Waltham Forest's Environment

London Toxicity Charge

Cllr Loakes posted this on Facebook:

Following yesterdays road traffic incident on Leytonstone High Rd, along with a recent incident in Hoe St, involving a pedestrian and the death of a pedestrian on Lea Bridge Rd just a couple of weeks ago allegedly involving a speeding car- I'm repeating my long held view that enforcement for speeding vehicles should be a power for councils in London to enforce.

Currently powers for speeding in London sits with the Metropolitan Police. Councils in London can only install the infrastructure to try and ensure speed compliance. On roads like the High Rd, Hoe St and Lea Bridge Rd, the infrastructure options are limited due to the bus routes and logistics vehicles that utilise them. Most of the road network in Waltham Forest is now 20mph- we need the powers to enforce it!

Clearly the police have never and certainly now do not have the resources to undertake such responsibilities. That is why in the Waltham Forest response to the draft 'Mayors Transport Strategy' we included the following-

'.......There is a particular need to work closely with the police to use their legislation to crack down on poor driving, speeding and mobile phone use. Alternatively, TFL and the boroughs could lobby for these powers to be transferred to councils so that they can address these important issues themselves.'

We need the London Mayor and the Government to find a way to give councils these powers and soon. I shall be writing to the Mayor and the Secretary of State for Transport next week, calling for this transfer or devolution of powers to the London boroughs as a matter of urgency.

And to the motor industry I say this; how come you can design monitors to protect a car from bumps and scraps when parking, but you can't design technology that ensures a vehicle only does 20mph in a 20mph road and automatically reduces speed when it senses a vulnerable road user up in front?

Of course my thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families involved in road traffic incidents. But this continues to be an issue that can be prevented by those behind and who design 'the wheel' and where necessary can be enforced by those who want our streets to be safe.

I hope I can rely on the residents of Leytonstone and Leyton's support in this campaign. I'll be posting details of a petition shortly.