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Road injuries have halved in low-traffic neighborhoods settled during the coronavirus pandemic compared to areas without programs, a new study has found.
The improvement in safety is more than double that created by urban speed limits at 20 mph.
The research, which looked at police victim data for 72 low traffic neighborhoods (LTN) set up in London between March and September last year, also showed no apparent increase in danger on the streets. roads to their outer limits.
According to the study, led by Dr Anna Goodman, a public health expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the greatest reduction in injuries was seen in pedestrians and people in cars, with a modest effect at most for cyclists, with academics from the University of Westminster and Imperial College London.
The extent of the apparent security gains marks a potentially important moment in the debate over the use of LTNs, which are introduced by many councils but have faced stiff opposition from some residents and some media. .
An idea widely used in other countries, and existing on a lesser scale in some UK cities for decades, LTNs are intended to encourage walking and cycling by discouraging the use of motor vehicles for commutes. shorter premises.
This is done by making certain streets fully permeable to people walking or cycling, but only accessible to motor vehicles – whether by using planters, bollards or, in some cases, CCTV cameras.
While much of the debate has focused on whether the programs discourage the use of vehicles or simply move them to other streets – there is evidence that the former occurs over time if the programs are sufficiently comprehensive – the security gains in London seem striking.
The authors of the report compared the data on victims from October to December 2018 with the same period in 2019 and then the same months in 2020 after the devices were installed. Once the LTNs were in place, injuries fell to a ratio of 0.51 to 1 compared to the rest of London over the same period.
In contrast, there was no observable reduction, compared to the rest of the city, in injuries from 2018 to 2019 in future LTN zones. The authors said this strengthens the case for LTNs as the cause of improved security.
The data also showed no observable change in the number of boundary road injuries, defined as injuries occurring within 25 meters of a road surrounding a project.
The number of road users killed or seriously injured inside LTNs also halved, although the authors pointed out that the dataset for this was significantly smaller.
Goodman said that an earlier study of a long-standing single LTN also found a substantial safety benefit for cyclists, it would be important to revisit the issue once the programs were in place for longer.
Even so, Goodman said, the reduction in injury was “a really impressive effect.” She said: “To put it in context, this is twice the 23% reduction in injuries estimated following the introduction of 20mph speed zones in London in the early 2000s.
“Across Britain, more than half of all pedestrian fatalities occur on urban secondary roads, as do a third of all pedestrian fatalities. This suggests that extending these types of programs to more urban secondary roads could have substantial impacts on overall pedestrian injury rates. “
Will Norman, the Walking and Cycling Commissioner for London, said: “This research categorically shows another benefit that well-planned LTNs bring, adding to the long list of benefits.”
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