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.
Continue reading...Grattan Institute says Australia’s regional roads are a ‘dangerous disgrace’ due to paltry federal funding
Regional Australian roads have become a “dangerous disgrace”, according to a new report that warns they will get worse due to paltry funding that favours cities and forces poorer regional councils to waste repair money erecting signs in tribute to government grants.
In a new report, the Grattan Institute has found that roads across the country have become riddled with potholes and other hazards because inadequate federal and state government funding has left councils under-resourced and without sufficient knowledge or data to maintain the roads they are responsible for.
Continue reading...The government is backing hundreds of infrastructure projects across Australia, however some may now be cancelled due to cost overruns
The Australian government has committed to hundreds of infrastructure projects around the country, mostly road and rail projects.
However, as many as 250 projects that have yet to begin construction may be scrapped or delayed as a cost-saving measure to pay for at least $33bn in cost overruns.
Continue reading...Calls over pothole incidents hit 6,000 in usually benign summer months amid ‘substandard’ roads
Vehicle breakdowns caused by Britain’s pothole-ridden roads reached record levels this year, according to the RAC.
The motoring organisation said it received almost 6,000 calls for pothole-related incidents from July to September – its highest total for the relatively benign summer period since it started collecting data in 2006.
Continue reading...Two boys, aged between 10 and 15, died after being thrown from a car which crashed on a suburban street on Monday morning
The hunt for two men who fled the scene of a car crash that killed two boys has entered its second day as officers piece together the events leading up to the tragedy.
Two boys died after being thrown from a car which crashed on a suburban street at Ashcroft, in Sydney’s south-west, about 10.50am on Monday.
Continue reading...Coroner says Harry Colledge, 84, would probably be alive if council had acted on warnings about 87-metre-long crack in the road
A council has been severely criticised by a coroner over the death of a cyclist who suffered fatal head injuries after hitting a pothole that had been visible on Google Street View for 14 years.
The Lancashire area coroner, Kate Bisset, concluded that Harry Colledge, 84, would probably not have died last January if Lancashire county council had acted on warnings to fix the 87-metre-long crack on Island Lane near the village of Winmarleigh.
Continue reading...Prime minister says ‘the best tax cut we can give is to cut inflation’ after Michael Gove says taxes should be cut before general election
The BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is starting. As well as Rishi Sunak, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is also being interviewed.
Q: Do you still think we’ve had enough of experts?
Economic forecasting was invented to make astrology look respectable.
Continue reading...Road infrastructure campaign has been launched in honour of designer Emma Burke Newman, who was killed in lorry collision
On the long and busy stretch of road where Glasgow’s riverside meets its city centre, hundreds of commuters and visitors travel into and out of town each day. Since January this year, many will have spotted a new addition to their route: a white “ghost bike”, adorned with flowers and messages, parked at a busy junction where 22-year-old French-American architecture student and experienced cyclist Emma Burke Newman was killed in a collision with a lorry, just six months after moving to the city.
Now, former colleagues at architectural firm New Practice, where she worked as a designer while studying at Glasgow School of Art, have launched a road infrastructure campaign in her honour. Focusing on three specific junctions along the riverside, including the one where Burke Newman lost her life, the Waiting To Happen campaign aims to gather data about road users’ experiences of these locations with a view to creating a set of possible improvements.
Continue reading...PM says breed, responsible for series of attacks, will be banned once it has been properly defined
Here is the full text of what Rishi Sunak said in his video statement about banning American XL bully dogs. (See 11.50am.)
The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children.
I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality.
It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.
I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe.
Continue reading...Judge says decision involving a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine pivoted on presence of drug rather than his credibility
Legal experts have argued a New South Wales district court judgment will make it almost impossible for people facing drug-driving charges to defend themselves, no matter the circumstances.
The decision, handed down on 26 July, involved a Sydney man who lost his licence after testing positive for cocaine at a roadside drug test.
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