Superb talk by Prof Missy Cummings on Autonomous Vehicles PAVE UK in London. Highlighting lessons from AV failures she demolished common misconceptions confirming that all ‘self driving’ requires remote operator ‘babysitting’. IMO this will require data transparency & audits.

Great discussion at Humanetics Safety Summit in Detroit today on making safety a mission. I cited advances in crash avoidance & protection but warned that auto trade disputes risk much needed improvements especially in pedestrian safety. Shared global standards build needed market for safer vehicles

Impressively broad support for ending first past the post @Labour4pr rally in Liverpool. Call for a national commission on proportional representation strongly endorsed. See: www.fairelections.uk/national-com...

In Liverpool with Emma MacLennan at #LabourConference2025. Pleased to speak with ITV’s Kit Bradshaw on govt. challenges & fight against fallacies & falsehoods of Farage. Great discussion with Attorney General Richard Herner on rule of law & role of European Convention on Human Rights.

Great to visit Giannis & #MikisTheodorakis family home in Galatas #Chania today with @emmamaclennan.bsky.social. Now a beautiful national monument celebrating the life of a musician & activist who left an enormous musical legacy to Greece & the world. He died 4 years ago & is buried nearby.

Trump is trying to force the EU to legalize US car bloat, and European safety leaders are furious: "Europe now risks being flooded with oversized, under-regulated U.S. pick-up trucks and SUVs – vehicles that are...completely out of step with Europe’s vision for safer, more sustainable mobility."

Very pleased to have contributed to latest Leading Labour podcast by Izzy Conn about my experience working for the late John Smith. His Labour leadership lasted less than 2 years but left strong legacy. Well worth a listen here: shorturl.at/e4GFP & to entire series.

No, Hitler shot himself & the Nazi regime unconditionally surrendered as did Japan after the US dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. JD Vance clearly didn’t study much history…

Meanwhile, UK politicians continue their race to the bottom as to who can talk the most nonsense about immigration... www.ft.com/content/8bfd...

Canada and the US are both car-centric, spacious countries. But an American is 2.5x more likely to die in a crash than a Canadian – and the gap is widening. My latest, in Bloomberg. 🧵

In 1917 British Government’s Balfour Declaration pledged support for Jewish homeland without prejudice to “civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”. Time long overdue for Britain to honour that condition & now recognise Palestinian statehood.

Lovely ceremony to dedicate a bench in honour of our late son Alex at Noakes Meadow play area in Beaver ward Ashford where he served as a Councillor. He would be so proud to welcome Ashford Labour MP Sojan Joseph MP, Mayor Lyn Suddards, wife Elizabeth Ward, with family & friends.

Five years today since Alex was lost to MND. Always in our hearts. “Unable are the loved to die, For love is immortality, Nay it is Deity…” (Emily Dickinson). #United2EndMND.

Great to be interviewed by @davidzipper.bsky.social on global vehicle standards and why the US no longer leads the world in auto safety.

33 national, regional & global road safety organisations have now signed joint letter #ITF25 warning of risks that auto trade disputes may undermine vehicle safety standards. To promote safety & facilitate trade, regulations should be levelled up not down. www.globalncap.org/news/standar...

@GlobalNCAP event at #ITF25 today I corrected President Trump’s claim that pedestrian protection standards are an unfair trade practice. Not a ‘bowling ball’ test but a well established global regulation using a head form to replicate pedestrian impact. www.globalncap.org/blog/preside...

Great opening day at #ITF25 in Leipzig with strong focus on vehicle safety priorities highlighting #StopTheCrash technologies auto emergency braking & motorcycle anti-lock brakes. Pleased to welcome ITF summit delegates @globalncap.org safety demonstrations & side event.

Great speech by @robfordmancs.bsky.social @appgfairelections.bsky.social in Parliament today. Warned First Past ThePost can’t cope with party fragmentation, erodes mandates, & risks electoral chaos with results as unpredictable ‘as a fruit machine’. Labour choice: lead or be led to electoral reform.

This week is the UN Global Road Safety Week supporting action to #MakeWalkingSafe & #MakeCyclingSafe. For more see: www.who.int/campaigns/un...

Hopefully UK-US trade deal will not lead to any watering down of vehicle safety. Over last few decades US & UK safety standards have diverged notably for pedestrian protection regulation which President Trump claims is an unfair trade practice. Read more: daviddjward.com

Eighty years ago my parents Sam & Pat were both among the crowds in central London for VE Day, but they didn’t meet until a year later. My mother told me that her sense of relief & joy was eclipsed by sadness & loss of her brother John killed on D Day 11 months earlier. #VE80

Privileged to attend HM King Charles’ garden party at Buckingham Palace today with @emmamaclennan.bsky.social Amused to chat with late John Smith’s 1992 Commons sparring partner ex Chancellor Lord Lamont. Great to meet also with fellow Tenterden residents Tim & Mary Monckton.

Great to be in Delhi last month to speak at IRTE workshop on vehicle safety. Focus on motorcycle & commercial fleet safety. Strong speech by the Minister of Transport Nitin Gadkari & launch @globalncap.org new fleet safety purchasing guide.

At World Traffic Safety Symposium @NYAutoShow I praised past US leadership on global safety standards (eg: electronic stability control) but lamented delay to act on pedestrian protection which must not become victim of President Trump’s trade wars. See: bit.ly/3G9Ap5q

Last week in the White House President Trump talked about pedestrian safety standards in a very unusual way. So last night after I arrived in New York I did some research myself…and I think I’ve cracked it. See picture below of the original team pioneering the bowling ball test on a Chevy!

The cull by Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency disproportionately hit staff overseeing the technology on which the billionaire has staked Tesla’s future. www.ft.com/content/ede5...

Looking forward to speaking on vehicle safety lessons & priorities at World Traffic Safety Symposium New York International Auto Show on Thursday. Timely opportunity to highlight benefits of global harmonisation for pedestrian protection, auto emergency breaking, & other life saving technologies.

Icebergs vs the bond market: the winner of the longest lasting lettuce is…

Proud to be standing for Tenterden as Labour candidate in Kent County Council elections on 1st May. I’ve campaigned to fix potholes, serve on the Town Council, support our local Neighbourhood Plan & share my late son Alex’s commitment to public service. #DavidW4Tenterden!

Great discussion on devolution in Kent Weald of Kent Labour meeting in Tenterden yesterday with @vincemaple leader of Medway Council. Vince made strong case for new structure of 4 unitary authorities & mayoralty for Kent. Will be biggest reform of our local democracy in more than 50 years

Pleased to be UK FCDO workshop on UN Decade of #SustainableTransport with @slocat.net. Important opportunity to frame a road map of initiatives to make transport systems safer, cleaner, affordable, & accessible. Great location in Locano Room to inspire ambitious agenda for change.

Pleased to be speaking with Vince Maple Leader of Medway on the future of Kent’s local government. Open meeting 7pm 1st April in White Lion, Tenterden to discuss new unitary authorities & opportunity to improve effectiveness & efficiency of our local democracy & public services.

New poll from Labour Together that really underlines just how utterly negligent it was not to change the electoral system for mayors back to ranked voting.

"The first year of a scheme in Wales where the speed limit on urban roads was lowered to 20mph resulted in about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Great to have participated with @emmamaclennan.bsky.social at the World Bank/WRI #TTDC2025 in Washington this week. Despite nearby chaos & disruption clear pathways for sustainable transport discussed involving equity, diversity & action on climate change. Strong focus on road injury prevention too

Congestion pricing is working even better than anticipated: traffic is down, even outside the zone. "Where are those trips going? One possibility is more of these drivers are ditching the car for the train more than the MTA forecasted." Huge news today in @nyc.streetsblog.org:

"We don't want to be Americans - we want to be Greenlanders!"

Good morning S&P 500

Wonderful 10th anniversary celebration Global Designing Cities Initiative in Washington DC. Their Global Street Design Guide sets the gold standard for safer & healthier urban environments. Brilliant leadership by Janette Sadik-Khan & Skye Duncan to make cities better places for people not just cars

#InternationalWomensDay 2025

Of the 20 most gender-equal parliaments in the world, NONE use First Past The Post. Studies show that proportional systems increase both female political engagement and the number of women elected. On #IWD2025 we wrote about why electoral reform would help build a more equal society:

On arrival in Washington for #TTDC2025 good to see a statement of fact outside the Old Executive Office Building. #SlavaUkraini

Tesla car sales in Germany fell by 76% in February Australia reported a 66% drop in Tesla registrations Tesla sales were down 24% in the Netherlands, 42% in Sweden, 48% in both Norway and Denmark, 45% in France, 55% in Italy, 10% in Spain and 53% in Portugal www.reuters.com/business/aut...

Word of the day is ‘lickspittle’ (17th century): a person who fawns upon someone in power for personal gain.

"Shortly after becoming CEO of a cash-strapped Tesla in 2008, Musk fought hard to secure a low-interest loan from the Energy Department...holding daily briefings with company executives about the paperwork and spending hours with a government loan officer." And now he hates government.

Word of the day is ‘huff-snuff’ (16th century): a hectoring bully or braggart.

Slava Ukraini