As the government promises yet another consultation into pavement parking, we’re left wondering whether this anti-social and dangerous behaviour will ever be dealt with. As well as being a menace for the disabled, elderly and vulnerable, pavement parking is a downright nuisance for everyone. On top of that, it damages footways and is a visual eyesore. With the exception of…
Outdoor air pollution is responsible for 8.8m early deaths a year – higher even than the figure for smoking. It means that humans are losing three years of their lives on average, German researchers have found. Here in Britain the figure is 1.5 years. The study measured PM2.5 – atmospheric particulate matter (PM) that has a diameter of less than…
The Coronavirus global death toll has just topped 3,000. When it reaches 3,561 it will equal the number of people killed on the roads in a single day. Clearly Coronavirus is a serious threat that is entirely deserving of all efforts to bring it under control, but why do we show such apathy towards another source of danger that kills…
Road safety experts and ministers from 130 countries have resolved to tackle road danger, air pollution and the climate emergency by adopting 20mph limits wherever vulnerable road users and vehicles mix. Last week’s global road safety conference resulted in the adoption of a ‘Stockholm Declaration’ – a list of 18 resolutions linking road safety to sustainable development. Resolution 11 specifically mandates universal use…
The Sniffer Bike is a pedal-powered laboratory – a mobile particulate matter sensor that aims to raise awareness about air pollution. Developed as an open-source project, the Sniffer Bike comprises a small box of handlebar-mounted electronics that measures the air every ten seconds and presents the data on an interactive dashboard, which can then be shared to build a picture…
