Around 180 road safety officers, elected members and others with a professional interest in road safety will gather in the City of London next Tuesday to hear about the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead for road safety professionals working in cities across the UK.
While the majority of people attending the London Road Safety Council’s Centenary Conference will be based in the Capital, there are delegates attending from much further afield including Edinburgh, East Sussex, Yorkshire and Wales.
The conference, titled ‘Safer Cities: Safer Futures’, takes place at the Guildhall, City of London, on Tuesday 24 January. The event is supported by a number of road safety stakeholders including Road Safety GB, and our editorial team will be reporting live from the confernence hall.
The agenda features 14 presentations from 17 speakers covering a wide variety of topics and issues. One of the speakers, Fredrik Carling (Hovding), is travelling from Sweden specifically to present to delegates ‘the world’s first airbag for cyclists’ .
Leon Daniels, MD of Surface Transport at TfL, will deliver the opening keynote address in which he will focus on ‘Sources of Road Danger’.
Dr Mike Esbester from the University of Portsmouth will then review accident prevention in London over the past 100 years.
A session titled ‘getting about on two wheels’ will comprise three presentations by Keith Prince from the London Assembly Transport Committee, a double-header by Liz Brooker MBE (Lewisham) and Tanya Fosdick (RSA), and Mark Bland who will present the Mini Holland cycling programme in Waltham Forest.
The next session, ‘getting about on foot’ again comprises three presentations. Phil Jones and Lord Holmes of Richmond will discuss the concept of ‘shared space’; Mahmood Siddiqi, who heads up transport and highways in two London boroughs will explain how tension between traffic and pedestrians was eased in Exhibition Road; while Iain Simmons from the City of London Corporation will present proposed improvements to the busy Bank junction.
The third session will focus on 20mph limits, with presentations by Jane Robinson and Nicola Newman from Atkins who will share early findings from a research study commissioned by the DfT. Sandra Agbabiaka and Su Guy from Hackney Council will then showcase the wide-area 20mph scheme in their borough.
The final session, ‘topical topics’, will comprise five presentations by Richard Cuerden from TRL (driverless cars), Fredrik Carling (cyclists’ airbag), Cllr Heather Acton from Westminster Council (road safety and public realm improvements), Cllr Keith Burrows (CCTV cameras at schools in Hillingdon), and DCS Paul Rickett who will outline the work of the Met Police’s Roads and Transport Policing Command.
Councillor Wendy-Brice Thompson, chair of the London Road Safety Council, said: “We are delighted to have assembled such an excellent array of speakers to inform us on a wide range of topics.
“While we will briefly look back over the past 100 years, the real purpose of the conference is to look forward to the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead for road safety professionals and elected members serving London’s communities and those in other cities across the UK.
“There will also be an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the London Road Safety Council at the early evening reception which will follow the conference (5.00 – 7.00pm) which will include a brief presentation from our president James Cracknell OBE, followed by an informal networking opportunity over drinks and canapés.”
Footnote
There is still time to book a place at the conference. Fees are £95 for public sector employees and £145 for others (both plus VAT) which includes the early evening reception as well as the conference. You can either complete the registration form or contact Sally Bartrum or Nick Rawlings on 01379 650112.
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