The family of a man who was killed by a hit-and-run driver are calling on the government to broaden the definition in law of ‘death by dangerous driving’ to include a failure to stop, call 999 and render aid on scene until further help arrives. At time of writing, their petition has almost 6,000 signatures.
The driver who killed Ryan Saltern received a suspended four-month prison sentence and driving ban.
Our 40-minute documentary about road danger highlights the institutionalised apathy towards road deaths that overlooks the 24,000 people killed or seriously injured every year on British roads. We’ve spent the last 70 years making driving convenient and life inconvenient. Our love affair with the car has come at a cruel cost…
“The city is where people come to work, raise families, walk in the evening. It is not a traffic corridor” John Norquist
We know what it takes to build healthy and safe cities; there’s an abundance of wisdom and experience out there. The reason we tolerate the child deaths, air pollution and huge financial burden caused by motorised traffic isn’t a lack of knowledge – it’s a shameful lack of political will.
A rational approach to road danger reduction isn’t just about stopping the death of children, it’s about helping them to thrive. Odense is the third-largest city in Denmark and yet 81% of children ride to school, generally without their parents. Here in Britain, it’s less than 2%.
Over 6,500 people have seen our film. Please watch it and share it as widely as possible.
Stop Killing our Children from ETA on Vimeo.
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Vincent Edwards
As I looked out of my front window this morning a delivery van mounted the dropped kerb in front of next door (to the left). It drove twenty yards or so along the pavement in front of my house, coming to a stop in front of next door (to the right). There was no “need” for it to be on the pavement – the road is very wide and, except at rush hour, pretty quiet. Lots of room for vehicles to pass even if it had parked fully on the road.
Pavement parking – which government is extremely reluctant to address – leads to pavement driving. As drivers have grown accustomed to parking on the pavement, they have come to regard it as their territory. So when they don’t want to stop behind that stationary vehicle in front of them which is waiting to turn right, they just mount the pavement and slip past on its left.
We were all taught to take care crossing the road. Now we have to watch out when walking along the pavement as well. I anticipate pavement casualties will get steadily worse.
Tony Williams
I’ve signed the petition. I think that not dialling 999 or not providing assistance after an accident are difficult to define as “dangerous driving”, but they should certainly be taken into account if they have contributed to a death.
Where I have to disagree with you is over the headline “another 5 needless road deaths”. If people move about in large numbers there will be accidents, especially if they are on vehicles of any kind that enable them to move faster than a walking pace. There were accidents in the days of horse-drawn vehicles. An eight-year old boy from the family of one of my wife’s ancestors was killed in 1838 when the donkey pulling the cart on which he and his two sisters were riding was frightened by some dogs and started to bolt. The boy jumped off to try to hold the donkey’s head and regain control, and one of the shafts ran into his chest. There are accidents when cyclists collide. There will be accidents involving people on skateboards. Even someone running fast can cause an accident which in certain circumstances will be fatal.
It is inconceivable that large urban developments will not have substantial movement of people. The evidence is that they always have. John Norquist whom you quote, whoever he may be, is entitled to his opinion, but a city is a traffic corridor.