Some deaths are more equal than others
The Tory Troll’s on good form today, with a great analysis of Boris’s contradictory positions on different types of unnatural deaths.
On the one hand, we hear over and over again about how concerned he is about the high levels of fear about crime, particularly in relation to the 27 young people murdered with knives and guns last year. He claims he’ll somehow be able to do something about this better than anyone else, which is a laughable suggestion given how completely out of touch he is with the poorer communities in which these tragic but rare incidents tend to happen.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, he proposes measures to tip the balance between the priorities given to cars and pedestrians back towards the cars, which can only increase the higher, but reducing, levels of pedestrian casualties and deaths.
There’s a pelican crossing near my workplace which is very much biased towards cars. It will only ever let pedestrians cross after a particular one of the two car directions has had its lengthy turn; and if you don’t press the Wait button by a certain surprisingly early point in the sequence, you have to wait for the whole process to go around again. So of course, what do I see as I await the green man? People of all ages getting bored of waiting and taking a chance on it - dashing across when the red man’s on display, despite the fact that there’s no way of knowing what’s coming round the corner or how fast it’s coming.
The simple fact is that the more you tip the balance in favour of traffic, the more pedestrian deaths there will be. Funny how Boris’s voters in their 4×4s aren’t portrayed as posing a greater threat - as they do, statistically - than young people, even the minority who carry knives or guns. Doesn’t quite fit the narrative, does it?