Transport for London
TfL urges riders and drivers to watch out for each other as too many young lives are lost each year
TfL wants to highlight the vulnerability of powered two-wheel vehicle users, as demand for them has surged throughout the pandemic.
TfL and the police are encouraging road users to watch out for each other in a new advertising campaign during Global Road Safety Week, following a worrying number of young men being tragically killed or seriously injured in motorcycle collisions.
People riding motorcycles face the greatest likelihood of death or serious injury of anyone driving on the roads. Provisional data for 2020 shows that 31 people in London were tragically killed in a collision involving a power two-wheel (PTW) vehicle, such as a motorcycle, moped or scooter and 12 of these collisions are believed to involve no other vehicle.
Guidelines urging journalists to avoid the use of the word “accident” when reporting on road collisions and refer to drivers rather than cars have been launched to change public attitudes with sensitive reporting.
The guidelines, put together by journalist Laura Laker with the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy, have been finalised following a consultation on a draft version last year. They hope to create a new industry standard similar to the work done by Samaritans on suicide reporting.
The Active Travel Academy described reporting of road safety issues and collisions as a “challenge and a dilemma” for journalists: “Death and injury on the road is not new but still matters.”