Lithograph of path of a Hot Air Balloon over London in 1865 at night

Friday Reads – 26 May 2023

On By In Buses, DfT, Friday Reads, Maps, Sustainability

• England rail passengers could lose WiFi access in DfT cost cuts (Guardian)

• How train WiFi works & why it’s under threat in England (Guardian)

• Effect of UK sustainable mobility policies on urban transport emissions & energy demand (Nature)

• Some of London’s derelict railways and trains (DerelictLondon)

• Abandoned train graveyard at collapsing maintenance depot: Video (Urbandoned)

• The mysterious history Britain’s road death toll (CityMonitor)

• Ascent diagrams that chart time & space travels of the first long distance flights (Chartography)

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6 comments

  1. That “Road death toll” article is much too short in it’s backward look.
    The peak was 1966, with an appalling 7985 people wiped out.
    It had been climbing steadily from about 5000 (!) in 1950, until then, but promptly reversed itself that year & entered an apparently steady decline, up to the more recent numbers mentioned in the article.

  2. Greg T: the whole point of that article is that that it has *not* been a steady decline in recent years, with levelling off in the years prior to 2003 and from 2012, and the possible reasons why. That’s the “mysterious history” that the title refers to, not the 1950s and 60s.

  3. Betterbee
    It’s still only part of the story …
    An equally interesting question ( I think ) is …
    “What happened in 1966?” … why did the steadily-rising slaughter suddenly reverse direction & then start the continued ( if recently partially interrupted ) downward trend?
    Wikipedia link to the data – including relevant graph

  4. @GregT Surely well known .. “The 70 mph (112 km/h) limit on previously unrestricted roads was introduced in 1965 following a number of serious motorway accidents in fog earlier the same year.”
    Average speeds have been declining with increased traffic and safety enhancements in vehicles reduces fatal injuries.

  5. Aleks/GT: and the breathalyser, in 1967.

    So that’s what happened in 1965-7. But what happened in 1997 and 2010 that stopped the reducing trend? Stagnation since then is a worry, and let’s hope the long-overdue establishment of the Road Safety Investigation Branch https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-countrys-first-ever-investigation-branch-focused-on-road-safety will be the turning point in making the least safe mode of transport safer.

  6. 1997 narcotics?, 2010 iPhone?
    Front Seat belts were fitted but not used until 1970s, Breathalyser enforcement in terms of driving bans etc only really kicked in around 1980.
    My reaction was to vehicle occupant fatalities as the article made comparisons with vehicle safety.
    The article speculates about UK circumstances and the stats are road not vehicle fatalities. You would need a breakdown of pedestrians, ages, times. 2011 Pedestrian fatalities increased by 12%. 2012 10% increase in deaths of cyclists. Britain’s child pedestrian safety record is worse than the average for Europe.
    1980s saw abandonment of cycling and cycle-ways with children commuting by private car. Cycling became fashionable again around the millennium. Increased urban population gave increase in pedestrians.
    Economics affects trends with pauses in road investment for junction redesigns and smart withdraw of safety lanes.

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