Photo Credit: Transport for London
An ongoing road safety initiative launched in November has been deemed successful, according to new figures from The Metropolitan Police Service.
Operation Safeway was launched during the same month that saw a string of five cyclists killed on London streets over 9 days.
Approximately 2,500 officers from the Traffic Command and Safer Transport Command division were sent to high risk traffic junctions across the city, in order to instigate better road safety.
Officers stopped both cyclists and motorists, issuing summons and traffic advice. A total of 225 arrests were also made for a range of offences including dangerous driving, drink driving, failing to stop, and taxi touting.
Detective Chief Superintendent Glyn Jones of the MPS Road Traffic Unit said: “Our aim was to have a sharp and intense period of enforcement and education which would quickly prompt people to behave more safely on the roads.
“Eight weeks ago, we were stopping numerous pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and motorcyclists every day because they were acting in a way that could put their safety – or the safety of others – at risk.”
He added: “Eight weeks on, I have seen first-hand that attitudes have changed. This is reflected by the fact that we’ve had to issue less fixed penalty notices as the operation has progressed.”
Some of the most commonly found offences amongst motorists were for using a mobile phone while driving, or failing to wear a seatbelt. Cyclists were mostly stopped for cycling at night without lights, contravening traffic signals, or cycling on a footway.
Andrew Gilligan, the Mayor’s Cycling Commisioner, called the operation “hugely valuable” and said that it had undoubtably saved lives.
“In the last eight weeks we have not seen one cyclist killed on London’s roads and dangerous behaviour has clearly dropped. We want to build on this operation, in tandem with our improvements to infrastructure, and ensure that we continue to see better behaviour from everyone on London’s roads.”
Map: Cycling deaths in EastLondonLines Boroughs in 2013
