Southwark News published this article about our November Protest and mega Die-In this week. Do you know of a publication or newsletter that would be willing to also publish an article about it? Southwark is in the middle of a terrible health emergency caused by the traffic on our streets. In addition to the horrible deaths and injuries suffered by pedestrians and cyclists in motor-collisions, hundreds more are dying from lung and heart diseases caused by traffic pollution. Tens of thousands of us are obese and unfit due to fear of cycling to work or school due to lack of protected cycle-lanes. This is causing an epidemic of diabetes and other diseases caused by unfitness. This is happening not just in Southwark but right across the UK. The Stop the Killing coalition which includes a wide range of pedestrians, students, cyclists and ecology groups and which was started by Stop Killing Cyclists in Southwark last November after another cyclist was killed in Camberwell, is taking the campaign to the national level. A major protest is being organised on November 15th, 2014 in London. It is called The National Funeral of the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence. It will follow a hearse down Londons Oxford Street and then place the symbolic coffin on a stand under Marble Arch. They will then hold what is hoped to be the UK’s largest ever Die-In. The entire protest will lie on the ground surrounding the coffin, to signify the terrible carnage caused by our traffic. There will then be a rally which will hear from families of victims. The protest’s full list of 10 Demands are on the website stopthekilling.org. They include demands for home-zones to make residential streets safer for children, longer pedestrian crossing timings to be safer for pensioners, clean trucks to eliminate poisonous pollution, renewably-powered vehicles to stop the deaths from climate change and a multi-billion pound investment in safer cycle-lanes. The protest is gathering endorsements from Southwark’s community groups, environmental charities, trade-unions, students, pensioners, parents and businesses among others. Please email [email protected] to show support and if you have a membership or newsletter please let them know about the protest. You can personally sign-up on the event’s Facebook page. The National Funeral of the Unknown Victim of Traffic Violence is a clarion call for us to unite to bring this carnage and environmental destruction to an end. Please help spread the word and help make our roads fit for humans. Like
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 07:52:40 +0000