As a Green Party member of the London Assembly, Jenny was part of an in depth scrutiny which found:
· The London Ambulance Service deny making the claim that road humps cost 500 lives a year in London;· The London Ambulance Service had no detailed research to support a claim that road humps cost lives through delays.· Evidence from serving ambulance crews pointed to congestion as the main reason for delays.· Road humps are a cheap and effective way of reducing speeds on residential roads.
Jenny Jones said:
“We know that road safety works in London and that the investment in road humps and other forms of engineering has led to a reduction in the number of people who are killed or seriously injured every year. A recent report showed that 20mph zones have cut casualties by half and road humps are often used to enforce the speed limit in these areas. London is way ahead of the rest of the country in exploring the alternatives to road humps and we hope that distance based speed cameras and speed limiters in vehicles, will both play a big role in future years.”
“If you really want to do something to speed up ambulances and save lives in London, then get rid of congestion. Spreading road pricing across London would do more to cut ambulance delays and save lives than going soft on road safety.”
Notes to Editors:1) Andrew Clark in writing in the Guardian on the 18th August last year, checked out the claim on road humps. "However, the service’s spokesman (LAS), Alex Bass, said that the service had only suggested that, based upon a statistical analysis of heart attack victims, 500 lives could be saved if every ambulance journey was accelerated by one minute. "We’ve never said that 500 lives are lost as a result of road humps." said Mr Bass. "This is a quote which has gained a life of its own."2) Whilst responding to questions from Jenny Jones at the London Assembly scrutiny into road humps, the chair of the London Ambulance Service, Mr Sigurd Reinton, stated that:
"I’m being accused of saying that lives are lost and I’m actually saying is lives may be lost… We are not saying that all traffic calming is bad… Obviously, speed cameras cause no problem for us at all."
Jenny Jones asked:"So you have never said that road humps cause 500 deaths"
Sigurd Reinton replied:"I don’t recall saying that."
3) Mr Mullin, an Islington team leader within the ambulance service, said in his evidence to the Assembly: "In Islington the main strategic roads are Holloway Rd, Liverpool Rd, Caladonian Road. These are gridlocked, so we go down side roads to get round the problem…. At three o’clock in the morning we can get to emergencies a hell of a lot quicker… and sometimes without meeting any traffic calming at all."
ENDS
Contact:
Ian Wingrove – acting press officer.Ian.Wingrove@london.gov.uk
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