Tag Archives: traffic policy

Mediocrity blocking reform

Posted on 20th August 2022 by Martin Cassini

The level of debate about roads on BBC Today and PM is pitiful. On self-driving cars and 20mph recently, “experts” cited accident figures and blamed driver error. They never see that our problems stem from the mistaken rules and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC Today Programme, Equality Streets, PM, self-driving cars, traffic policy | Leave a comment

Demands for a public inquiry

Posted on 20th March 2021 by Martin Cassini

Michael Rosen is demanding a public enquiry into the government’s handling of Covid-19. “We desperately need an inquiry into how and why this lethal idea [alleged experimenting with herd immunity without vaccination] was taken seriously. We owe it to the dead … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Equality Streets, Grant Shapps, Martin Cassini, Michael Rosen, road safety, traffic policy | Leave a comment

Totally totalitarian?

Posted on 14th September 2020 by Martin Cassini

On the Today Programme, that eminent scourge of totalitarianism, former High Court Judge, Lord Sumption, challenged edicts restricting freedom of movement and assembly. If a 75 year-old chooses to see her grandchildren and risk possible infection, rather than shut herself … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Equality Streets, Lord Sumption, Today Programme, traffic policy | Leave a comment

HS2 v H20

Posted on 3rd May 2020 by Martin Cassini

The car is a self-isolating transportation device par excellence. Instead of pouring billions into 19C technology – trains – shouldn’t the state be investing in 21C tech, redesigning the public realm to express equality, eliminating bottlenecks, and creating infrastructure for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Equality Streets, HS2, hydrogen-powered cars, traffic policy, transport policy | Leave a comment

Agency abuse

Posted on 28th January 2020 by Martin Cassini

More negligence in traffic policy emerged with the news that in the last five years, 38 avoidable deaths have occurred on the hard shoulder, or emergency lane, of “smart” motorways. An increase in capacity should not entail an increase in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged corporate manslaughter, emergency lane, Equality Streets, hard shoulder, Highways Agency, Highways England, Martin Cassini, traffic policy | Leave a comment

Corporate manslaughter

Posted on 22nd September 2018 by Martin Cassini

It’s well-known that dirty urban air causes lung, heart and developmental damage, but increasingly it’s being linked to brain damage. The Times didn’t break the news but covered it on 19 September under the front page headline, “Dementia soars in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged air pollution, corporate manslaughter, dementia caused by air pollution, Equality Streets, government neglect, traffic policy | Leave a comment

We are victims of obsessive officialdom

Posted on 3rd November 2017 by Martin Cassini

Driving through Barnstaple yesterday (on electric), I think I surprised the driver behind me. At a pedestrian crossing where the lights had just changed against the people on foot, I waited at green for them to cross. They waved in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Equality Streets, rules of the road, traffic officers, traffic policy, traffic-lights | Leave a comment

Football and traffic united ..

Posted on 31st December 2016 by Martin Cassini

… in obtuseness and idiocy. It’s 60 years since instant TV replay was devised, but only now are FIFA are proposing it for future World Cups. Meanwhile, countless injustices, not least Maradona’s ‘hand of God’, continue to take place on fields of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Equality Streets, football rules, motorway driving, road accidents, Roads minister, traffic policy, Transport Minister | Leave a comment

Intransigent traffic policy

Posted on 23rd February 2016 by Martin Cassini

Stephen Holgate (Medical Research Council Clinical Professor of Immunopharmacology at Southampton University) says polluted air contributes to lung, heart, and many other diseases, especially in young people. It is a factor in 40,000 deaths in the UK every year. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged air pollution, Equality Streets, Professor Stephen Holgate, traffic policy | Leave a comment

Traffic lights and air quality

Posted on 17th February 2015 by Martin Cassini

In No Idle Matter (2007), I wrote that the stop-start motion caused by traffic lights multiplies emissions and fuel use by a factor of four. In this piece, Prashant Kumar (University of Surrey) says air quality at signal-controlled junctions is no … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged air quality, No Idle Matter, Prashant Kumar, traffic policy | Leave a comment