Another cycle accident in Oval: Cricketer pulls across bus lane hitting cyclist

(Image taken from Precision claims website on 19th August 2011)

The Sun reports a cycle accident in Oval yesterday as England cricketer, Andrew Strauss was involved in a car accident with a passing 25 year old cyclist.  An eye witness estimated that the cyclist was travelling at about 20 miles per hour when he hit Strauss' Jaguar.  According to the Sun, the accident likely wrote off the bicycle in question and left a hefty dent in the car.

Fortunately, neither the driver nor cyclist was injured.  It's not entirely clear from the Sun's article who was at fault, although the Sun does report that Strauss pulled across the bus lane. 

The accident took place not far from Oval station where cyclist Catriona Patel was tragically killed in an accident involving a lorry in June 2009.

I'm trying to keep a close eye on accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists in and around SE11 (Kennington, Oval or Vauxhall and outskirts).  I'd be grateful if readers could leave a comment or inform me on Twitter @SE11_lurker of accidents witnessed in the area.

Installation of Cycle Hire docks at Cleaver Square, Vauxhall Station and Kennington tube

I've been contacted by the amazing Dawn Rahman of Lambeth Council and asked to inform readers that the new Cycle Hire docks will be installed at Cleaver Square by the 31st of March, but won't be usable until two weeks after that date on account of resourcing issues at TFL.  It seems that extensive remedial works (including re-paving the area) are to be carried out by TFL, but they've not quite got the timing right, so the docking stations won't be accessible until after the paving works have finished!  I don't suppose most people will lament the additional two week wait if the area around Cleaver Street is improved as a result, but I'm grateful for the heads-up from Lambeth. 

The new Cycle Hire docking stations appear to have been started in the tunnel adjacent to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, extending provision at Vauxhall Station (great news), but they're not yet finished.  Also, I think I spotted that new (ordinary) cycle stands had been installed nearly opposite Kennington tube station (always a good thing as there's never enough places to lock bikes), but we're still waiting for the new Cycle Hire docks to be added at that location.  Also, I noticed an article on a piece of kit, the Cyclehoop, which can be used to transform a piece of street furniture into a secure place to lock a bike.  Does anybody know whether we have any of them in SE11?

I'm certain that there's been a very definite rise in the number of cyclists using Kennington Park Road and Clapham Road and the CS7 Cycle Superhighway.  I expect numbers to rise as we enter summer and as a cyclist, pedestrian and driver, I'd call for more cautious road use from everybody to prevent further accidents.  Also, it would be very useful to have a bike shop in Kennington, as there's rather a dearth between Waterloo and Brixton...  Any entrepreneurs out there?

Proposed 44-storey tower scheme on Newington Butts revived and Cycling on Southern Elephant Roundabout?

London-SE1 is reporting that the planned 44-storey tower on 80 Newington Butts (site of the former London Park Hotel) has been revived.  In its former incarnation, it was named by the developer First Base as "London 360" and recognisable by the unusual "fins" planned for the the top of the tower.  Southwark Council approved the site for the development of a 44 storey (mostly) residential tower back in 2007, but the scheme failed to complete due to the Homes and Communities Agency deciding it no longer represented good value for money.   The Homes and Community's Agency apparently intend to appoint a new developer to continue with the old scheme (which somewhat fails to make sense of the "not good value for money" point).

You can take a look at the most recent planning application for the site (transport related proposals) on Southwark's Planning site at 11/AP/0406.  Note that the postcode is wrong on the Southwark Planning Portal; it should be SE11 4QU. 

On a geograpically related note... Last July, Kennington People on Bikes wrote to Transport for London to check whether Toucan crossings (which allow pedestrian/cyclist use) were being installed at the junction that replaced the old Southern Elephant roundabout.  TFL confirmed that they'd install a toucan crossing, but KPOB has noticed they're installing pelicans... Naughty...

Another London Cycle Hire docking station - 4 Albert Embankment

Further to my post in late August to suggest that planning permission was requested for docks in Oval Way and Vauxhall Street (SE11), I can confirm that a planning request has also been submitted for a docking station on the pavement outside of 4 Albert Embankment (the International Maritime organization) (just into the SE1 border).  Could I ask Boris/Ken Bike riders to submit positive comments in favour of this location?  The South Bank employers group have often made negative noises about cycling on the South Bank and Kennington People on Bikes has a longish post here on suggested amendments to the SBEG cycling recommendations for North Lambeth.  Also, see the KPOB post here on how difficult it was to lock a bike during the Thames Festival.  It occurs to me that since the previous request for a docking station (the Fire Station Pier) was turned down, there might be people that don't want to see one on the South Bank.  It will probably need some support!

This is good news and (if successful) would substitute for the would-have-been Fire Brigade Pier station that never received planning permission.  One of my anonymous commentators said that I always seem to see bad news!  That is likely to be a true accusation, so I would like to take the opportunity to say that I think more docking stations are fantastic news.  Fabulous.  I love Boris/Ken bikes etc etc.

Whilst we're on the subject of bikes, I'd urge you to go and fill out the GLA survey on the Cycle Hire bikes and the new cycle routes superhighways.  The one that passes through Oval and Kennington is the CS7.  Submit your feedback and tell them how much you love/hate their cycling initiatives.

Cycle hire scheme - more docking stations needed

I cycled home this evening using the Cycle Hire scheme and discovered, to my dismay that Kennington Post Office, Kennington Cross, Kennington Tesco, Vauxhall Station and Sancroft Street docking stations were all full.  It appears that Kennington is quite the fashionable place to visit... or that we're as far south as people can get before resorting to buses and tubes.  The Evening Standard has a photo of the Serco personnel supplying extra bikes (or docks) at Waterloo Station here.  In my view, TFL have massively underestimated the demand and popularity of the Cycle Hire Scheme, particularly amongst commuters.

London-SE1 spotted a rather interesting clipping that suggests we might be due to gain some additional docking stations in SE11 soon. The proposed sites would be Vauxhall Street and Oval Way.  Vauxhall Street is quite long and so the site could be anywhere between Black Prince Road and the Oval Cricket Ground.  Oval Way is a tiny street and extra docks their should relieve the crowding at Tescos and provide a cycle hire option for the young people at Lilian Baylis School.  Objections from residents/businesses etc.have to be made by the 6th September.  Let's hope that nobody objects!

Also, if you're interested, here is a list of sites refused permission for docking stations.  Six sites in Lambeth were refused, three in SE11 and three in SE1.  One of the SE11 potential docks was Windmill Row, which many of us objected to on the basis that it is a very congested thoroughfare, doesn't have wide pavements and removes car parking that elderly/disabled people use to access the shops.  The other SE11 spots that didn't get permission were:  190-194 Kennington Lane (this is on the opposite side of the road to Imperial Court) and Sancroft Street where it crosses Newburn Street (2 stations have been built in Sancroft Street so this one wasn't a great loss).  In SE1, Webber Street and the Cut outside the Young Vic both had permission refused.  Near the border, permission was refused for a dock in SE1 near Lambeth Bridge.  The Lambeth Bridge dock is the one that I consider most important.  There's a lack of bikes anywhere near Westminster and this one would have bridged the gap somewhat.  I'm hoping that another application might be made.

Edit:  Under the guise of "why there aren't more bikes near Waterloo", Ross Lydall has published research by Ashley Lumsden (Lib Dem in Streatham Hill) on the reasons for Lambeth's refusal of the above docks.  Quite frankly, I fail to see how Windmill Row, Sancroft St and Lambeth Bridge quite count as Waterloo. Lambeth's refusal of six docks (many at the request of residents) hardly compares with Westminster's refusal of 29 and K&C's refusal of 12.  The real reason that there aren't more docks at Waterloo is because TFL chose to prioritise the Cycle Hire Scheme roll out for non-commuters.  Additional docks at stations will happen (we are lead to believe) during phase 2 of the installation.  Lumsdens' complaints look a little like political point scoring.

Vauxhall Island Site - KOV Meeting Part 2 (and a meander on to Lambeth Council Housing)

I blogged about Chief Superintendent Ephgrave's appearance at the Kennington Oval and Vauxhall forum on the 9th of June, last week.  But the other segment of the meeting mostly comprised another presentation and chance for questions and answers from the developers of the Vauxhall Island site.  This is the second time the representatives from Kylun Ltd have consulted the community in a public forum, and, better still, encouraged a free-for-all Q&A session.  I'm not going to pretend I suddenly welcome tall buildings, but as their architect commented, "we've always seen this as a location for tall buildings" and the design is considerably more discreet than some of the others presented to the public.

Additional info on. Vauxhall Island Site plans:

The architect opened the discussion by noting that between the buildings, they hope to place an enclosed site and that the commercial spaces would act as provision for local  people and not just residents.   The developers have been meeting with representatives from local parks and other groups and have identified the arches under Vauxhall bridge as opportunities for investment.  Kylun Ltd have also been asked by TFL to look at the possibility of an under the road crossing.  It wasn't entirely clear, but the matter of some additional pedestrian crossings is also under consideration.  The developers say they are happy to fund these.  TFL, however, have to confirm the exact location of any crossings, and are naturally worried about slowing down the traffic (what a good idea!!).  TFL are looking at a range of options concerning the future (or non-future) of the Vauxhall gyratory.

If the building is granted planning permission, one of the ground floor units in the Vauxhall Island site towers (I believe the left hand tower, as you look at the diagram) will be an NHS dentist, and the other part of the floor will be a 70-100 seater digital cinema.  Considering that a swimming pool was unrealistic and out of the question, I'd have said that these are great options.  We don't have a cinema locally so this should make a great addition to Vauxhall.  Above that, there will be three floors of offices (see here for the earlier detailed account, but these could well be work-space type units.  There are questions as to whether these could be subsidised for start-up businesses.  The right hand tower contains a 180 bed hotel and there will be 291 private apartments (spread across both towers, I'm guessing), with a bar on the right hand tower at the13th floor.  There will be provision for 740(ish) bike parking spaces.

SE11_lurker's brief digression on public housing:

[And the affordable housing question?  That's a rather thorny issue, of course.  Lambeth Council have traditionally built huge amounts of public housing whenever they've had the chance, in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as after the war.  It's what keeps people voting Labour, after all.  I tend to be in favour, even though I'd never qualify to live in it, because I believe that the best communities are those where wealth is evenly spread.  I'm not a fan of the free market, left to its own devices, but I make my living from it, and so do many.  Consequently, I like the idea that private housing should fund public and affordable housing.  It seems fair according to a somewhat old-fashioned notion of justice.  But Lambeth has recently seen considerable gentrification in areas like Kennington and Clapham, which of course means that people start to raise the previously unheard of question about whether "we" want that housing, and as usual, the "we" who are asking should probably look around very carefully and ask "who is included?".  Kate Hoey made a very insightful remark at one of the hustings when she commented that single men are very rarely offered public housing.

As though on cue, the Streatham Guardian this week has published figures which suggest that 20,000 people are on the "mainstream housing waiting list", compared with 17,000 last year.  It does rather make one wonder quite where people are living in the meantime.  Does everybody on the list need to be on the list?  How on earth is the housing allocated?  Lambeth claim that their success in housing people just causes more people to apply!  But it should be noted that only eight councils nationally managed to build enough homes according to national requirements.   I doubt that central London, in the middle of a recession, is ever really going to manage to squeeze in all of those extra homes.  And "squeeze" is indeed the notion, because the buildings will have to grow taller to fit in the people.  Lambeth is only seven miles long, after all!  Probably the place to put the most pressure is on the empties.  I keep thinking that the Council ought to come up with a voluntary taskforce, capable of building, plumbing and wiring, who could fix up the houses for those in most desperate need (surely that would be a good co-operative citizen thing to do).  I'd give a Saturday to go and paint a rundown flat, and I can't be the only one.]

Kylun's statement on affordable housing:

It seems that 43% of the public housing would need to be family housing, that is 3 or 4 bed apartments.  Unfortunately, the "final proportion of affordable housing has still be agreed under Section 106".

Q&A


Q.  What is the inspiration behind the design?
A.  The towers are simple and elegant shapes.  They're two sisters, so they spiral up.  The architect takes a different view to the designers of the Shard concerning design.

Q.  What is the timetable?
A.  The designs should be submitted to the Council's planning department within the next fortnight (that's the next week now, since I'm late writing this up).  They anticipate a decision before the end of the year, and will commence the search for a development partner.  If all goes to plan, work should begin on the site in 2015.

Q.  How many people will the building house? (and a second question about cycle safety which was indistinct)
A.  At a guess, the building will house about 600 people.  TFL can answer questions relating to cycle safety.  Apparently, they're coming up with a cycling vision, and running a cycle lane around the back was not seen as acceptable.  [I'm not at all clear on this question, and couldn't work out what "around the back" meant.  Would appreciate clarification from anybody that was there.]

Q.  What about piers, and river transport?
A.  We've struggled with other buildings (not this one, since the Vauxhall Island site is not considered a riverside venture), to get piers into other developments, due to the financial viability of river transport, perhaps due to the fact that it's not subsidised.  We're not in a position to make it happen on site.

[If you're really interested in piers, you might like to read about the work that Caroline Pidgeon did to try and get some on the Albert Embankment.  I wrote about it on my post "whatever happened to Vauxhall pier?"]

Q.  Are you able to favour independent local businesses, rather than give the commercial sites to chains?
A.  We are providing a range of different sized units to try to encourage variety, but it's not clear how we could send potential tenants away if they were over a certain size.

Unconfirmed cycle and motorcycle accidents today in Kennington

The stats. and Twitter are indicating that there have been one or maybe two traffic accidents in Kennington today after 9am.

It seems that there was one accident involving a cyclist at the junction of Kennington Park Road and Kennington Lane on Newington Butts.

It now looks as though there might have been a different accident involving a motorcycle near the junction at Kennington tube station.

These two separate reports might of course have been conflated.  I hope that nobody is badly hurt.  Does anybody have any more info?  I'm very concerned, with the imminent implementation of the CS7 cycle superhighway, that TFL examine the incidence of traffic/cycle accidents around rush hour, and maybe consider some traffic calming measures.

I didn't report it, but there was also a cyclist death (Everton Smith, 48) on Vauxhall Bridge Road (the north side) on 22nd May.  If you were unfortunate enough to be passing through the area (a 436 bus was nearby), please contact the police as they're looking for witnesses.

Cycling in Kennington and people on bikes

I can't believe I didn't spot this before, but somebody has started a new local cycling blog, Kennington People On Bikes. It details a recently won bid to set up a cycle hub project for Lilian Baylis (and other local) schools.  I note with interest the fact that the bike project was initially unable (see entry on 1st March) to obtain meeting space in the Sports Action Zone on the former Lilian Baylis site.  However, it appears that a meeting with the Director of SAZ resolved that... 

More recently, KPOB have turned their attention to corresponding with Princes ward councillors and candidates re. their views on cycling in the area.  If you are passionate about being on two wheels (or three!), it's a good time to be quzzing candidates on their cycle-friendly policies.  I note with interest the suggestion of bringing down speed limits to 20mph, in some areas. That would be one consideration re. reducing casualities on some of our trunk routes, and would be good for pedestrians too (although I can't see drivers being keen).  I'm often struck by the fact that Kennington (and undeniably, Vauxhall) can feel rather like a "through-route" for heavy goods vehicles accessing the rest of London.  Since we're soon to have our "bike hire" scheme bikes installed all over SE11, now is probably the time to increase the focus on road safety.  (Visions of untrained tourists hopping on to hired cycles and heading down Kennington Park Road to the Elephant roundabout fill me with dread).

The Cycling hub project may well be looking for volunteers, or have meeting times to publicise in the near future.  I'll post it as soon as I've obtained further info.

In the meantime, I telephoned TFL (8th April) to see when our new CS7 route cycle "superhighway" would be completed in SE11.  The person I contacted said it would be finished in "the next month or so".  I've no details on whether TFL have started painting the roads blue (is that the opposite of painting the town red?) and moving street furniture in deepest south London (other than a short trial stretch), so would be grateful for more info.

Vauxhall Cyclists: Don't get squashed tonight or this weekend - Shard concrete delivery

The helpful London Cycling Campaign (LCC) have published an article warning that the concrete for the foundations of the Shard building in London Bridge is to be delivered this weekend.  The monster trucks will start their drop-off during rush hour this evening and the concrete delivery will last all weekend.  It affects Vauxhall cyclists because half of the concrete is being delivered from Battersea, and we're on route.

This will apparently result in an additional 700 return lorry-trips in the area (does that mean 1400 trips total?  I'm not sure).  In our patch, it will particularly affect Nine Elms, Vauxhall Cross, Albert Embankment, Lambeth Bridge and Lambeth Palace Road, but obviously if you are planning on cycling to Battersea, I'd take a look at the LCC article so that you can avoid the route in question.

According to the LCC, lorries are involved in over half of cyclist deaths on London roads, even though, compared with other vehicles, there aren't that many of them on the road.

I doubt that the 700 additional return lorry trips are going to do much for the air quality at Bondway, but at least we've been given advanced warning.

So, please be careful cyclists (and Vauxhall pedestrians) because it's not worth risking a speedier route, just to get accidentally squashed this weekend.

Cyclist death in Oval in June - appeal for witnesses

Please go across to the Stockwell News blog and read Bathsheba's post with plea from the husband of Catriona Patel for witnesses to his wife's cycle accident (and subsequent death) on June 29th.

I know that some readers commented on the cycle accident on this blog, and all witnesses are being asked to contact Crimestoppers.

More TFL cycle scheme pod / bay placements for SE11 and SE1

Further to my previous post on the TFL cycle scheme and initial cycle pod/bay placements, there have been some additional requests:

1. 09/01864/FUL 12/06/2009 Pavement Opposite 1-12 Adam Court, Kennington Lane London Installation on pedestrian footway of cycle hire docking station for the Transport for London Cycle Hire Scheme containing a maximum of 35 docking points for scheme bicycles plus a terminal to secure and release scheme bicycles and to provide registration and payment facilities and wayfinding mapping.

2. 09/01766/FUL 05/06/2009 Outside Former Lilian Baylis School, Lollard Street London Installation on pedestrian footway of cycle hire docking station for the Transport for London cycle hire scheme comprising a maximum of 25 docking points for scheme bicycles plus a terminal to secure and release scheme bcycles and to provide registration and payment facilities and wayfinding mapping.

3. 09/01765/RG4 05/06/2009 Outside 1-28 Tresco House, Sancroft Street London Installation on the pedestrian footway and vehicle carriageway of cycle hire docking station for the Transport for London Cycle Hire Scheme comprising a maximum of 29 docking points for scheme bicycles plus a terminal to secure and release bicycles and to provide registration and payment facilities and wayfinding mapping.

4. 09/01755/RG4 05/06/2009 Opposite Prince Consort House, Albert Embankment London Installation on pedestrian footway of cycle hire docking station for the Transport for London Cycle Hire Scheme comprising a maximum of 24 docking points for scheme bicycles plus a terminal to secure and release bicycles and to provide registration and payment facilities and wayfinding mapping.

I don't see a problem with any of these. The Albert Embankment cycles will be useful for tourists and handy for getting to and from the Albert Embankment, which is somewhat off the tube map and not well connected via the rest of SE11 by bus (there is a Black Prince Road bus route, but that's the only route which takes SE11 residents to the Albert Embankment). The Sancroft street bays are quite central, and a much better suggestion than Windmill Row.

I'm not sure what to make of the ones by the former Lilian Baylis cycle placement (the second half of Lollard St is rather quiet due to being a no through road), but no doubt local residents might comment on the position. I suppose the new bikes could be used by church members, rather than parking in local roads, if the former Lilian Baylis is purchased by the ANC!

Oval accident - female cyclist died

Stockwell News reported some kind of accident or incident at Oval tube station in Harleyford Road at around 8:30am this morning, and noticed lots of emergency vehicles and somebody on a stretcher. I left for work very late this morning, and didn't notice any traffic buildup in Kennington as a result, but no doubt the road was cleared quickly.

(Edit, 12:12) - One Lurking about SE11 commentator notes that the person on a stretcher was a woman. It is reported that she was a cyclist, and was hit by a lorry.

(Edit, 30/6/2009) - It has now been confirmed (see comments) that the cyclist died in the accident, witnessed by a number of readers yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of both the cyclist and the lorry driver.

I know that the roads in this area are potentially dangerous because they are so fast moving, and I frequently see both cyclists and motorists driving/cycling dangerously.

Thank you for all of the comments you've all contributed. I know that readers will be sad to hear of another accident in this area. Some of the folk at the London Fixed-Gear and Single Speed website are advocating writing to Boris Johnson to request that he makes HGV/cyclist safety a priority. Individual letters are (as with most things) a more powerful catalyst for change than petitions. If you would like to follow up, you can contact the Mayor as follows:

By email: mayor@london.gov.uk
Postal Address:
Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
Greater London Authority
City Hall
The Queen's Walk
More London
London SE1 2AA
Telephone: 020 7983 4100
Minicom: 020 7983 4458
Fax: 020 7983 4057

I lifted the above information from the thread about the accident on the London FGSS forums here.

(For what it's worth, Boris might be more open to listening to comments at the moment because he was involved in a near-miss recently, reported by the BBC here.)

TFL Cycling Scheme

I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I've been looking forward to the start of TFL's new Cycle Hire scheme which (due to the fact that SE11 is secretly in Zone 1) will extend as far South as Oval and is due to begin in May 2010. There's a nice handy map of the coverage here. You might want to lament the fact that less than a quarter of the entire provision of the scheme is made for South of the River, but let's not complain about that too much now...

The local community were consulted about provision for bicycles and their stands in March 2009.

A table of potential docking locations offered is available here and images of potential docking station location were produced.

I don't know what emerged from the KOV forum consultation which took place.

However, I do know that Cllr Rob Banks (Oval, Lib Dem) offered to pass on comments from one local committee that the docking station outside Windmill Row "would mean the loss of parking bays in an area where there are not enough at the moment due to red routes etc, bad news for disabled drivers and local businesses, and there are other nearby sites for the bikes." I presume these comments were passed on to the relevant authorities.

Consequently, (in an email passed to Ms Porteur today), we are somewhat disappointed to see that one of the planning permission requests surrounding the scheme actually includes the Windmill Row site which was commented on (by at least one committee) as inappropriate. There were 34 potential sites, so it didn't seem that difficult to avoid the problematic one.

The sites requested for permission (so far) are:

<><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> . Bishops 09/01698/FUL 2/6/2009 Under Waterloo Bridge - North East Of Belvedere Road London Installation on the pedestrian footway of a cycle hire docking station containing a maximum of 39 do... Pending Consideration Bishops 09/01700/FUL 29/05/2009 Footway Opposite 150-152 Concert Hall Approach London Installation on the pedestrian footway of cycle hire docking stations containing a maximum of 41 doc... Pending Consideration Princes 09/01678/FUL 29/05/2009 Land On Sancroft Street Outside Woodstock Court London Installation on the vehicle carriageway of a cycle hire docking station containing a maximum of 25 d... Pending Consideration Oval 09/01778/FUL 5/6/2009 Under Railway Bridge, Vauxhall Station, Kennington Lane London Installation on pedestrian footway of cycle hire docking station for the transport for london cycle ... Pending Consideration Oval 09/01720/FUL 1/6/2009 Outside 1-5 Windmill Row London Installation on the vehicle carriageway of a cycle hire docking station containing a maximum of 32 d... Pending Consideration

The problem is that I don't know whether to advise readers to object to the planning permission on the Windmill Row site. I'd rather have the cycle hire in an inappropriate place than not at all.

Caroline Pidegon and Tom Brake (MP) campaign to reduce unfair oyster charges

Acknowledgement to Mayor Watch from whom I've co-opted this story!

I went to work from Vauxhall tube station, but entirely missed seeing Caroline Pidegon (Member of London Assembley) and Tom Brake (MP) campaigning this morning at the bus station for a new "one hour" ticket which would see Oyster cards have money deducted from them once an hour, rather than on a "per bus journey" basis.

If they'd been luckier, they might have campaigned yesterday when the Victoria line was down. The whole of South London (it seemed) was catapaulted on to the local buses, resulting in a massive crush. The number 2, which I was on, stopped at Marble Arch, only to throw all the passengers on to the number 2 in front resulting in, you guessed it, everybody on a "pay as you go" Oyster card complaining that they were being charged twice. The driver of the original bus was supposed to give out slips of paper indicating that the journey had been paid for, but the bus was so full that it would have delayed all passengers.

I think it's quite an interesting idea, but (like quite a number of Lib Dem good ideas) would result in (according to the article) TFL losing £50 million revenue. I'd be much more interested in seeing the money spent on more cycle routes, signage, bike lockup points and cycling schemes. However, the fact remains that South London is utterly reliant on its buses, many of which terminate early, resulting in unsatisfactory journey costs all round.

In any case, I do like to see politicians out and about campaigning early in the morning. It shows dedication. I wonder whether they might follow the lead of Labour's Val Shawcross who has been spending time monitoring infrequent buses on routes 1 and 78 with pen and clipboard!

SE11 Cycle accidents

I really like the mashup of data that has been done by a chap named Tom Taylor on the number of cycle accidents in 2007 and their exact location. To put together this map, the government released some data co-ordinates from the police about where the cycle accidents happened in London, Tom Taylor turned these co-ordinates into grid references, and those references were then able to be displayed on a Google map.

The Times website have a giant cycle accident map, which I've grabbed a screen shot from. Predictably, the accidents that occurred in the SE11 area mainly seem to have happened on the large main roads. Also, we seem to have far fewer accidents in South London than in the area immediately north of the river. Is that because there are fewer cyclists in South London, I wonder?

My personal quest to make SE11 a bit greener

Following on from a recent article in the East London advertiser that suggested that Vauxhall Cross and Brixton Road are within the top 10 most air-polluted roads in London, perhaps it's time that car drivers other than trades related people or minicab drivers start to reduce their car use. Some of Vauxhall Cross is included in the SE11 area, and I was surprised that one neither Kennington Road, Kennington Lane nor Kennington Park Road were included in the top 10 list, especially considering their proximity to Brixton Road and Vauxhall Cross.

Current petrol prices might encourage the trend to abandon cars in favour of other methods of transport. (C'mon, the Cross River Tram would be a real asset...) I imagine a move from petrol to LPG powered vehicles might help the cause... But best of all, it would be really exciting if London could become more cycle friendly. I was reading an article in the Independent by James Daley who has changed his cycling route from being based around the quiet back streets of Stockwell to a new busy route along the Thames Embankment. Having seen Clapham Road/Kennington Park Road also become a route for cyclist anarchy, I'm not surprised that he notes

"much of my route seems to turn into a cycle racetrack"

I try and cycle responsibly (not going through red traffic lights, sporting bike lights at night etc.) but I hope the trend towards cycling will lead to some form of stiffer penalty for cyclists that break the rules in a dangerous manner. As a driver, cyclist and pedestrian, it's fairly clear to me that cyclists are the worst transgressors of the highway code (especially couriers). On the other hand, there's nothing more frustrating than facing red light after red light when on a bike, because the traffic lights are phased for motorists. Obviously, I'm not suggesting changing all of the lights in favour of cyclists, but some innovative thinking re. roads that could be "cycle only" or more cycle paths (preferably not on pavements) might mean that cyclists could ride around more safely.

Once the move has taken place, I hope to get the trusty old bike out again (am a bit worried about the level of bike theft, so a folding bike might be a better option), and cycle to work where possible. That will probably turn Lurking about SE11 into a list of traffic violation grievances, but hopefully it will also help SE11 go green!