Greens welcome e-bikes to make roads safer from dangerous parking

A Green Party suggestion to make roads and pavements safer from illegal parking is taking off, as a trial of e-bikes is being supplied to parking enforcement officers.

Cllr Douglas Johnson welcomed the news, saying,

“This is an excellent move. I asked officers about it a few months ago, so I’m really pleased to see it come into being.

“The idea came from talking to a resident about dangerous parking from a cyclist’s point of view and the obstacles caused to pedestrians and cyclists. It shows how you see dangers on the road differently depending on how you travel – so it seemed logical to provide parking officers with bikes instead of cars.

“It is also another small step towards reducing air pollution and tackling the climate emergency.

“Not only does it help them get round the city faster and more healthily, it is a reminder that the purpose of parking enforcement is road safety.

“Illegal parking is not just selfish but causes danger on the roads, especially to pedestrians, cyclists and disabled people with mobility scooters.

“Councillors all get lots of complaints about dangerous parking.

“In the 10 years to 2018, road safety improvements meant there was a drop of around a third in car occupants being injured in collisions. However, the figures also show that the same dangers to cyclists actually got worse in the same 10 years.”

Notes

1. Douglas Johnson is one of the 3 Green Party councillors in City Ward, which includes the city centre.
2. In 2018, there were 93,979 casualties recorded in road accidents, who were occupants of cars at the time, compared to 149,188 in 2008, a drop of 37%. However, for pedestrian injuries, casualties only fell from 28,482 in 2008 to 22,432 in 2018, a 21% drop. Cyclist casualties rose by 8%, from 16,297 in 2008 to 17,550 in 2018.
3. Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/833949/ras30001.ods