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  • It might just be worth pointing out again that there is no offence of 'jaywalking' in this country.

    @Object: Busy junctions like Oxford Circus tend to have very poor casualty records, anyway. There are bound to be fatalities almost every year. Might be worth checking.

    Schemes like this are based on very sound research and explicitly designed to *reduce *casualties. They won't eliminate them.

    I find the video heartening--at last, the dominant form of traffic at OC is recognised as people on foot. It's one of the busiest walking junctions in London. It's a very late follow-up to the Gehl Report of 2004 (which was very good on walking, although less so on cycling):

    http://www.gehlarchitects.com/?#/165291/

    I look forward to the influence this scheme is likely to have on other public realm schemes throughout London. We have a few in Hackney for which we've agitated for a while, and it would be good to see them come to fruition.

    It must be stressed that of course such a scheme will work less well in isolation than complemented with similar schemes up- and downstream, to characterise a whole area rather than a single spot.

    I can't predict that it will reduce casualties, but casualty reductions through this sort of approach have been massive on the Continent, and it is to be expected that there will at least be some effect, even if the reduction is less than was achieved there.

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