London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has unveiled a new road safety plan to cut the rate of deaths on roads, although some critics have warned that it could impose fresh taxes on vehicle owners.
The new Vision Zero Action Plan 2 is the latest measure from the London Mayor to slash deaths and serious injuries on the capital’s road network over the next five years.
The previous Vision Zero project saw a 24 per cent drop in the number of people killed or seriously injured in 2024 when compared to the 2010-2014 baseline.
Sir Khan’s overall aim for Vision Zero is to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041.
The new Vision Zero plan will see Transport for London consider how to deliver at least 65km of “safer speed limits”, as well as rolling out more 20mph schemes on roads.
It will also look at the safety issues related to oversized cars, like SUVs, and how they are commonly involved in accidents which cause deaths or serious injuries.
The Vision Zero document states that large SUVs are “physically reshaping urban streets”, with many new vehicles now too wide for normal parking spaces.
“Their bulk makes junctions, crossings and residential streets more hazardous for everybody outside the vehicle. Without action to address oversized and heavier vehicles, more people will be seriously injured or killed,” the plan states.
Sir Sadiq Khan has suggested that new taxes could be introduced for owners of larger SUVs
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LEO MURRAY/PA
A spokesperson for the London Mayor said TfL would undertake a “detailed analysis” of the risks SUVs pose, which could “inform future policy proposals”.
Data from Clean Cities states that there are 800,000 SUVs in the capital, a tenfold increase compared to 20 years ago, with TfL looking to buck the trend.
Sir Khan said: “I’m proud that we have saved lives through the important steps already taken to deliver my Vision Zero goal, making our roads safer more quickly than the rest of the country and equivalent international capitals, including New York and Paris.
“But every death or serious injury on our roads is unacceptable and we must go further and faster to eliminate this heartbreak across the capital.”
The Vision Zero action plan will see the introduction of more 20mph speed limit roads
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GETTYHowever, the potential for new changes for SUVs has been criticised by opposition politicians, who argue that it could be seen as an unfair tax on families.
City Hall Conservatives’ Transport Spokesman, Thomas Turrell AM, said: “Sadiq Khan is burying his head in the anti-car sand.
“TfL’s Vision Zero plan is about the Mayor of London carrying out his anti-car agenda, rather than trying to keep Londoners safe.
“Whether it is clamping down on family vehicles or blanketing London in LTNs and 20mph zones, these schemes ignore the fact that at the current rate, the Mayor is 1,200 years away from his target of eliminating road deaths.”
Paris voted to increase parking charges for SUVs in 2024 | REUTERSCities across the world are already taking steps to crack down on SUVs, including in Paris, where a public vote decided to hike parking charges for larger vehicles.
Meanwhile, Cardiff has agreed to introduce rules for SUV owners that would see them charged more to park, as well as face fresh rules around permits.
The Vision Zero action plan will also see TfL “modernise and expand” the capital’s safety-camera network, with at least 20 new sites set to be introduced.
This will include trialling technology with the Met Police to use AI cameras to detect whether drivers are using their phones behind the wheel, or not wearing their seatbelts.
