London most polluted capital in EU. 1952 Great Smog. A child dies.
December 5th, 2012 | by Sean |I was surprised to see in an article at the BBC today that London has the worst air pollution in the EU. I remember working in the Square Mile in the mid 80s and having permanently black bogies and a sore throat which only abated when I went on holiday. I thought things had moved on.
In another story a child died after the car she was in was hit by a train on a level crossing. The article quotes people saying that level crossings should be replaced by tunnels or bridges but that the cost of doing so is prohibitive.
I wish we could lower the unladen weight limit for vehicles in built-up areas to somewhere in the region of 100kg, with appropriate power-to-weight restrictions for the 30-40mph speeds in such places.
Air pollution would be reduced by the drastically lowered engine outputs of such vehicles. I suggest air quality would be further improved by the reduction in apparent danger from such vehicles helping more people to consider cycling and walking as modes of transport.
Bridges over level crossings in built-up areas could be much less substantial – and consequently cheaper – structures if they had only to accommodate lightweight vehicles.
What do you think?