London's Metropolitan Police have initiated a significant overhaul of their road policing operations, merging specialized units dedicated to the safety of cyclists, motorcyclists, and commercial vehicles into a consolidated 'Road Danger Reduction Team'. This strategic shift, a core component of the 'New Met for London' initiative focusing on neighborhood policing, has ignited widespread concern among road safety organizations and political leaders. Critics fear that dissolving these dedicated teams might compromise the rigorous enforcement and investigative capabilities crucial for protecting vulnerable road users from the inherent dangers posed by larger vehicles on the city's bustling streets.
Met Police Reforms: Specialized Road Safety Teams Disbanded Amidst Public Outcry
In February 2026, the Metropolitan Police in London commenced the second phase of their "New Met for London" plan, a comprehensive restructuring that has led to the dissolution of dedicated units responsible for investigating severe collisions involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and London buses, with a particular emphasis on cyclist and motorcyclist safety. These specialized teams, including the Cycle Safety Team, Motorcycle Safety Team, and the Commercial Vehicle Unit, will no longer operate independently. Instead, their functions are being integrated into a newly formed "Road Danger Reduction Team." This new entity is tasked with proactively enforcing serious traffic offenses such as speeding, impaired driving, and mobile phone use while driving.
This reorganisation has prompted immediate backlash from various groups. Road safety advocates and politicians have voiced strong opposition, arguing that dismantling these focused units could diminish the effectiveness of targeted enforcement against non-compliant operators and undermine efforts to reduce risks for vulnerable road users. Caroline Russell, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, specifically highlighted that a proposed 14% reduction in the Roads and Transport Policing Command would likely result in a decreased capacity for rapid incident response, pursuit resolution, and overall road danger reduction. The Commercial Vehicle Unit, notably Europe's largest, previously provided a 24/7 specialist response to critical and fatal incidents involving HGVs and buses, conducting detailed collision investigations, tachograph inspections, and load security checks. Funding for these teams, largely provided by Transport for London (TfL), amounted to £93.8 million in 2024/25, supporting a significant number of officers and community support officers across London's boroughs.
TfL has indicated that while dedicated teams will cease to exist in their current form, engagement, education, and bylaw enforcement will transition to its own enforcement teams, theoretically allowing police officers to focus more on crime. However, former traffic commissioner Beverley Bell strongly condemned the decision, describing the closure of the commercial vehicle unit as "madness" in a letter to Met Commissioner Mark Rowley. She asserted that the decision was not justified by cost, ineffectiveness, or poor stakeholder engagement, especially since TfL funds the unit entirely. Bell warned that the absence of a specialist team could embolden non-compliant operators, potentially leading to grave consequences, such as incapable drivers of large vehicles causing severe accidents.
The disbandment of London's specialist road safety units marks a contentious moment in the city's approach to road policing. While the Met Police aims to streamline operations and enhance overall road danger reduction, the potential repercussions for vulnerable road users and the efficacy of targeted enforcement remain a significant concern. This decision underscores the ongoing tension between resource allocation, policing priorities, and the imperative of ensuring safety for all road users in a densely populated urban environment.