Caroline Pidgeon AM supports Save Our Cyclists' HGV demands

Caroline Pidgeon AM has supported Save Our Cyclists' HGV demands in an email I have published in full below:

Thank you for getting in touch with me regarding the danger to cyclists in London posed by HGVs.

I am only too aware of the serious danger that cyclists can find themselves in when sharing the road with HGVs. Whenever I hear another cyclist has been tragically killed on London’s roads, I know it is highly likely to be someone crushed under the wheels on the inside of one of these vehicles. Too many people have died, and I support strong action to put an end to the danger.

I am in favour of trialling a rush hour ban on HGVs, and I recently questioned the Mayor about this - he admitted that he has now changed his mind, and TfL are now considering the possibility of conducting a trial.

I certainly support the introduction of CLOCS safety standards across all public sector construction contracts in London, and I’m happy to call on the Mayor to introduce this. I also support the introduction of the Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System (CIRAS) to HGVs – I lobbied the Mayor to introduce this on all London buses, and I am happy to lobby him to extend this to HGVs.

I have visited TfL’s HGV Task Force and I know they do valuable work. However, it’s clear there are still many poor vehicles on ours roads and I would support the expansion of the taskforce to make sure enforcement is as effective as possible.

Finally, I have also called on the Mayor to make more use of the Thames for construction traffic – if we can properly use the river to transport building materials, we can take many more dangerous HGVs off the roads.

Ultimately, it’s clear we need a high quality network of segregated cycle lanes to keep cyclists safe. However, until that is in place it is vital that we reduce the number of HGVs on ours roads, and that the remaining vehicles are as safe as possible.

Thank you once again for getting in touch.

Best wishes,

Caroline

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM
Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group
Deputy Chair Transport Committee
Deputy Chair Police and Crime Committee

www.carolinepidgeon.org
LONDONASSEMBLY Liberal Democrat Group
City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA

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