Accidents up where guardrail cut

Road Safety

Road accidents and casualties have increased at locations where Transport for London has removed guardrailing.

Since 2009 TfL has removed 63.4km of guardrail from the Transport for London Road Network, 31% of the total. It has monitored accidents at the 808 separate locations.

In a letter to guardrail designer Doug Stewart, TfL presents data comparing like-for-like time periods, ranging from ten to 22 months. “At the 808 sites monitored there were 1,913 collisions in the ‘before’ periods compared with 2,015 in the ‘after’ periods,” it says. This represents a 5% rise.

“These collisions resulted in 2,330 casualties ‘before’ compared to 2,495 ‘after’,” it adds. This represents a 7% rise.

It says the trends are “generally in line with wider changes across London”. Total collisions resulting in casualties increased 1% from 2009/10-2010/11. 

TfL told LTT this week that slight pedestrian casualties in London rose 8% in 2010. “The Mayor has asked us to look into the increase as a matter of urgency,” said a spokesman. “It is not in line with the long-term trend so we need to identify the root causes.”

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