Press Release from Sheffield Safe Streets Now
• Campaigners gather at Park Hill and Walkley on Saturday, April 20 to participate in a national call for safer streets
• “We are gathering to demand safe streets at notorious junctions where the failure to provide adequate crossings or design safe street layouts is putting people at serious risk every day” says organiser Sam Wakeling
• Action is part of a day of events across the country to call for changes to streets to prevent deaths and injuries, backed by multiple national road safety and environmental pressure groups
Campaigners will gather this April 20th at Sheffield Trades and Labour Club by the Duke St and Talbot St junction, and in Walkley at Walkley Road, at 11 am to demand safer streets for Sheffielders. Organiser Sam Wakeling said “Every day we are put at risk by the dangerous roads cutting through our communities. From children going to school, to older people going shopping and everyone in between, we are tired of facing lethal danger just going about outside. In Walkley local parents have been campaigning for years for safe streets to get to their local primary schools. In Park Hill residents have pressed for 20 years for safe crossings of this notorious junction. Stories like these are repeated at almost every school and at countless junctions in Sheffield. We’ve heard our council supports safe streets – now we need to see results.”
The action forms part of a coordinated series of events organised by a coalition of community groups and national road safety and environmental campaign organisations called “Safe Streets Now” calling for an end to deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roads. At locations stretching from Torbay to Inverness, the day will feature a wide variety of actions, from banner drops, marches and vigils to joy-filled protected “Kidical Mass” bike rides for children. The group say that a renewed policy focus on reducing traffic danger will not only save lives currently lost in preventable collisions but will also make the nation’s streets happier, healthier and more vibrant places for everyone who uses them.
Safe Streets Now has sent an open letter to senior politicians including the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in advance of the day, outlining their demands for key changes, including default 20mph limits, a ban on pavement parking and increased resourcing for mobility lanes to better protect people walking, wheeling and cycling. The letter, which has been signed by multiple national campaigning organisations such as Brake, Roadpeace, 20’s Plenty, Possible, ActionVisionZero and MumsforLungs, also appeals to the Sentencing Council to revise their guidance on driving bans, so that dangerous drivers who kill people in crashes lose their licenses for good.
Notes to Editors
1. Safe Streets Now is a coalition of community groups and national pressure groups. It campaigns to eliminate deaths and serious injuries in traffic collisions, creating happier, healthier and more vibrant streets where people can play, travel and socialise free from fear.
2. The group had an inaugural national day of action in September 30th last year, across 15 different locations in England and Wales, which included Walkley in Sheffield – attended by local councillors including leader Tom Hunt
3. Campaigners have called for safe crossings on Talbot St junction with petition last year https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/make-talbot-street-bernard-street-duke-st-crossing-safe and Manor Castle Greens highlighting it since at least 2008 http://manorcastlegreens.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/2008/04/17/bernard-streetduke-street-traffic-lights/
4. In 2022, 28,031 people were seriously injured and 1711 were killed on UK roads
5. 1,890 children 0-16 years old were killed or seriously injured on UK roads in 2022
6. In 2014, only 12% of English primary school children usually travelled to school independently[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8040f240f0b623026926cd/travel-to-school.pdf], compared with 86% in 1971 and 35% in 1990[Shaw, B., Fagan-Watson, B., Fraudendienst, B. et al. (2013) Children’s independent mobility: a comparative study in England and Germany (1971–2010). London: Policy Studies Institute]
Contact safestreetsnowsheffield@gmail.com for more information.
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