According to the World Health Organisation, 1.25 million people are killed on the world’s roads every year – that’s 3,424 a day. This Sunday is World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims – a time for all nations to take stock of this carnage.
We were contacted by Southampton Cycling Campaign, who, supported by other local groups, plan to use the day to bring attention to a junction that takes pedestrians seven minutes to cross.
The video of one pedestrian’s experience of the junction next to Bitterne Station is testament to how we have designed our lives around cars as opposed to people. Locals wishing to join the protest this Sunday can find out more via the Facebook page here.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was started by RoadPeace in 1993. Since then it has been observed and promoted worldwide by several NGOs, including the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) and its associated organisations. On 26 October 2005, the United Nations endorsed it as a global day to be observed every third Sunday in November each year, making it a major advocacy day for road traffic injury prevention.
Road danger is the term used to describe the numerous threats to health from motorised traffic. As well us the 1.25 million people killed each year, countless more suffer the effects of air pollution. In Britain alone, the government estimates over 30,000 people die early due to air pollution.
If you want to protest about the effects of road danger on us all – whatever our age and however we travel – please consider contributing towards our crowd funding campaign. We are raising money to make a film about road danger and how it can be addressed.
Philip
The odd thing is the rabid anti-cycling brigade in the UK seem to think that cyclists are once of the biggest menaces facing civilisation, and seem to be oblivious to the carnage caused on four rather than two wheels.