London’s low-traffic zones ‘cut deaths and injuries by more than a third’

LTNs aim to make smaller residential streets more friendly for walking, wheeling and cycling by using filters to stop through-traffic by motor vehicles. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

Low-traffic neighbourhoods cut road injuries and deaths by more than a third within their boundaries with no apparent negative safety effect on nearby roads, a study has shown.

Based on comparisons of more than a decade of road casualty statistics between 113 London LTNs and other roads that did not have them, the report’s authors found that LTNs were associated with a 35% reduction in all injuries, rising to 37% for deaths and serious injuries.