The London Assembly Transport Committee is crossing the capital’s busiest and most notorious streets tomorrow, in an effort to experience first-hand the danger pedestrians face daily. The Committee will test the ‘Green Man’ timings which have been reduced at many intersections.
They will also visit some of the collision’ hotspot’ locations, where pedestrians are regularly killed or seriously injured (KSI), wearing ‘simulation spectacles’ from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) – to gain an insight into negotiating the crossings with little or no sight.
You are invited to join the Committee Members at any point on their walkabout in Central London from 9.30 tomorrow morning. The route is;
9.30 Walk from Bond Street tube to Oxford Circus via New Bond Street and Holles Street junctions (both listed in TfL’s pedestrian collision hotspot list). Representatives from the Living Streets campaign group will accompany the Committee to discuss the key factors contributing to pedestrian danger at these locations.
10.00 Oxford Circus. Members will conduct a brief survey of pedestrian experiences at this location and meet with representatives from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
10.30 Continue along Oxford Street via Tottenham Court Road station redevelopment to Cambridge Circus, accompanied by RNIB representatives.
11.00 Cambridge Circus. Members will be invited to gain first-hand experience of the difficulties faced by visually impaired pedestrians using RNIB “Simulation Spectacles” to replicate differing levels of visual impairment.
11.30/45 Visit ends.
This site visit is in response to 2012 figures showing that 69 pedestrians were fatally injured on London’s roads, compared with 58 in 2010. In the same period, the total number of pedestrian KSI’s increased by 23% [1]. Pedestrian casualties accounted for 37 per cent of all serious injuries and 51 per cent of all fatalities on London’s roads in 2012.
The visit will take place on Tuesday, 28 January from 9.30am. Media are invited to attend.
Notes for Editors:
1. TfL Surface Transport Casualties in Greater London factsheets 2002- 2012
2. London Assembly Transport Committee
3. The Chair of the Transport Committee, Valerie Shawcross AM, is available for interview. See contact details below.
4. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Alison Bell on 020 7983 4228. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.
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