QC calls for justice for killed and injured cyclists

As reported in the Standard. In case you didn't know, the lawyer concerned, Martin Porter, writes an excellent blog, The Cycling Lawyer.

There's a similar report in the Indie. It's good to see this issue is finally getting some column inches in the national press - it's a tragedy that people like Gary Mason have to die before the media take notice though (as Martin notes on his blog).

From the Indie report, the DfT are quoted as saying:

"We take road safety extremely seriously and are working to improve safety for cyclists in a number of ways. The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on the roads each year has fallen by 31 per cent since the mid-1990s. We are investing in the provision of cycle training and planning to encourage local authorities to introduce more 20 mph zones in residential areas and around schools."

In other words, as long as you don't stray too far from a school, you might be OK. Except that 20MPH zones are not enforced by the police, because they don't think it's a priority, and with police cuts they'll have even less enforcement capability. And of course local authorities don't have any money to implement new 20MPH zones. Meanwhile, speed cameras are being decommissioned. So to sum up how seriously the Tory administration take road safety: they're politely asking local authorities to put up speed limit signs while taking away the money to pay for them and making sure they're not enforced. Job's a good 'un.