Sadiq Khan has been asked to lobby the Government to create a “Road Safety Investigation Branch” to closely examine deaths and injuries caused by vehicle collisions.
In a unanimous, cross-party vote at City Hall earlier this month, the mayor was urged by the London Assembly to raise the idea with ministers, amid concerns over the number of people still being killed each year on the capital’s road network.
According to Transport for London (TfL), there were 95 people killed and 3,615 people seriously injured on London’s road network in 2023. This was down from 102 deaths and 3,859 serious injuries in 2022.
The mayor’s ambition, set out in his “Vision Zero action plan” is to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries from the capital’s roads by 2041.
But Green assembly member Caroline Russell has pointed out that there is a disparity when it comes to investigating road deaths, compared with those on the railway network.
For the latter, accidents are independently investigated by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, which produces a comprehensive report detailing what went wrong and what action should be taken to prevent repeat episodes.
No such body exists for accidents caused by road vehicles, leading Ms Russell to put forward a motion on November 7 calling on the mayor to lobby for an equivalent ‘Road Safety Investigation Branch’. The idea was backed by all parties on the Assembly.
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