Cycling and Safety

Cycle Safety and the Cycling Stakeholder Forum

 

A total of 118 pedal cyclists were killed in Great Britain in 2012. This was a 10% increase from 107 in 2011 but is still 9% lower than the 2005-09 average.

 

The number of pedal cyclists who were seriously injured in 2012 rose by 4% to 3,222 compared to 2011. This marks the eighth consecutive annual rise in pedal cyclist serious injuries.

 

 

 

Currently a major barrier to more cycling is feeling confident about cycling on the roads. 65% of non-cyclists and 48% of cyclists agreed that it was too dangerous for them to cycle on the roads and 66% of females and 53% of males agreed that it was too dangerous for them to cycle on the roads.

 

Cycle safety has been in the spotlight since The Times’s “Cities Fit For Cycling” campaign begun in February 2012, following an incident where one of their journalists, Mary Bowers, was knocked down by an HGV in November 2011.

 

In April 2013 the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group launched their “Get Britain Cycling” report. The government responded to the report on 28 August 2013:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-responds-to-cycling-report  The “Get Britain Cycling” report was debated in the House of Commons main chamber on 2 September.

 

British Cycling launched its “Time to #ChooseCycling” report in February 2014: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/media_centre/article/cam20140207-British-Cycling-launches-10-point-plan-to-transform-Britain-into-a-true-cycling-nation-0

 

The Cycling Stakeholder Forum was set up by Norman Baker MP in 2011 to gather stakeholders to collectively consider how to generate more and safer cycling. The Forum has set up a number of sub-groups including one on safety. The safety sub-group includes the AA, ACPO, Bike Right, British Cycling, CPRE (Campaign for Protection of rural England), CTC, Cyclenation, Freight Transport Association, IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists), London Cycling Campaign, Mineral Products Association, PACTS (Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety), Road Haulage Association, Sustrans and TfL.

 

Representatives from the sub-group provided advice on the allocation of up to £20M of DfT funds to improve the design of junctions and routes to make them safer for cyclists. 81 schemes were successful.

 

The Safety sub-group has set up a Justice sub-group to look at how the justice system works for vulnerable road users. There are representatives from: ACPO, Home Office, CPS, MOJ and Sentencing Council as well as representatives from British Cycling, Road Peace and the CTC.

 

In August 2013, the Prime Minister announced his vision for a ‘cycling revolution’ to bring Britain on a par with other European countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, where cycling levels are currently much higher. The key points from the announcement were:

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£94M Cycling Ambition Grants for 8 cities and 4 National Parks

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New trunk road investment that impacts cyclists, such as junction improvements or road-widening, will be ‘cycle-proofed’ (so they can be navigated confidently by the average cyclist)

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£5M will be invested initially and a further £15M in 2015 to 2016 to help cyclists at 14 locations on the HA’s trunk road network.

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Extending our commitment to Bikeability funding to 2015/16

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Working with stakeholders to assemble a Cycling (and Walking) Delivery Plan in 2014.

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A Cycle Proofing sub-group of the Cycling Stakeholder Forum (the sub-group includes TfL, Highways Agency and Sustrans).

 

In September 2013 we announced a taskforce with TfL to raise awareness of safety among HGV drivers and to take targeted enforcement action against the small minority of potentially dangerous operators, drivers and vehicles.

 

Technical provisions for improvement to the driver’s view around their HGV have been agreed, but still require implementation in the European Union. The changes will apply to new vehicle types from 30 June 2014 once agreement has been reached in the EU.

 

From 29 October 2014, all new goods vehicles will have to comply with revised European rules on sideguards, which permit fewer exemptions than the current domestic legislation.

Reported road casualties in Great Britain

 

In 2012 (the latest available full-year of statistics) there were 195,723 casualties of all severities, 4 per cent lower than in 2011. Fatalities fell by 8 per cent to a new record low of 1,754. Traffic levels were broadly unchanged over the same period.

 

Detailed tables and articles on the 2012 statistics can be found in the annual report published in September 2013:

 

" www.gov.uk/government/publications/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2012

A further article was added to the Annual Report in February, on self-reported drink and drug driving, from the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales.

 

Quarterly provisional casualty estimates for 2013 have been published in August (q1), November (q2) and February (q3).

 

The overall picture from the latest quarter (q3) is a continued decrease in the number casualties, for the year ending September 2013. Comparing the year ending September 2013 with the previous year:

 

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fatalities fell by 2 per cent to 1,730

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killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties fell by 6 per cent, to 23,380

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for comparison, motor traffic levels rose by roughly 1 per cent over the same period.

 

Comparing the specific quarters July-Sept 2012 with July-Sept 2013, there were increases in the number of pedal cyclist (8 per cent) and motorcyclist (1 per cent) casualties. As in previous publications, it is likely that the weather influenced the quarter-on-quarter increase in these casualty types. Summer 2012 was exceptionally wet whereas the same quarter in 2013 had rainfall well below the long-term average, which may have encouraged an increase in cycling and thus increased exposure.

 

Full-year Reported Road Casualty figures for 2013 will be published in June 2014.

 

2012 was the second wettest year on record in the UK, behind 2000, which is likely to have had affected the number of vulnerable road user casualties (pedestrians, pedal cyclists, motorcyclists). This is discussed further in the Main Results 2012 publication:

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-main-results-2012

 

Provisional results for three quarters of 2013 were published in August (quarter 1):

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-provisional-estimates-q1-2013 

 

November (quarter 2):

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-provisional-estimates-q2-2013

 

and February (quarter 3):

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-provisional-estimates-jul-to-sep-q3-2013

 

In the year ending September 2013, 1,730 people were killed, a 2 per cent drop from 1,761 in the year ending September 2012.  The number of killed or seriously injured casualties fell to 23,380, a 6 per cent decrease compared with the previous year.

 

KSI casualties for the vulnerable road user groups – pedestrians, pedal cyclists and motorcyclists – showed overall decreases of 10, 2 and 6 per cent respectively, for the same period.

 

Between July and September 2013, there were decreases in the number of car user and pedestrian casualties, of 6 and 4 per cent respectively, with similar falls in the numbers of KSI casualties – 4 per cent for car users and 10 per cent for pedestrians.

 

However, there were increases in the number of motorcyclist (1 per cent) and pedal cyclist (8 per cent) casualties, with a 1 per cent increase in the number of motorcyclist KSI casualties and a 2 per cent increase in pedal cyclist KSI casualties.

 

It is likely that these increases were at least partly due to the different weather conditions in the third quarters of 2012 and 20131. The overall UK mean rainfall between July and September 2012 was high compared with the long term average for this period – 21 per cent higher than the long term average for this period. In comparison, the mean rainfall between July and September 2013 was 38 per cent lower, and was 28 per cent below the long term average.

 

The markedly drier weather in 2013 would have likely increased the number of vulnerable road users (particularly motorcyclists and pedal cyclists) on the road, relative to the same period in 2012, thus increasing their relative exposure to accidents.

 

Future Publications:

 

Main results for the year 2013 will be published in June.

 

 

Driving safely around horses in Havering

BUS DRIVERS IN HAVERING LEARN ABOUT HORSES

There are as many as twelve riding schools and livery yards in the London Borough of Havering and it is estimated that there are over 400 horses looked after at these establishments.
Last month, one rider was exercising her horse in the Country Park Estate, Hornchurch, when it took fright due to the sound of the air brakes on an approaching bus, and was in collision with a car.
Following this incident, the rider wrote to Transport for London, the British Horse Society and the local bus garage at Rainham, calling for bus drivers to be made aware of the need to look out for horses and to approach them with caution.
Safety officers at the bus garage responded positively to this call and produced a poster to educate drivers about the need for special care when overtaking horses on the roads, and today, Friday 11th April, James Parker from the British Horse Society and Councillor Wendy Brice-Thompson, who represents Havering Council on the London Road Safety Council attended an open forum at Rainham Bus Garage to talk to drivers about how to pass horses safely, and gave out copies of the GEM Motoring Assist leaflet ‘Horse Sense’.
Councillor Brice-Thompson said “It is estimated that every day in the UK there are 8 horse related accidents on the roads. Although we are a London borough, horses being exercised on the road are not an unusual sight. I urge riders to wear hi-viz so that drivers can see them from some way away and this allows drivers to slow down, and pass wide and quietly.”
“I also applaud the positive response of the staff at Rainham Bus Garage to this incident. Road Safety is everyone’s responsibility and here we see it being taken very seriously.” — with James Parker.

Current air quality

Air quality in Havering is generally good compared to elsewhere in London.

However the recent sand from the Sahara has had an impact on air quality which can cause problems  for people with breathing difficulties.

Havering Council is part of the airTEXT service which provides daily updates on air quality across London.

Download the free airTEXT smart phone app giving forecasts for today and tomorrow of pollution, UV, grass pollen and temperature forecasts.

The airTEXT service sends alerts direct to your mobile phone, email address and/or Twitter account.

You can sign up for this free service here.

You can also use our Report It Online service to request air quality information.

Queen's and King George's hospitals

Special Measures: Improvement Plan update

The finalised Improvement Plan will be presented to the Trust Board at its meeting on the Wednesday, 3rd April. 

The plan has been set out into five key workstreams:

Workforce; recruiting, retaining and developing and deploying the right number of permanent staff we need to provide high quality care 24/7.

Patient flow and emergency pathway; making sure our patients are assessed and treated promptly and are supported to return home as soon as they are medically fit to leave hospital.  Also to ensure that patients are cared for in the right place with the right follow up care.

Patient care and clinical governance; supporting all of our care with effective management of patient notes and information, a systems which alert us quickly to any problems.

Outpatients; to ensure effective management of our outpatient services so appointments run on time, every time.

Leadership and organisation; putting the right systems, structures, check and balances in place to ensure our Trust is properly managed from Board to ward.

Once agreed by the Trust Board, it will be reviewed by the NTDA in conjunction with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The improvement plan will then be published on NHS Choice and the Trust website.  Updates will be published monthly to show progress against the plan.

New Beauty Salon

New Beauty and Complementary Therapy Salon

The Adult College based in Collier Row has opened a Beauty and Complementary Therapy Salon.  The salon offers a variety of beauty and complementary therapy treatments from as little as £2.00 for a file and polish.  All treatments are carried out by learners under the supervision of professional teaching staff. 

If you would like to treat yourself call the Adult College on 01708 434955 to book an appointment.

Make your vote count

Make your vote count

On Thursday 22 May you can vote in two elections to make your voice heard.

Your first ballot paper is to elect three councillors to represent your ward on Havering Council for the next four years.

Your second ballot paper is to elect London’s eight Members of the European Parliament for the next five years.

Before you can vote you must be on the Electoral Register and you have until Tuesday 06 May to make sure you are included.

Many people find it easier to vote by post rather than go to the Polling Station and if you wish to vote by post your application must be received not later than Wednesday 07 May.

For more information:  email elections@havering.gov.uk or call 01708 432444