'Winter road safety isn't just about being seen, it's about cars slowing down,' says Sustrans
Reminders for pedestrians and cyclists to don high-vis gear for the darker evenings of winter skirt around the key issues of road safety, says Sustrans.
Instead, says the charity, as many as 580 deaths and serious injuries among children could be prevented by introducing 20mph speed limits into urban areas where 30mph is the current limit.
Presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff has added her voice to Sustrans' calls, acting as ambassador for the Free Range Kids initiative, designed to get more children out of the car and onto bikes or their own two legs.
Krestovnikoff said: ‘Britain’s approach to road safety is deeply flawed. Dressing our children in high-visibility clothes from head to toe does not tackle the source of the danger.
"What we need is to reduce traffic speeds in residential and urban areas to 20mph, and invest far more in creating safe walking and cycling routes, to school and beyond. If we don’t then our children will be denied the freedom we so enjoyed, and miss out on so much that makes childhood special."
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Keeping children from walking and cycling is having a detrimental effect on their health and wellbeing. Thirty years ago 80 per cent of seven to eight year olds walked or cycled to school on their own. That figure has since been reversed, with 80 per cent of children of a similar age accompanied by an adult – increasingly in a car. As a result, children are less independent and less physically active.
www.sustrans.org.uk/freerangekids
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3 comments
Good for Sustrans and shame on anyone who thinks cars should have the right to run down anyone who gets in their way! The Dutch are civilised, doesn't look like we are though!
Christopher Sauvarin Oct 31st 2011 at 4:22PM
0 0The photo with this article brought back said memories for me, a schoolfriends brother was struck and killed by a car whilst retrieving a ball exactly as you see above. If we can do anything to encourage people to slow down, people drive discracefully in the UK and it's not just the stereotypical boy racers.
Gary Bird Oct 31st 2011 at 7:42PM
0 0Spot on, Sustrans. Obviously, whether child or adult, we don't want to be camoflaged when cycling. But there's no need to be head to toe in high viz. If so why aren't all cars bright yellow? In any event it would lead to the expectation that everyone is in hi viz and, assuming this doesn't lead first to a dulling of drivers' senses as they become inured to hi viz, they would keep speeds up and blame any victim not wearing hi viz. This hi-viz thing has been taken to such daft extremes by e.g. Council risk assessors; I've been in footway discussions with offcers compelled to wear Hi Viz. They don't seem to realise that if you need hi viz to chat on a pavement or ride a bike in town then they have failed professionally. As ex Transport Sec. Steve Norris said 'I don't want to dress up like a spaceman just to ride my bike'. To ensure you are noticed on a bike get your postioning right, with maybe a little splash of colour if, for you, black is the new black. As for helmets, traders pushing hi viz sales could be depressing bike sales. John Mallows, Policy Director Cylenation
John Mallows Nov 10th 2011 at 5:29PM
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