Southwark’s most dangerous junctions have been revealed as cyclists urge the council and TfL to “stem the human cost” of “dangerous” roads.
Junctions between Elephant and Castle and London Bridge, and a host of others, were identified as “collision hotspots” in an interactive map created by the London Cycling Commission (LCC).
The LLC has urged the authorities to redesign the worst-offending roads to include segregated cycle lanes, advanced stop lines and other measures.
In Southwark alone, 168 people were fatally or seriously injured in traffic incidents in 2022, with three people tragically dying from their injuries.
LCC Chief Executive Tom Fyans said: “Behind this horrific data are hundreds of stories of families torn apart by tragedy and lives changed forever.
“Whilst cycling and indeed walking and wheeling remain relatively safe, healthy ways of getting about London, TfL, the Mayor and our boroughs must move faster and be bolder on road danger to stem the human cost posed by dangerous junctions and poor road designs.”
The most dangerous junction in Southwark was the one between Harper Road and New Kent Road, closely followed by the Gaunt Street-Newington Causeway junction.
Four of Southwark’s twenty most dangerous junctions were on Blackfriars Road, including at the junction with Union Street, which was the third most dangerous junction in the borough.
A twelve-year-old riding his bicycle was rushed to hospital with ‘possible life-changing injuries’ after a collision involving a lorry at the Union Street junction.
For pedestrians, the two most dangerous junctions were Peckham Rd-Melon Rd-Bellenden Rd-Peckham High St and Peckham Rd-Lyndhurst Way-Peckham High St.
The LCC says measures that could improve junction safety include Advanced Stop Lines for cyclists (ASLs), phased signals that give pedestrians and cyclists priority and segregated cycle lanes.
Councillor James McAsh, Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency, Clean Air and Streets, said: “Southwark Council is committed to improving road safety in partnership with TfL who manage the busy “red route” roads like Peckham Road. Our partnership has already brought improvements at Peckham High Street including the redesign of the pedestrian crossing to enhance safety, creating wider footways and the introduction of a 20mph limit over the winter of 2020/21. The work continues with plans to introduce a 20mph limit on the remaining parts of the TfL network in December.”
“As part of our Streets for People strategy, we are also launching a new walking and cycling consultation shortly to move forward with our plans to provide safer routes for our residents. We have also created 140 new pedestrian crossings in the last five years and provided safe cycling training to over 3,000 children and adults.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “Any death or serious injury on the roads is one too many and we are determined to end the devastating consequences of road danger by working with London boroughs to make roads safer, including at junctions.
“We have reduced danger at 44 junctions across London as part of our Safer Junctions programme and we continue to work on designs for a significant number of further locations in collaboration with our partners in the London Boroughs, including many of those highlighted by this data.
“We welcome London Cycling Campaign’s research and will be working closely with campaigners, Southwark Council and local communities across the capital on our investment in new infrastructure over the coming years.”
Cllr Graham Neale, Environment Spokesperson for the Southwark Liberal Democrat Group, said: “Getting Londoners on their bikes is vital part of making this a greener, healthier city.
“But to do that, we have to make sure that people are safe when cycling and dangerous junctions are a huge barrier to achieving that. London Cycling Campaign has done great work identifying these problem areas and it is now the responsibility of the London Mayor, TfL and local councils to provide solutions.
“We have the second most dangerous junction right here in Southwark, so our Southwark Liberal Democrat group will be working with the council and TfL urgently to make it safe for cyclists.”
Make ALL cyclists take road safety and cycling tests, including the Highway code and make it law that they wear adequate helmets. That will stop most of the incidents.