Road safety plan cuts number of lanes on roads and bans SUV advertising

Radical plans to reduce the number of lanes on main roads, area-wide loading restrictions and a ban on SUV adverts have been published to improve road safety.  

The suggestions, from Caroline Russell, a Green party member of the London Assembly, also include reintroducing the congestion charge, which is due to increase to £18 a day from January, in the evening.

Russell said: “Collisions, never ‘accidents’, happen daily. They happen when people make mistakes. The problem is that when a driver loses control at the wheel through fatigue, distraction or even recklessness, people walking, crossing the road or travelling on a bike or in another vehicle can be harmed.

“My report calls on TfL – and outlines proposals – to ensure our streets are properly inclusive, safe and convenient for everyone to use.

“At a time when practical measures to reduce danger are all too often framed as ‘anti-driver’ rather than as helpful interventions to ensure everyone gets home safely from work or school or a trip to the shops, TfL must address the polarisation of debate about measures to reduce danger on our streets.”

Her report – ‘Changing the narrative: Ending the acceptance of road death in London’ – comes a month after Transport for London (TfL) acknowledged “significantly” more needs to be done to meet the London Mayor’s Vision Zero targets.

Sadiq Khan’s aim is for no one to be killed in or by a London bus by 2030, and for all deaths and serious injuries from road collisions to be eliminated from London’s streets by 2041.

However, TfL’s latest annual safety report revealed there were 98 road deaths in the capital in 2024/24 and 3,704 serious injuries.

Russell suggests there needs to be a 64% reduction in the number of KSIs (killed or seriously injured) by 2030 to hit interim targets and give TfL any chance of reaching zero by 2041.

TfL is in the process of updating its Vision Zero strategy, with commissioner Andy Lord saying that expanding the number of 20mph roads in London is the “single biggest opportunity” to reduce death and serious injury.

Russell continued: “The Mayor and TfL need to lead a big conversation about how every Londoner can play their part in cutting miles driven, injuries sustained, and lives lost on London’s roads each day.” 

With the congestion charge currently applying from 7am to 6pm on weekdays and midday to 6pm at the weekends, Russell says it should be extended into the evenings, with higher charges for the heaviest private motor vehicles and also applying to motorbikes for the first time.

She also called on TfL to work with the London boroughs to dissuade people from driving SUV cars by imposing higher parking charges and using a “a tobacco-style ban on advertising of heavier, larger cars – including hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric” on TfL’s Tube, train and bus network.