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All Blog Posts Tagged 'road-safety' (8)

Red light Ken (and my road rage)

Ken Livingstone, who during his reign added 1200 sets of traffic lights to London streets, now “pledges to install traffic lights to give cyclists a 5 second head start,” reports The Times. Boris too “is considering early green lights,” chirps the Evening Standard. In an editorial, it says, “this is a simple and sensible idea. We need more imaginative thinking to make our city safer for cyclists.” This pitiful coverage lays bare the total ignorance among editors and politicians alike of the…

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Added by Martin Cassini on February 10, 2012 at 22:00 — No Comments

Blame for "accidents" (Blog post no. 300)

So seamless is the improperganda purveyed by road safety "experts", that it can produce these remarks in today’s Guardian about the road death of a child: "The victims and perpetrators in an accident are two parts of a whole," writes surviving sister, Kira Cochrane. "The dearth of communication [from the driver] was a wicked, vexed lacuna." No, the wickedness is the failure of…

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Added by Martin Cassini on February 26, 2011 at 10:30 — No Comments

Covert repression

In a commentary about the wave of protests in North Africa, Peter Beaumont in The Observer writes, "Corruption is often rife; a culture of repression is vigorous and deeply ingrained." These words apply equally to traffic control based on anti-social priority, intolerance, coercion and repression. Far-fetched? With thousands killed and tens of thousands hurt on our roads every year,…

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Added by Martin Cassini on February 20, 2011 at 10:00 — No Comments

Confessions of a London cyclist

It goes without saying there are too many cycling deaths on our roads, and the idea of extra mirrors to boost lorry driver awareness of cyclists is welcome. I'm not one of those who call for segregated cycle lanes – I'm for integration on Equality Streets. But last night I nearly became another statistic. Cycling back to central London through Oakley Square in Camden, as I pulled out…

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Added by Martin Cassini on February 15, 2011 at 10:00 — No Comments

Why I hate lollipop men and women (2)

Lollipop men and women facing the axe from council cuts have sparked claims that children will face greater danger as a result. In 2009, twelve under-18s were killed or hurt on UK roads every day. Prof John Wann of Holloway College says that children's perception of speed is undeveloped (is that stating the obvious?) Like Brake, he wants more regulation. They see the…

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Added by Martin Cassini on February 13, 2011 at 11:30 — No Comments

Quoting Meg Ryan

Never expected to quote Meg Ryan in relation to traffic system reform, but her comment about the value of "mindfulness meditation" (today's Observer) is apt: "by simply refocusing our awareness, we reshape our experience." The awareness that needs refocusing on the road is from priority to equality, which will level the playing field and allow all road-users to interact sociably and safely. Article…

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Added by Martin Cassini on January 2, 2011 at 16:30 — No Comments

Lollipop men - two forms of madness

I missed the reference on the radio just now, but in a newspaper, a headteacher condemns as "madness" the decision by a local council (in pursuit of cuts) to make redundant 25% of lollipop men and women. No, the real madness is to impose a traffic system which puts the onus for road safety on children, and produces a 'need' for lollipop men and women.

Added by Martin Cassini on December 27, 2010 at 8:00 — No Comments

Rules of the road spell danger

At 2.20pm on a day in January 2009, Victoria Johnson, 23, a trainee barrister, was crossing Mile End Road as the green man started to flash. Foysal Ali, 24, a trainee social worker, driving a Ford Ka, saw amber-flashing lights ahead, so he carried on. "She came out of nowhere", he said.…

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Added by Martin Cassini on May 28, 2010 at 18:00 — No Comments

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