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Claims that serious injuries on London's roads have gone under-reported for years

Change in how such incidents are recorded results in significant increase

Green Assembly member Caroline Russell says that until now serious injuries on London’s roads have been greatly under-reported. As such, she believes that the roads of the capital are greatly more dangerous than Transport for London (TfL) reports have previously indicated.

In 2016, the number of those killed or seriously injured on London’s roads was 2,501. In 2015, the figure was just 2,092.

However, experts believe that the change is primarily to do with a new way of recording such incidents.

Previously, inclusion was based on a police officer’s judgement of severity, but this has now been altered so that it is instead based on the type of injury.

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Russell told the London Evening Standard: “Until now, serious injuries on our roads have been gravely under-reported — London’s streets are much more dangerous than TfL’s reports have been showing.

"Road danger is a crisis for our city and needs urgent action ... The Mayor must bring in lower speed limits, prioritise people over motorised traffic and design healthy streets to enable people to walk and cycle to school, work or the shops in safety.”

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jollygoodvelo | 6 years ago
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When I was knocked off in 2013 my injuries were recorded as 'minor' by the police, presumably on the assumption that it was 'just' a bit of road rash and a broken bike.  After broken bones and so on were identified I contacted them to provide an update, but they never bothered putting that on the record...

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brooksby | 6 years ago
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OT but I followed a woman on a motor scooter for a while last night. Through a stinking cloud of blue smoke I could see the 'Green Party' sticker on the fairing...

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burtthebike | 6 years ago
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As a Green Party member already, I don't need to be persuaded of their views about road danger, but it seems that they are the only party which has an understanding of the issue.  It isn't really a  big issue for Labour, and the Tories have demonstrated their utter indifference to the safety of cyclists.

If the number of people killed by motor vehicles was due to any other cause, there would be instant action, but the decision makers in the UK all drive cars, and the media supports the notion that these deaths are just accidents and not really important, at least tacitly.

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