‘Distressing’ images and videos were circulating after 74-year-old was struck by a single-decker in Cowgate area
Police have asked the public to stop sharing “distressing” images and videos after a man died in Edinburgh on Saturday evening.
The 74-year-old man was struck by a single-decker bus in the Cowgate area of the city, when the streets were busy with weekend revellers.
Continue reading...Policies such as cash payouts for bicycle commuters have knock-on effects including reduced pollution and better physical and mental health
It’s time for a major rethink of transport in Australia, experts say – and, while some new ideas may meet resistance, “these are not ideas from radical left Scandinavian pot-smoking greenies”, Prof Matt Burke says.
Policies lumped together as “active transport” include proposals to offer rebates for people who ditch their cars for public transport, or cash payouts for people who cycle to work.
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Continue reading...A Dodge Ram 1500 is bigger than a Panzer I tank and campaigners say heavy trucks are ‘lethal’ in collisions
The engines rev, the guitars thrum and a gruff narrator lays out why the vehicle occupying the driveway is more than just a machine. “A truck is a tool,” he says, “but a Ram – a Ram is life.”
So begins an advert for the Ram 1500, a pickup truck slightly bigger than the Panzer I tanks of Nazi Germany and almost as heavy. It is growing in popularity in Europe, with the number of Rams arriving on the continent up 20% in 2023 from the year before, according to registration data from the European Environment Agency. Road safety and environmental campaigners in the UK and Europe are aghast as the latest, most extreme cases of North American car bloat – giant pickup trucks – are increasingly crossing the Atlantic.
Continue reading...Questions raised about registration in Czech Republic of one of first models to reach continent
Tesla’s Cybertruck is too big and sharp for European roads, transport campaigners have warned, as questions are raised about the registration of one of the first of the electric pickup trucks to hit the continent.
There had been confusion about whether the Cybertruck could be driven in Europe, owing to strict road safety rules that ban sharp edges and require speed limiters on vehicles that weigh more than 3.5 tonnes when full. Tesla’s manual lists the angular steel vehicle as having a gross vehicle weight of 4 tonnes. (The equivalent of a standard family car, such as a Ford Focus, is 1.9 tonnes.)
Continue reading...Most of those hurt were well enough to be discharged at the scene, according to the ambulance service
Four people have been taken to hospital after a school bus carrying 43 school pupils and a driver overturned in a field in County Down on Monday.
Photographs on social media showed children in uniform walking from the blue doubledecker bus, which had a shattered windscreen.
Continue reading...Warwickshire police officers were responding to an urgent incident on Friday evening when the collision occurred
A pedestrian in his 60s has died after being hit by a police vehicle, Warwickshire police have said.
Officers were responding to an emergency incident in Nuneaton when their vehicle collided with the man at about 8.45pm on Friday, the force said.
Continue reading...Legal case targets Transport for NSW for alleged safety failings on road where 10 passengers were killed and company that employed Brett Button
Families who lost loved ones in a deadly New South Wales bus crash say they will launch a class-action lawsuit as the driver responsible was sent to prison for decades.
Brett Button, 59, was sentenced on Wednesday to 32 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 24 years, for killing 10 passengers and injuring 25 who had been celebrating a young couple’s wedding in the Hunter Valley.
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Continue reading...Relatives of motorcyclist killed in 2019 are looking forward to ‘working with next government’ on public inquiry
The parents of Harry Dunn, a teenage motorcyclist killed in a road collision, have accused the US of “obstructing” their son’s inquest, as they said they were looking forward to working with the next Westminster government to establish a public inquiry.
No representative of the US embassy nor the driver responsible, Anne Sacoolas, attended the four-day inquest, which concluded on Thursday, prompting the Dunn family’s spokesperson, Radd Seiger, to say Washington’s position was that “lives of UK citizens like Harry ultimately do not matter”.
Continue reading...Law change not ‘anti-cycling’ says Iain Duncan Smith, who brought the amendment to the criminal justice bill
A new offence of causing death or serious injury by dangerous, careless or inconsiderate cycling is to be introduced.
The law will be changed after a deal was reached between the government and the former Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, whose amendment to the criminal justice bill was backed by 37 fellow Tory backbenchers.
Continue reading...Minister admits mistakes have been made but says speed limit will remain in high-risk areas
Hundreds of roads and streets where a 20mph speed limit was introduced under a controversial law could be returned to 30mph, as the Labour-led government admitted mistakes had been made over the policy.
The Welsh government denied it had performed a U-turn and insisted the default 20mph for roads in built-up areas would remain to prevent deaths and save the NHS money.
Continue reading...Bruges court heard how defendant had condition called auto-brewery syndrome sometimes brought on by intestinal problems
A Belgian man has been acquitted of drunk-driving because he has auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), an extremely rare condition whereby the body produces alcohol, his lawyer has said.
Anse Ghesquiere said on Monday that in “another unfortunate coincidence” her client worked at a brewery, but three doctors who independently examined him had confirmed he had ABS.
Continue reading...Five reported killed and numerous others injured after FlixBus carrying 55 people overturned on A9 motorway
Multiple people were killed and more injured in a coach crash on a motorway near the eastern German city of Leipzig on Wednesday, police said.
“Several people were fatally injured in the serious accident on the A9 motorway. There are numerous casualties,” said Saxony police in a statement on X.
Continue reading...Western Australia police appeal for information after second death in race after British ultra-endurance cyclist Mike Hall was hit and killed near Canberra in 2017
Tragedy has again befallen the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, with a cyclist dead and another in a serious condition in hospital after separate incidents along Western Australia’s remote Eyre Highway on Thursday morning.
The race sees participants ride solo and unsupported from Fremantle in Western Australia to the Sydney Opera House, covering 5,500 kilometres. It builds on a rich history of riders traversing Australia as early as the 1890s – considered to be the first “Overlanders”.
Continue reading...Police continue to investigate suspected hit and run in Fletcher Street, Tamarama that killed 28-year-old Arnold Bloch Leibler lawyer Mitch East
A Sydney firm has paid tribute to promising young lawyer Mitch East after his death in a suspected hit-and-run incident in the city’s east.
Emergency services were called to Fletcher Street in Tamarama shortly after 4am on Sunday, when they found an injured 28-year-old man.
Continue reading...Research looked at three London boroughs to value overall health benefits of active travel over 20 years at up to £4,800 per head
Policies to help people walk and cycle such as low-traffic neighbourhoods can create public health benefits as much as 100 times greater than the cost of the schemes, a long-term study of active travel measures has concluded.
The research, based on six years of surveys among thousands of people living in three outer London boroughs that introduced LTNs or similar schemes, found they tended to prompt people to switch some trips from cars to active travel, although the effects were varied.
Continue reading...Study warns that lack of reporting may mask the dangers of still-mostly-illegal scooters on roads and pavements
The majority of e-scooter accidents that involve someone needing hospital treatment are not being recorded in official road accident figures, a new study reveals, sparking fears that their dangers have been underplayed.
The analysis found that just 9% of injuries involving e-scooters and recorded by 20 emergency departments over a two-month period were found in official figures. And just over a quarter of the most serious injuries were recorded in road casualty data.
Continue reading...Peak motoring body demands end to governments’ data secrecy as road death toll reaches 1,253
This year was the deadliest on Australia’s roads in five and a half years, with the road death toll reaching 1,253 – the highest since 1,270 people were killed in the 12 months to March 2018, according to the nation’s peak motoring body.
Upon releasing the data, the Australian Automobile Association accused governments of kicking road safety “down the road” after federal, state and territory transport ministers met a fortnight ago to discuss their next five-year partnership on road infrastructure projects but failed to make progress on data transparency when it comes to road deaths.
Continue reading...Fatalities rose by 17% in a decade on the continent, despite falling globally, with campaigners calling for stricter safety standards on motorcycle helmets
The number of people who died in traffic incidents in Africa rose by 17% in the past decade, despite global road traffic deaths falling by 5%, according to the World Health Organization.
The Road Safety report found that nearly one in five fatal traffic incidents across the world occurred in Africa. “Part of the reason for increased fatalities in Africa is the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads,” said Nhan Tran, leader of WHO’s safety and mobility unit and the lead author of the report. “People who were not able to afford a vehicle 10 or 20 years ago can now buy one. Africa has seen a big increase in motorisation, but the infrastructure to facilitate it is not there.”
Continue reading...After the death of four teens, many are asking if restrictions such as on night driving or carrying passengers could save young lives
The number of passersby who paused at the police cordon blocking the narrow, winding country road in north Wales where four teenagers died was striking.
They wanted, primarily, to express their sorrow and send messages of comfort to the relatives and friends of Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, both 17, and 18-year-old Hugo Morris. But many felt compelled also to share their family or community’s stories of losing young people in road accidents. Some were in tears as the described an agony that never goes away – and many asked if more needed to be done to reduce such tragedies.
Continue reading...Grant Stevens’ son Charlie suffers irreversible brain injury, with police alleging car’s 18-year-old driver failed to stop
The son of South Australia’s police commissioner is on life support after being struck by a car while on schoolies celebrations, in an alleged hit-and-run incident.
Charlie Stevens, 18, sustained an irreversible brain injury after being run down on Friday night in Goolwa, about 90km south-east of Adelaide, SA’s police deputy commissioner, Linda Williams, told reporters.
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