New Bloomsbury Way road layout will lead to pedestrian fatalities, says solicitor David Whiteman
Published: 13 May, 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
A LAW firm specialising in personal injury claims has blamed transport bosses at Camden Council for a rise in traffic accidents in a Bloomsbury Street.
The London Ambulance Service confirmed there have been three serious accidents in the six weeks since two-way traffic was introduced in Bloomsbury Way
Such is the anxiety over the new road layout, which saw one of the three lanes replaced with a contra-flow bus lane, drivers at one bus company have been told to keep to 20mph.
David Whiteman from Cooper Whiteman Solicitors warned it would be the Town Hall’s fault if there was a death. He urged them to rethink the £1.8million scheme that was introduced on March 27, with the backing of Mayor of London Boris Johnson, to ease congestion and improve public transport in an area that has long suffered from confusing road layouts.
Mr Whiteman said: “Fatalities will occur. It’s as simple as that. We’re talking about big buses here.
I’ve been in the business for more than 30 years and I’m not trying to drum up trade, but I do believe people would have grounds for claiming against the council.
“We’ve been in these offices for around 11 years and have never heard of an accident here.
It’s a disgraceful, idiotic and ill-thought out [road layout]. They say it will ease congestion, but all it will do is ease it in one place and move it here.”
Under the new layout, selected bus routes no longer have to travel west along busy High Holborn.
Two of the three recent accidents have been caused by buses colliding with pedestrians and have required air ambulances to attend, according to information released by the London Ambulance Service.
Police are still investigating the incidents.
Camden Council insists it has taken every step to ensure the new layout is safe for motorists and pedestrians. Engineers built computer models to predict the impact on traffic, and the scheme passed the requisite safety checks.
A spokeswoman for Camden Council said:
“The scheme has been introduced to let the thousands of passengers using these bus routes daily move through the area more quickly, and to assist in reducing the congestion in the Holborn area. Safety is always a key consideration in all traffic schemes, and all the road safety audit procedures have been followed during the design and construction of the new system.
“We continue to monitor the scheme, and will consider any changes necessary to ensure our streets are the best they can be.”