284 people died violent deaths on London roads in 2000. There are ten deaths on UK roads every day, as well as thousands of injuries, a hundred or so resulting in permanent disability. Two thirds of all fatal accidents to school children are the result of road crashes, and UK has one of the worst records in Europe on child road safety. These statistics describe a national catastrophe. Indeed, in July 2002 the Transport Select Committee concluded that "if any disease killed as many people as die on the roads there would be an outcry… there would be a national campaign to insist that the Government do something about it".

The Government would argue that it is doing something about it. It has set a target to cut by 40% the number of people killed or seriously injured in road crashes by 2010 (Tomorrow's Roads: Safer for Everyone, DETR, 2000). The Mayor of London has set similar targets. (The Mayor's Transport Strategy, Greater London Authority, 2001).

MCC would argue that the police too should do something about this national catastrophe. Given that excessive speed is (according to the Transport Research Laboratory) a factor in at least a third of all crashes, and 2 in 3 drivers exceed the 30mph speed limit in urban areas (government figures), enforcing speed limits would seem a good place to start.

The urban speed limit, arguably too high as it is, is an absolute limit, not an advisory target. Exceeding that limit is deadly: a pedestrian hit by a car at 35mph is twice as likely to die as one hit at 30mph. The urban speed limit applies where most of us live, work, play, go to school or college and do our shopping. It applies where children might run out after a ball, where elderly / blind / deaf and otherwise disabled people may step out into the street unaware of a fast approaching car. And yes, where a drunk may wander carelessly out of a pub and into the road. Do these people deserve to die for such tiny every day human errors?

Car and lorry drivers should be ready and anticipate at all times these potential hazards as they drive through our neighbourhoods, and should therefore drive with utmost care at well under the speed limit in most circumstances. I see little difference between driving above the speed limit in an urban street and firing off at random a loaded gun in the same street; the results are the same, the loss of innocent life. The speed limits must be enforced, and the police is failing in its duty to protect the lives of all these vulnerable members of society as long as it continues to turn a blind eye to "trivial motoring offences".

Protection of life has been a primary object of the police ever since it was established by Robert Peel in 1829. On the Met Police website, Commissioner Sir John Stevens is quoted as follows: "This great police service of ours is there for one fundamental reason - to make London and Londoners safe". The Met Police vision statement says: "To make London the safest major city in the world".

So I do really struggle to understand why half of London's traffic police have been diverted to deal with the terrorist threat since September 11^th last year. The odds of being killed on London's roads dwarf the odds of being killed in a terrorist attack, indeed the same number of people (3,000) die every day on the world's roads (and every year on UK roads) as died in the New York twin towers. It is clearly perverse to be diverting resources away from road safety.

It is argued by some that the police should leave the poor beleaguered motorist to concentrate on violent crime. In 2000 171 people were murdered in London while 284 died violent deaths on London's roads. Most crashes are caused by driver error and many also involve criminal driving such as dangerous driving, speeding and red light jumping. The majority of victims are pedestrians and cyclists who bring virtually no danger to the road environment. There is a case to be made for taking driving crime as seriously as murder and terrorism.

Tragically the Merton Crime & Disorder Audit continues to ignore road safety, despite our efforts and meetings with local police and council. The only things that seem to count under the motor vehicle crime heading are theft of and from cars. At the moment the police is simply not addressing the daily catastrophe of deaths on UK roads - road safety must become a core priority.

To conclude, and to be specific, MCC urges London police to take the following immediate action:

• Include road safety as a core priority;
• Educate and inform the public that criminal driving will no longer be tolerated;
• Enforce existing speed limits without exception;
• Press for much stiffer deterrent sentencing, e.g. automatic year driving ban for up to 10% over the speed limit; three year ban and re-test above that, confiscation of vehicle etc. (Short bans, low-level fines and licence points do not deter speeders);
• Introduce more speed cameras, under the scheme where some of the fine money is hypothecated to fund further road safety programmes;
• Install more cameras to catch people who jump red-lights;
• Support 20mph as a standard speed limit;
• Support moves towards speed limiting devices to be fitted in all cars.

See also MCC submission Jan 99: Merton Draft Crime and Disorder Audit