Category Archives: Uncategorized

Minister on the road to nowhere

On 8 May 2013, before the start of a conference organised by PACTS (government road safety advisory council) for the UN’s Decade of Action, I met transport minister, Patrick McLoughlin. What did he think of Poynton? He looked blank. I … Continue reading

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Buffoonery in high places

The UK’s leading self-publicist – the current London mayor – has appointed as his cycling “czar” someone who knows my work (he has quoted it uncredited, in at least one article). So he should know better, but not only does Andrew … Continue reading

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20mph again

20mph zones are spreading fast, according to another email received from the pressure group, 20 is Plenty for Us. Everyone wants safer streets, but are blanket 20mph zones the answer? I don’t think so. For one thing, they open up … Continue reading

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“Obnoxious autocrats”

From Alan Rusbridger’s Guardian interview with Google’s Eric Schmidt: He decided against exploiting facial recognition, which he sees as wide open to abuse, and warns of the dangers of combining such technology with London-style traffic cameras. “You could imagine aggressive, obnoxious … Continue reading

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Deference be damned

The 1960s were supposed to have seen off doff-capping class deference, but deference on the road – people on foot deferring to people in vehicles (even waiting for permission to cross at zebra crossings) – persists to this day. The … Continue reading

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J’accuse

Research fellow at UCL, Dr Katharine Giles, is the latest cyclist to die on London’s roads. Crushed under a tipper truck in Victoria. The report in the Evening Standard calls it a “tragedy”. For once the word is correct, partly … Continue reading

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Worst peacetime disaster?

As mentioned before, no-one died of phone-hacking, but coverage has been wall-to-wall. Meanwhile, on the roads, every year, 25,000 human beings are killed or hurt, many of them children. Yet my pitches to press and broadcast outlets about authentic solutions to our … Continue reading

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Sir Walter Scott and traffic control

Is there a link? No. Humour, humanity, empathy – these abound in Walter Scott, I learned in a Radio 4 programme presented by James Naughtie. By contrast, all are conspicuous by their absence in the mean-spirited murk of traffic control and enforcement. … Continue reading

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Balls bowled

So Ed Balls is caught “speeding” (a fabricated crime if ever there was one). What beats me about incidents like this is the abject acceptance by intelligent people that they are wrong and speed limits are right. Never do they … Continue reading

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London buses hit two walkers or cyclists a day

Hardly surprising given the vile traffic system by which we are forced to live and die -a system that enshrines inequality and is supported by the state. Story here.

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