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A protest campaign over poor walking and cycling safety


Effective road safety planning: what should be happening

What the vision should be
Road safety planning and policing: what we have a right to expect
Poor Merseyside road casualties should be considered
Other relevant information
Past strategies
Options that should be considered

Merseyside road safety failures

Merseyside / national road safety failures

Merseyside road safety concerns

So-Mo project on pedestrian casualties

Merseyside road safety improvements

Taking action on poor road safety

Current campaigns

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Non-violent direct action
When there is poor practice or malpractice by decision-makers, e.g.
  • decisions are not based on evidence
  • there is no genuine engagement or consultation
  • human rights are not being respected
  • information is being withheld, or false information is being given out
and they have failed to respond appropriately to the usual channels of communication, then non-violent direct action may be necessary or even an obligation to ensure compliance with the principles of democracy.


Examples of direct action being used to fight for transport justice

1. How the Dutch got their cycle paths

A mass die-in outside the Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum in the 70's:

See the full video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o explaining how the excellent Dutch cycle network was won by confronting the decision-makers who were prioritising car travel over child safety.



2. Crossing protest

Mothers formed a human barrier to hold up traffic in Beckenham, Kent in protest against the removal of a pedestrian crossing used by school children.




3. #NoMoreCoffins demonstrations in London

Regular "Die-ins" are held in London to fight for a fair share of road space for cyclists. The vigourous campaigning style has been credited with changing the culture of transport planning in London, with many segregated cycle tracks and cycle superhighways now being built.

See also the photo gallery of the King's Cross protests at https://www.theguardian.com/uk/gallery/2012/jan/10/bikes-alive-protest-kings-cross




4. Kinder Scout and other mass trespasses

The north of England has a proud history of people fighting for access rights such as
  • the Latrigg and other Keswick trespasses of 1887 [1]
  • the Kinder Scout mass trespass in 1932 [2]




References


[1] Mass trespass on Latrigg recalled (2015) http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/mass-trespass-on-latrigg-recalled.440708.html

[2] Kinder trespass: Spirit of Kinder http://kindertrespass.com






Last updated: 12 Jan 2020