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17 minutes ago Jenny Coleman, North West and David Humphreys, Local Democracy Reporting Service Adam Phillips/BBC Joanne Colleran says "drivers are king" and there needs to be a culture shift The mother of a six-year-old boy who was killed when he was struck by a van outside his school has said there needs to be a "culture change" around road safety. Joanne Colleran, whose son Bobby died in Liverpool in 2014 said it felt like "everyone is in a rush" but "it's so dangerous". She was speaking after Liverpool City Council declared a road safety emergency, and Tom Crone, leader of the Greens on the authority, called for an extension of 20 mph (32 km/h) zones.
He said 259 people were either killed or injured on the city's roads last year and he believed that would be reduced if speed limits were lowered. Crone said that extending the 20mph speed limit on roads across Liverpool would save lives. "Look across the water to Wirral, they introduced 20mph as a default speed limit a couple of years ago, and they've seen a 23% reduction in people injured on their roads," he said.
Liverpool City Council has pledged to begin the planning and development of a credible plan to rapidly improve road safety. There should be more clear and accessible pavements, traffic calming measures and priority given to people walking and wheeling in high streets and town centres, councillors agreed. Crone said: "Now the council has declared a road safety emergency I am hoping to see tangible improvements on road safety in the coming months." LDRS Councillor Tom Crone says 20 mph zones would help save lives Bobby was hit by a van outside his school in the West Derby area of Liverpool while walking with his mother.
Joanne Colleran welcomed the council's road safety proposals. She urged people to pay more attention to road safety and said there needed to be a culture shift. "The drivers are king and pedestrians just annoy them," she told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"We need to change the culture." Colleran has spent over a decade raising awareness of road safety through the charity she founded, The Bobby Colleran Trust, and has worked closely with Merseyside Police. She said while she had seen changes there was still more to be done. "Everyone is in a rush, I understand all of that, but it's so dangerous," she said.
"Take a step back. It could be your child or member of your family." More on this story Related internet links
Source: BBC
