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Petitions and activism
Please sign a petition to help stop needless deaths on London's Oxford Street
carriemumsnet · 11/03/2013 16:28
One of my dear friends is running a campaign to lobby Mayor Boris Johnson to improve conditions for pedestrians on London's Oxford Street through pedestrianization and he'd love your help. Here are some facts: accident rates on Oxford Street are 35 times the average of all other London streets and there's a collision involving a bus every 3.4 days. Since 2000, over a thousand casualties have resulted from bus-pedestrian accidents on Oxford Street and over 200 pedestrians have been killed or seriously-injured - often it's children or the elderly who are most vulnerable. While buses deliver many people to and from Oxford Street, much of the time the nearly 300 buses per hour running along the street are empty.
Our friend Tom, a dad to two young DSs, was hit while still on the kerb of Oxford Street by a 16 ton bendy bus in Dec 2009. The impact burst both his lungs and he was in a coma for two weeks and in hospital for months. He was very lucky to survive, and it took him two years to recover fully.
He knows if he can get Mumsnetters' support for his initiative then someone might listen, so I promised him I'd ask you. When you speak to him he really does have an amazing story to tell and compelling arguments why this makes sense, so I hope you don't mind me asking you, if you do agree with him, to sign this petition today (and send it to a friend :)). It will take less than 30 seconds of your time. There's a major meeting with Westminster Council to discuss pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries on Oxford Street on March 14th and it would be great if we could boost the numbers he can present.
Thanks so much and if you have any questions about what he's trying to do, or comments that he might be able to use to support his campaign, please don't hesitate to ask/post and I'll get him to answer.
Thanks again
Carrie
Moominsarehippos · 11/03/2013 22:54
Its the bloody drivers! I'm there most days and they are, more often than not, rude, sweary, aggressive and slam on the breaks like mad. And they don't always stop of you have a pram. I have been on one that chased down a cyclist and kept swerving at him to scare him. I really don't know where the bus companies get their drivers from.
Freyaee · 12/03/2013 13:36
Have signed. I agree that London road users (often buses, taxis and cyclists) are frequently impatient, aggressive and break the law. I've seen many go through red lights and cross pedestrian crossings when they shouldn't. However, there are also a fair few idiot pedestrians too! Everyone should behave carefully, sensibly, considerately and within the law on the roads. I've never experienced the same level of craziness outside London - must be the levels of traffic on the roads and the huge amounts of people that commute in an out daily (like me!) hope this campaign can make a difference, good luck.
MimsyBorogroves · 12/03/2013 17:19
Signed.
Oxford Street always terrified me from the sheer amount of people and drivers. It can be difficult to cross even where there are pedestrian crossings, and woe betide you if you take longer than the green man suggests you would - drivers just accelerate away anyway. Yes, I understand the frustration for them if this is a regular route, but it just serves to show that an alternative is needed.
CaptainMartinCrieff · 12/03/2013 17:50
I wouldn't have even dreamed that the number of injuries or deaths would be that high. How awful. Petition is signed. The should reroute buses away from it and in a perfect world pedestrianise a significant chunk of it. It has too many buses and taxis travelling down it. Far too many!
HorraceTheOtter · 12/03/2013 18:04
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notfluffy · 12/03/2013 18:27
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jkklpu · 12/03/2013 18:36
Bus drivers aren't great, to be sure. It's also true, though, that pedestrians on Oxford Street are far more prone to jay-walking than almost anywhere else I've seen in London. I often feel sorry for drivers given the number of people who leg it across the middle of the road instead of using any of the many crossing points.
ArbitraryUsername · 12/03/2013 19:28
There's no such thing as 'jay walking' in this country; it's just called 'crossing the street'. There's no compulsion to use a crossing.
Drivers driving through busy shopping areas should be extra aware and expect people to walk out in front of them, in the same way that you're supposed to be aware that pedestrians will walk out from between parked cars on narrow streets, and that children may not cross the road properly at school chucking out time. When you're in charge of something that can kill, the onus is really on you to make sure that you don't hit anyone.
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