Southend Labour have criticised Conservative plans to turn off the city’s traffic lights at night as a
dangerous experiment which will be put road safety backwards and put lives at risk.
Following a pledge by one of the Conservative candidates for London Mayor, Dan Korski, to turn
off traffic lights at night in the capital, Southend Conservatives’ cabinet member for Highways,
Transport & Parking Cllr Kevin Buck took to Twitter to endorse the idea and its deployment in
Southend.
Cllr Daniel Cowan, Leader of the Labour Group, said, “The fact that no sooner have the
Conservatives taken control of the council than they are considering these wild and dangerous
ideas stretches credibility.”
A 2011 Government report found that accidents have tripled in other countries where turning
off traffic lights at night has been trialled. We already know the problem we have with boy
racers, do we really want to turn streets of Southend into an unfettered racetrack? The reality is
that there is each set of lights has to be considered on merit based on traffic flow, the junction
complexity, and the environmental impact of changes. Making policy up on the hoof on social
media doesn’t show a great degree of care for our city.
“Cllr Buck should reassure all residents of the city and confirm that he is putting these ridiculous
ideas firmly out of consideration.”

Notes to the Editor:
1. Cllr Buck’s tweet can be found here:

We used to have part time signals in UK, as some junctions, especially on roundabouts, are not needed outside of peak hours (Rayleigh Weir, Strawberry Fields to name 2). I intend to fully explore this option, as it makes for quicker journey times and less congestion.

— 🇺🇦 🇬🇧Cllr Kevin Buck 🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@BuckCllr) May 23, 2023

2. The 2011 government report can be found here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_da
ta/file/9209/traffic-signals-low-demand-periods.pdf