balance between people and motor vehicles, with proposed actions including investigations to consider increasing the percentage of London’s road network that is covered by 20mph limits (from the current level of 19%) to 50% by 2016. More on this at 20’s Plenty.