PRESS RELEASE
GENERAL ELECTION:
Double Labour / Tory HQs -
#10%by2020 Stop Killing Cyclists Protests and Die-Ins !!
Tory HQ, 4 Matthew Parker Street, Westminster SW1H
Please bring gas or pollution masks.
Stop Killing Cyclists co-organiser Alex Raha said:
“Air pollution is poisoning millions of people in the UK, whilst traffic carbon emissions are contributing to the climate emergency. Road danger means most people do not feel safe cycling on UK roads, which means they lack life-saving physical exercise”.
The Die-In on 21st May will be dedicated to the memory of prominent octogenarian cycling campaigner and Stop Killing Cyclists member Londoner Bryan Stout, who was tragically killed by an inebriated driver in Spain in April 2017.
End.
Notes to Editors:
* Invest 10% of Department for Transport Budget by 2020 in safer cycling/walking infrastructure.
⦁ Reduced taxes on more polluting cars
⦁ DfT released proposals to close down local street pollution monitoring
⦁ UK government lobbied EU to weaken pollution testing standards after VW scandal
⦁ Despite taxi numbers in London soaring above 100,000, government refusing to allow TfL to regulate taxi numbers in London.
⦁ Osborne slashed the already miniscule funding for cycling investment to a tiny pathetic 6% of what Dutch are spending, whilst allocating billions more to road-building.
⦁ Osborne has cut fuel duty at every single budget despite oil prices having fallen by over a third since 2012.
⦁ Government banned use of camera vehicles by local councils to enforce parking restrictions.
⦁ They refused to reduce speed limits to 60 mph on M1 and M3 help reduce frequency of EU pollution levels being breached.
⦁ They have proposed raising speed limit on motorways to 80 mph
⦁ UK government has been breaking EU road pollution law safety limits since 2010
⦁ Government found guilty of breaking EU pollution directive by UK Supreme Court in 2015
⦁ Government plans for London to continue to break EU pollution limits until 2025
⦁ Government plans for other major UK cities to continue to break EU pollution limits until 2030 e.g. Birmingham & Leeds
⦁ Government lobbied EU to dilute road pollution laws that it is breaking
⦁ Chancellor extended first MOT requirement from 3 to 4 years., thus enabling faulty polluting vehicles to be undetected on the roads for yet another year.
Tragically in the past week Karla Roman, Anita Szucs, Ben Wales and an unnamed person have been killed whilst either cycling or walking in London, Stop Killing Cyclists will be holding a vigil and die in to remember them as part of our protest.This highlights the need for safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists is now more pressing than ever.
HM TREASURY: 10 BY 2020 STOP KILLING CYCLISTS PROTEST !!
STOP KILLING CYCLISTS DEMAND HEALTHY STREETS, STREETS ON WHICH IT IS SAFE
FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE TO WALK AND CYCLE.
1 Ban all 0,1 & 2 star rated HGV’s by Dec 17, only allow 5 star beyond 2023
2 Accelerate the program of cycling infrastructure that was started by previous mayor
3 Commit to the spend £250 million of the next budget on active transport working towards 10%
of tfl budget for cycling and walking by 2020
4 Mandatory requirement for London operators & councils to adopt Construction Logistic and
Cyclist Safety (CLOCS)
5 TfL to extend Confidential Incident Reporting & Analysis (CIRAS) to all HGVs working for
Crossrail and Transport for London immediately and - by the end of 2017 - any HGV Operator
working on London’s roads should be signed up to an independent confidential safety incident
reporting scheme
6 Trial an Idaho law that allows cyclists to treat red traffic lights as give way junctions, with full
right of way for pedestrians
Following on from London’s biggest ever bike die-in outside TfL headquarters in November 2013 this campaign (visit its associated Facebook page and discussion group) intends to build a peaceful but more radical approach to fighting for safer infrastructure for all of the city’s road users, though with a focus on cycling, within a framework that drives the message home to those who really need to hear it.
One year on, and we continue to protest radically: on 15 November 2014 we marched along Oxford Street behind a horse-drawn hearse and held a die-in at Marble Arch for ‘The National Funeral of the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence‘.
A few decades ago, the Dutch campaigned to reduce road danger, especially for young people that chose to walk or cycle, under the banner ‘Stop the Child Murder’ (‘Stop de kindermoord’) - it had an effect: after years of persistence The Dutch Got Their Cycle Paths.
PEACEFUL BUT MORE RADICAL
All road users are welcome to attend actions or join the campaign if they share and wish to express our concerns. There has been too much talk of war on the roads, and that only makes things worse. We’re trying to make things better.
Joining is just a matter of turning up at an action, and - if you use Facebook - by showing your support and getting involved there.
Volunteers are always welcome - without the amazing help we had from numerous people who created websites, printed and distributed flyers, made banners, offered PA systems, pestered media contacts - someone even built a bike-mounted stage for us on the day itself! - etc the TfL die-in just couldn’t have been the amazing and historic event it was.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Details of what led up to the creation of this group can be found in an article written by co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy that was published in The Ecologist, click:
Many of the topics that affect people who choose to cycle also affect people when they choose to walk; or people who have limited mobility; for that reason, a sister website was established by some of the same grass-roots volunteers, click:
Be sure to visit us in our other locations around the internet:
- Facebook Page (for announcements)
- Facebook Discussion Group (this is the main place for us)
- Twitter @StopKillingCycl
- YouTube Channel
- Google+
Email: [email protected]
PRESS ENQUIRES only: 07947 884299
Hope the policy-makers-facing campaign goes well. I am based in Devon but am trying to make some small contribution by finding or making driver-facing memorable and shareable messages, presently via FB on https://www.facebook.com/aMetreMattersUK …. things that might lodge positively in a driver’s mind when they see a cyclist and overcome the bl**dycyclist mentality.
We are actively supporting this movement, please contact me direct to discuss potential to raise awareness at our event in March via a talk, presentation/ Q&A with expert panel
Hi Alex, apologies for the delay in responding, but as we are no-budget and volunteer-run we are unable to keep up with everything as closely as we would like.
If you email us on [email protected] with more details one of use will be able to get back to you. That email address is one-way but it is linked to another account from which we can reply. In theory though, I think we would be happy to be involved in the event.
Steve
Stop Killing Cyclists.
On the A217 in Sutton & Merton many cyclists do not use the cycle lanes that many of us campaigned for. I do not see the sense of riding in a 40 or 60 dual carriageway when there is a lane. This needs to be put across to riders.
Is that because they are poorly connected, designed and/or maintained, or with big detours/loss of junction priority ? I don’t know the road living nowhere near there, but most cyclists would use good facilities, but so often they are poorly executed.
I lived in Vancouver for many years and although the situation there has its challenges there is a fundamental difference to attitude toward cyclists. Road laws in North America make it a requirement for drivers to look for pedestrians and cyclists. In the UK the focus is the opposite - pedestrians and cyclists must make every effort to be seen and to avoid drivers. This is a fatal flaw. Even safety advertisements by the City of London focus on cyclists watching out for drivers not drivers watching out for cyclists. Walking or cycling in London is a very dangerous matter, things need to change.
Would be good if some statistics could be compiled and provided to the press. It could be, given the comparatively limited number of cyclists in London- that is compared to motor vehicles, that the number of deaths and injuries may make it as dangerous or more so than some of the most recognized dangerous activities like base jumping, or approaching or worse than residing in a dangerous country like Honduras or DRC.
According to Chris Boardman (on BBC Breakfast 3 Nov) more people are killed gardening than cycling. He emphasised that, its because of the aggressive way that people drive i.e. excessive/inappropriate speed and near misses, that terrifies people re cycling.
Regards Allan Ramsay member of RoadPeace
I contacted TFL about 8-wheel construction traffic using Deptford High Street as a cut-through to avoid traffic lights and time in the local area. The lorries are driven fast and often dangerously. I have, after several emails received no proper response from TFL and there has been no attempt to addresses this. The current situation could easily result in a nasty accident on a busy high street. I would recommend anyone concerned to go and look what is happening on a weekday. I consider TFL a disgrace in not seeking even to make an effort. I am going to film what is happening and will be posting videos online and will keep you posted.
I ride daily in London and support this campaign, not least because I got wiped out in broad daylight by a car driving into me with the driver only getting a small fine and slap on the wrist.
However, I cannot see how a “law that allows cyclists to treat red traffic lights as give way junctions” will improve safety for us and toughen sentencing on motorists who wilfully injure and kill cyclists. Please explain.
I really hope this protest goes well…as something needs to be done. I was involved in a hit and run this week. As I cycled to work on Wednesday morning a van pulled into the bus lane before turning left and hitting me, knocking me off my bike and onto the ground. I was lucky…I only had a buckled wheel, cuts, and bruises to show for it. The recent spate of incidents has made me realise how at risk I am every day on the road. I reported the crime to the police, and it first I thought it was pointless. But with three people killed this week cycling in London, I am going to chase the police to find who committed the hit and run on me…who is to say this vehicle won’t do it again. I cannot make it to the protest on Sat, so once again, I do hope it has the impact necessary.
One of the major contributions that cyclists make to modern living is the reduction they usually make in congestion (and pollution) for all other forms of transport.
Maybe the next time a whole clutch of cyclists are mown down what is needed is not so much a ‘die- in’ as a taste (for everyone else) of what it feels like if all the cyclists get off their bikes and - as visibly as possible (carrying a helmet?) - use their cars or take up their places on buses and tubes and on the pavement. Maybe this needs to happen at a specific (rush hour?) moment and location - either as central or as close to the most recent accident as possible.
Maybe then other road users would get the message. It’s not a war. Cyclists happen to be users of all the other forms of transport (including cars) as well.
Perhaps after a demonstration like that - and it would indeed demonstrate something - non-cyclists would ‘get it’. People who use bikes are doing everyone else a huge favour. They shouldn’t have to risk their lives to do so.
Hello!
Haven’t found a better way to get hold of you than this :/
I organise a cycle from London to Athens to raise money for a refugee community centre in Athens. I’m really keen to make the first 5 miles into a cycle-protest with the message ‘refugees welcome’. Could you tell me about the legalities of this? I’d welcome any collaboration or advice!