CAPITAL NEWS
SADIQ KHAN BRANDED ‘LUNATIC’ BY FURIOUS CABBIES FOR PRIORITISING CYCLISTS AND BUSES
Sadiq Khan has been compared to a “lunatic taking over the asylum” by furi- ous London cab drivers for prioritis- ing cyclists and buses on the capi- tal’s streets, whilst their earnings plum- met and traffic is being forced into gridlock. The Mayor of Lon- don recently un- veiled his Street- space for London programme, aimed at creating addition- al pedestrian and cycling space on roads. The Express reports that 11 miles of new, pop-up cycle lanes have been created
in the capital in an effort to reduce car usage and increas- ing demand on public transport to follow coronavirus social distancing rules. A further 12 miles are also under construction. Under the proposals to transform parts of the busier parts of the city into car- free zones, the Mayor also wants to create several “bus- only corridors” within sections of the Zone 1 travel area in Central Lon- don. But cab drivers are up in arms at the changes. Darryl Cox, secretary of the
London Cab Drivers Club which repre- sents 1,000 mem- bers, told The Sun- day Telegraph: “The traffic is gridlocked because Sadiq Khan has helped massive- ly increase the
TAXI QUEUE OUTSIDE KINGS CROSS IS SO BIG YOU CAN SEE IT FROM SPACE
A letter sent in recently to the Cam- den New Journal covers the problem of huge numbers of hackney carriages queuing up to col- lect passengers from Kings Cross station. It states: “Black cab drivers are arguing among themselves about the right to queue the full length of Pancras Road and beyond the Goods Way traf- fic lights. “They believe their special status as London icons enti- tles them to keep more than 40 vehi- cles on standby for picking up passen- gers outside King’s
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Cross station. (More than 40? I just count- ed them on Google Earth. The queue’s so big you can see it from space)! “Thankfully many of the taxis are now electric, but most of the diesel-engined vehicles reserve the right to keep their engines running, which has been ille- gal since 1986 except that taxi drivers use the bogus defence that they’re “plying for trade”. “During lockdown, that’s meant quite a long wait. These in- considerate drivers are contributing to some of the worst air pollution in Lon-
don. “Until
recently
another 15 or so taxis would wait up Camley Street as far as the Natural Park gates, but Camden Council has nar- rowed the road. “Camden has also widened the pave- ment at the Goods Way junction, to make it more diffi- cult for cabs to loiter on the bend. It hasn’t worked. “It’s time that the council put a limit on the number of taxis that can wait at any time. Forty should be enough for even the busiest periods. And it’s also time for some enforcement.”
amount of bike lanes being con- structed around central
locations.
There is also res- tricted access to the roads which are being redesigned purely for cyclists,
buses and pedestri- ans. It is now harder for us to drop and pick up passengers - especially disabled ones- at some sta- tions as there are fewer spaces to pull over. “The lunatic has taken over the asy- lum.” Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said: “Any policy which deters people from coming into Central London and safely resuming their old routines, especially those who do not feel safe using public trans- port and for whom
walking and cycling is simply not an option, will under- mine London’s re- covery and do fur- ther economic harm.” But a spokesperson for Mr Khan’s office said: “Sadiq makes no apologies for the temporary emer- gency measures he has put in place to encourage London- ers to make as many journeys as possible by bike or on foot to help enable social dis- tancing on public transport, and pre- vent a car-based recovery leading to one public health crisis being replaced with another.”
POLICE AREST CYCLIST FOLLOWING FATAL COLLISION
Police have arrested a man after a man hunt following a fatal
collision
between a cyclist and a pedestrian in Tower Hamlets, Lon- don. Officers were called to the scene of the collision at 5pm on Friday 3 July at Bow Road near Thames Magistrates’ Court. The pedestrian, Peter McCombie, 72, was taken to hospital in a critical condition with seri- ous head injuries. He died in hospital on Saturday, 11 July. The cyclist did not stop at the scene and detectives from the Met’s Serious Collision Investiga-
Peter McCombie
tion Unit (SCIU) released CCTV images of the cyclist in an effort to track him down. A 28-year-old man was arrested on sus- picion of man- slaughter and wan- ton and furious driving after he attended a police station in the early hours of 28 July.
AUGUST 2020
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