We need streets that welcome walking and wheeling

Living Streets’ Catherine Woodhead says Road Safety Strategy is an opportunity to address the dangers faced by pedestrians

The government has released its first Road Safety Strategy in over a decade, with a plan to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65% by 2035.

The strategy states: “The vision should be for zero people to lose their lives on our road.”

The Road Safety Strategy is an opportunity to address the dangers pedestrians face every day, but the vision should be for zero people to lose their lives on our road, not a 65% reduction. We should not accept that a certain number of people will die on our roads.

We need streets that are safe and welcoming so more of us can enjoy the benefits of walking and wheeling. There is too much traffic around schools, too many pavements taken over by cars and too many streets designed around vehicles. Taking action to address pavement parking would make our streets immediately safer, so it feels like a missed opportunity that it doesn’t form part of this strategy. 

We’re pleased to see that vulnerable road users remain a key focus, acknowledging that people walking are more at risk, with those from deprived neighbourhoods even more likely to be a casualty on our roads.

It’s also good to see proposals to address aspects of driver behaviour and the rising number of larger vehicles on our roads, but there needs to be more detail on how we design our streets in a way that puts a stop to such needless loss of life.

Catherine Woodhead is chief executive of Living Streets

Living Streets is the UK charity behind lifesaving campaigns that led to the introduction of the driving licence, the first zebra crossings and speed limits. Earlier this year, Living Streets joined with The Bikeability Trust to launch Safer Streets for All, a report which provided evidence and recommendations to shape the strategy’s development.