The claims were made by London Assembly Member Jenny Jones on the same day the Mayor hailed Transport for London figures suggesting road safety in the capital had improved “dramatically” over the past decade.
According to TfL’s figures, deaths and serious injuries on the capital’s roads have dropped by 57% over this period with the number of fatalities falling to 126 in 2009.
The number of incidents resulting in death or serious injury fell from an average of 6,684 a year “in mid to late 1990s” to 2,886 in 2010.
Welcoming the statistics, Mayor Johnson said: “London’s roads are now much safer than they were a decade ago and the Metropolitan Police, London Boroughs and Transport for London all deserve praise as other countries look to our lead.”
The Mayor added there was “still much more to be done, especially around the safety of cyclists on our streets, and that is exactly why we continue to fund road safety schemes across the Capital.”
Despite the successes, TfL’s own figures show that the number of ‘slight injuries’ – incidents recorded by the police but not requiring hospital treatment – had increased by five per cent since 2009. Over the 10 year period they are down 33 percent.
Jones, a former Road Safety Ambassador during Ken Livingstone’s Mayoralty and Green Party 2012 Mayoral candidate, said the increase in ‘slight’ incidents “is really worrying.”
Statistics published by City Hall’s Greens suggest the amount TfL and local boroughs spend on road safety fell from £58.8m in 2008/09 to 24.5m in 2011/12.
The Assembly Member claimed the increase provided “a clear link between cuts to the road safety budget and more road casualties. London has benefited from a dramatic fall in road casualties due to ten years of increased investment in measures such as 20mph zones which we know work. This record of success is now under threat”
