Road Safety Week - a dismal affair?

Last night Full Council was cancelled due to the weather forecast - but the Green group of councillors still met to discuss a range of issues and approached - particularly with the budget coming up....but this blog is about a comment to the press by Green County Councillor Sarah Lunnon....as regular blog readers will know for some years I've been working locally with others on a ward-wide 20 mph...it looks like it is going to happen; a couple more hoops to go through.....

Greens call for Urban 20mph and No pavement parking

Road Safety week is a pretty dismal affair commented Cllr Sarah Lunnon (Green Stroud East) with the majority of the campaign being focussed on those who do the least damage. Pedestrians constantly taught how to cross roads, cyclists covered in dayglo and protected like they are ready for the amphitheatre. 

Greens are calling for a radically different approach to roads - one that recognises the needs of people to move around and not just when they are inside a vehicle.

Cllr Sarah Lunnon said "actually the signal for a vehicle to stop or slow down is not a red light or some other highway sign but a person. If for example a driver sees a child on the side of a road they should slow down, irrespective of the speed limit - children, well people are impulsive, they do daft things, they step into roads without looking or thinking. It is our responsibility when driving vehicles in urban, village and residential areas to recognise this".

At 20 mph this recognition is more likely, drivers can read what people in the street are doing, also if there is an accident a 20mph the likelyhood of death or serious injury is vastly lower than at 30mph or above. What we need is a Highway Authority, and political ambition prepared to protect the most vulnerable, by introducing a blanket 20mph across all of Gloucestershires current 30mph and reversing the defacto acceptance of vehicles parking on pavements and forcing pedestrians into the carriageway."