Road safety is important to motorists and motorcyclists, though when it comes to safety in London, many people feel not enough is being done for riders. According to the London Assembly Transport Committee just 1% of trips to London are made by motorcyclists, but they account for 27% of people killed or injured. A call for the Transport for London’s 2014 Motorcycle Safety Action Plan to be overhauled has gone out.
The proposal for a higher ‘London Standard’ for motorbike training has been put forward. This comes after Mayor Sadiq Khan left motorbike safety training out of the most recent Transport Strategy.
Committee Chairman Keith Prince gave his thoughts. “How many more motorcyclists need to die for TFL to sit up, take notice and do something? Motorcycles are an efficient form of transportation which can cut congestion – motorcyclists shouldn’t be dicing with death every time they take to London’s streets. We are disappointed to see the Mayor change his previous proposal to improve safety training. The landmark commitment to a ‘London Standard’ for training needs to be reinstated and a more proactive approach is needed from boroughs to give motorcyclists access to bus lanes.”
Tim Fawthrop, London regional representative for the Motorcycle Action Group has also waded into the debate by saying cycle schemes “receive hundreds of millions of pounds in funding” despite TFL figures showing less fatalities and injuries for cyclists. He added “the state of the road surfaces in places is shocking and narrowing lanes so the perfectly legal process of filtering by motorbikes is more dangerous.”
Government figures showed rider deaths in London rose by an average 13% over five years, while cyclist deaths fell by 45%. The director of transport strategy for TFL, Lilli Matson addressed concerns by saying “as part of our Vision Zero approach to reducing road danger, we recently launched a wide range of new measures to raise motorcycle standards, including new advanced training courses and much closer working with the motorcycle delivery industry.”
