The role of the London Road Safety Council (LRSC) is to advocate action to create a safer environment for the Capital, including places where people of all ages and abilities feel safe to walk and cycle.
Those are the words of the LRSC’s president, professor Nicola Christie.
Speaking virtually at the LRSC’s AGM on 9 July, professor Christie provided a progress report on the President’s Challenge Statement.
First set out in July 2020, the statement identifies key areas of work that councils, Transport for London (TfL) and other agencies need to address to bring about a reduction in road casualties.
Professor Christie outlined how the LRSC is working together to create a safer London by:
- Providing members with awareness and knowledge on emerging road safety issues and evidence about how to deal with them
- Supporting practitioners in gaining the data they need to target their resources where needed most
- Providing a forum to share good practice on what works for who
- Developing dialogues with key stakeholders to make the case for safety and share approaches and resources
Professor Christie also reflected on some of the recent work carried out by the LRSC, including a project with Trust for London to explore the relationship between deprivation and the area in which road collisions occur.
The analysis found that people living and working in London’s most deprived neighbourhoods are twice as likely to be injured in a road traffic collision than the least deprived areas.
Since then, the LRSC has met with TfL to discuss making deprivation an indicator for road casualties.
She also discussed the information sessions, held for members in the spring, which covered topical themes such as e-scooters and School Streets.
Summarising, professor Christie said: “The information sessions have been positively evaluated by members, data accessibility is work in progress and the council continues to share good practice and work with stakeholders.
“Undoubtedly all of this activity can be strengthened and we will seek to find ways to measure whether or not we are meeting the challenge and the barriers and facilitators for this.”
15 July 2021