Since mid October 2014 , i have been somewhat busy with my travel plans . About that time i was preparing to travel to London , for the " StopKillingCyclists Die In on Oxford Street of London " .
AS i passed through Munich in the middle of Novenber , i received some disturbing news ewhich caused me to take a flight to Melbourne then onto New Zealand .
Whilst in the antipodies , i travelled most of the Eastern States of Australia , so was able to familiarise myself with many of the areas that i either passed through in the past , or had lived in whilst living in Australia until the mid 90 s .
During November 2013 , there was an outrageous upsurge in CYCLIST MURDERS on both UK and Oz Roads ! No point going over the circumstances here , but as a result i spent time on social media following further Incidents and adding my 2c worth to various campaigns . Please take the time to visit / google " VisionZeroWorldWide " and ADD your input . I would particularly appreciate ANY Translations of the " Placards " in ADDITIONAL Languages
Many people having seen these " Placards " have posed with them , however , it appears that they did not go to the site and download their photo to THEIR Social Media ? How much more could have been achieved , had they done so ? In March 2014 at the start of the Tirrano-Adriatico Etappe near Pisa , i photoed both Chris Horner and Mario Cipollini holding the Placards . Within weeks Chris was rear ended and in August that year Mario was hospitalised in that city .
Having been rear ended by a TFL Bus , whilst on a Cycling Lane through a pinch point on an inner London Road , i am only too familiar with the consequences of " Distracted/Impatient Drivers ! During that one day visit , journeying through London , i saw far too many London/TFL bus drivers with an attitude problem ! So far i have kept to my promise of staying away from London and thus the " Terrorism " that TFL inflicts on the Population unfortunate to become statistics , rather than personalities and members of the HUMAN RACE !
Even TFL Staff have suffered as a result of Traffic Violence , even DEATH , visited on them in Bus Interchanges , on the roads and on the TFL Contractor Premises ! If the author of " A SaferOxfordStreet " , Tom Kearney , is correct , TFL have no interest in collating statistics of Traffic Violence within the premises of the TFL Sub Contractors Garages ? Quite obviously those premises are subject to oversight by the Health and Safety Executive , yet as soon as the Vehicles cross the Garage boundary , then it is open slather as they BULLY the other vehicles on London Regional Roads in their attempt to meet the timetables imposed on the Drivers by those , that think that there are NO TRAFFIC QUEUES and thus no reason not to RUN RED LIGHTS and EXCEED SPEED LIMITS ?
Last night , 27th November 2015 , the 3rd Annual " Die In " was held , outside TFL House . The following quote , relates to a speech delivered by a Co Founder of " StopKillingCyclists " . What a shame that the Media are more concerned about keeping their snought in the trough of TFL , rather than assisting the likes of THEIR COLLEAGUE , " Mary Bowers , who until her hospitalisation , she worked asa journo for the TIMES of London , to survive their ride to work on a BIKE !
https://www.facebook.com/donnachadh His speech :
http://saferoxfordstreet.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/we-are-not-grateful-words-spoken-at.html
Our Mayor and His Lords of Transport are offended!
Their pliant press bleats that we haven’t been grateful enough for the scraps they’ve thrown out to us…
…after promising us a feast that would be the envy of the world!
Our planet has travelled three times ’round the sun since we last met at this place…
...and thousands more now lay dead from the lethal complacency that continuously belches forth from this tower of this indifferent bureaucracy that ‘keeps London dying.’
And for what are we to supposed to be grateful?
For a few thousand metres of protection and many more gasps of increasingly toxic air we’re forced to inhale?
We are not grateful.
For countless more vehicles that churn out a daily dose of preventable death on our killing streets?
We are not grateful.
For the endless conceits that pump up the platitudes The Lords of Transport pimp to all as ‘industry-leading’ urban transport policy'?
We are not grateful.
But we solemnly gather at this place—once again—to evoke our collective memory of the fallen…
....with the hope that—before too many more travels 'round the now setting sun—
our small planet—and we on it here today—will be begin to heal.
And for that eternal hope.
We are grateful.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Various News Outlets reported on the " Die In " :
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/cyclist-diein-campaigners-stage-protest-outside-tfl-headquarters-in-southwark-a3125131.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-34945521
It appears that a reporter from JAPAN , made a special journey to attend this event ?
Amongst the many that attended and made very emotive speeches , this was clearly the message that needed to be HEARD :
" Nicola Branch, co-organiser of the protest, said: "We want 10% of the TfL budget to be spent on cycling infrastructure. At the moment it is only 1.4% of their transport budget and that's nowhere near enough."
Could YOU have done what this lady did ? The following is a quote from the BBC Item :
" Among the protesters was Vicky Lebreck, 25, from London, who said she was trying to "get my life back together" after her leg was amputated after her pelvis was crushed by a lorry in a crash in December last year.
"I don't think it should be a possible outcome that a mistake made by a driver means people cycling on London's roads should be dying or having dramatic injuries."
Another Speaker was a Belgian Lady whose speech just came to light thanks to this Blog :
http://www.rollapaluza.com/blog/2015/11/stop-killing-cyclists-die-in
“ Three months ago I arrived in London with my children from Belgium, three weeks later I was hit on a cycle path on a busy road by a driver, I was riding a 100k cargo bike at the time, bike bike got pushed on its side and I was thrown off luckily I didn’t have my children with me at the time and I came out of the accident with only a few bruises, today I stand here before you lucky to be alive, in the three months I have been cycling here I can not count the number of near misses, the “sorry I didn’t see you “ comments and the verbal abuse from some drivers.
"All I want to do is cycle safely with my children from A to B, the school run, shopping and once in a while a cycling adventure, women cyclists are outnumbered on the roads by men three to one, and men cycle four time more than women, however…out of the eight cycling deaths this year six of then were women, so I’m standing here today to tell the decision makers enough is enough I do not want to come here to a die in and cry out and mourn for those lost on these streets, but as long as people lose their lives over here I have no choice, this is why I among many women and mothers demand proper segregated cycle routes so we can get on with our lives without the daily fear of being run over, we do not want to become another statistic and a new name on the next die in list, our lives are precious its about time TFL and policy makers start realising the same”
At the 3rd Annual Die In , before the protesters laid down, Scarlett Brady-Hughes, eight, poignantly read out the names of the 21 cyclists killed.
LETS ALL HOPE , that we do not find ourselves having to repeat HER EXPERIENCE !!
COULD AUSTRALIA or Other Countries MOBILISE and create THEIR OWN Organisation that ENSURES that Governments SPEND MORE on Cycling Infrastructure ?
When you consider that Albania , that 3rd World Country , can create SAFE CYCLING FACILITIES , such as these , WHAT is the problem for those in the Top 10 ?
Whilst the Iraq and Afgan Wars were in progress , both UK and Australian Governments were reportiing that EACH TROOPER KILLED cost their Economy about $500000 , so are EACH DEAD CYCLIST to be considered as LESS Relevant to the Economy ?
Whilst the Iraq and Afgan Wars were in progress , both UK and Australian Governments were reportiing that EACH TROOPER KILLED cost their Economy about $500000 , so are EACH DEAD CYCLIST to be considered as LESS Relevant to the Economy ?
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