Personal loss always creates a need to respond to a situation !
The Times is a well respected Newspaper internationally and has the reputation of caring for their employees and today I found that they are seeking to assist the Cycling Community as a result of injury to one of their reporters !
Found the following on another Cycling Blog ( Londoncyclist.com ) and copied it in whole :
“ Three months ago Times Reporter Mary Bowers was hit by a lorry as she made her way to her office. She remains in critical condition in hospital. Today, her colleagues have launched a campaign to call for safer measures to be put in place to protect cyclists.
The campaign has a front page position in the Times newspaper and is calling for people to visit this page to pledge their support:
http://thetim.es/cyclecampaign
Additionally, people on Twitter are asked to use the #cyclesafe to see if it can become a trending topic.
The times is calling for the below measures:
Trucks entering a city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible truck-turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under the wheels.
The 500 most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors that allow lorry drivers to see cyclists on their near-side.
A national audit of cycling to find out how many people cycle in Britain and how cyclists are killed or injured should be held to underpin effective cycle safety.
Two per cent of the Highways Agency budget should be earmarked for next generation cycle routes, providing £100 million a year towards world-class cycling infrastructure. Each year cities should be graded on the quality of cycling provision.
The training of cyclists and drivers must improve and cycle safety should become a core part of the driving test.
20mph should become the default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes.
Businesses should be invited to sponsor cycleways and cycling super-highways, mirroring the Barclays-backed bicycle hire scheme in London.
Every city, even those without an elected mayor, should appoint a cycling commissioner to push home reforms.
It’s good to see a big newspaper getting behind the campaign for safer cycling conditions. A front page feature helps get the message across to an audience that perhaps is less aware of the issues. Hopefully they’ll be a few copies of the Times floating around parliament today. ”
Now we all know that this Newspaper has been responsible for the making and breaking of the ruling party of the British Parliaments in past generations so can they now exercise their authority to see that their proposals are carried through to a successful conclusion ?
Meanwhile let us all hope that the young lady recovers and will be able to cycle to work in the not too distant future !
