20 November - Khan’t do anything right
The Mayor is odd man out
As predicted, Euro Ncap has now gone public with more of
its HGV safety
scheme. Too complex to be summarised here except that Volvo has five stars and
Iveco has only one. A Google search will reveal a lot more information.
This is a new safety standard which outclasses
the one TfL recently announced and in
partial operation now. Ncap’s is a more comprehensive standard which detects
suicidal cyclists who creep up on the inside of lorries but it will take effect only when
vehicles are replaced.
That may sound like one up for TfL in the short term but it is all a bit
meaningless when you add in that existing vehicles can be self-certified to be TfL compliant by the vehicle owner.
If only Sadiq had not been so arrogant as to think he could do more than the
Europe-wide experts who have the co-operation
of manufacturers which Sadiq has not.
More money down the drain for little or no advantage.
A good day for parking problems
I have given up on making reports on badly parked vehicles because
Bexley
Council generally ignores them and that was my excuse for today.
The drain clearing lorry had been misdirected to the wrong address and wasn’t
there for long and as for the cars, to be honest I would much rather drivers kept the road clear
than block it Kelly Wilkinson style.
However at one o’clock I went to take a look and found the Traffic Warden had
beaten me to it. While passing the Mini its lights flashed and 30 seconds later
its owner showed up. Thinking it might be an out-of-Londoner who didn’t know
about the pavement parking rule I asked if she lived locally. “Can’t you
tell from my accent?” came the reply followed by my “No” I couldn’t.
I beat a hasty retreat because things quickly got unnecessarily aggressive.
Three tickets.
I am glad I am not a Civil Enforcement Officer.
Another FOI
The petitioner from Poplar Mount has submitted a Freedom of Information request.
Seven good questions including where is the evidence of accidents and who was consulted.
The latter particularly interests me. When Abbey Road was narrowed in 2009,
Bexley eventually admitted that they had consulted in Elstree Gardens and some
addresses even further away but not in Abbey Road and others affected.
Have they been more honest this time around?