Femke Meinderts, co-leader of the group Parents for Active Transport Atawhai, writes about how her community organised to keep a safer speed limit on their stretch of SH1.
Pedestrians are New Zealand’s forgotten road victims.
Each year almost four times as many pedestrians as cyclists are killed on New Zealand roads. Yet government has no Pedestrian Safety Plan and makes no investment in Urban Pedestrian infrastructure. We need an enquiry.
Please support Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa NZ (VICTA) in this quest. Let’s make walking safer for everyone.
Please read through VICTA's statements below and sign their petition
The Wellington Peace Heritage Walk takes a route through the Central Business District, the waterfront and the Botanic Garden, taking in trees, monuments and sculptures commemorating peace and peace makers.
At a function held on Tuesday 11 March, the report "The Health Select Committee Inquiry into Obesity and Type Two Diabetes in New Zealand: A back seat for physical activity" was launched. Authored by John White, the report was sponsored by the Obesity Action Coalition and Living Streets Aotearoa.
Click here to see the report.
Come and hear from some well known Aucklanders on why it
Media release 27th February 2008
People on footpaths deserve the same consideration as people using mobility car parks, says walking advocacy group Living Streets Aotearoa.
Fines for those illegally using mobility car parks are set to rise to $150, while the fine for parking on a footpath remains at $40.
Living Streets Aotearoa President, Celia Wade-Brown says, "Why do we care more about a person with disabilities if they drive than if they are on the footpath?"
While she welcomes the likely increase of the fine for mobility park transgressors up to $150, she urges Transport Minister Annette King to amend the Land Transport (Offences & Penalties) Regulations 1999 to send a clear message about the need to be considerate when parking one's car.
"People in wheelchairs, mobility scooters, walking frames and blind people with canes or guide dogs need clear footpaths too."
"I'm very sympathetic about stopping mobility parks being abused by lazy people. I am also concerned about the number of vehicles parking on the footpath so they obstruct passage for wheelchairs, pushchairs and other pedestrians with limitations on their mobility."
The real cost of a fine for footpath parking continues to erode and isn't much of a disincentive at $40, given the unlikelihood of being ticketed.
Ms Wade-Brown initiated the yellow feet flyers used by Living Streets members to discourage footpath parking in their neighbourhoods.
"Often it's a case of not thinking about the problems other people face - whether it's children walking to school and being faced with vans driving up onto footpaths, or wheelchair users being forced onto the road where there aren't kerb ramps, or blind pedestrians having to negotiate their way around vehicles that may have items protruding dangerously that cannot be detected by a cane."
"People need to think of each others' needs before their own convenience. Sometimes drivers think they are helping other drivers by keeping out of the road carriage on narrow streets - but then the most vulnerable people suffer."
Living Streets member, Alexia Pickering, says, "Last Saturday I was unable to access a footpath leading to my apartment because a van had parked itself lengthwise on the footpath outside. I had to travel along the road in my wheelchair and was helped up onto the footpath by a stranger who came to my assistance."
Ms Wade-Brown, who is also a Wellington City Councillor, encourages Council staff and Parkwise to look after people's best interests and resist caving into lazy drivers' demands. "Places to park will always be limited in a compact walkable city. There's no inalienable right to park on the footpath outside one's own garage!"
She attributes some of the problem to the high car ownership in New Zealand - currently around 627 cars per 1,000 people.
Living Streets Aotearoa is New Zealand
Media release 12th February 2008
Walking advocates are calling for lower traffic speeds as the most effective way of improving road safety. The call follows the death of former Air Accident Inspector Ron Chippendale who was struck by a car this morning.
Director of Living Streets Aotearoa, Liz Thomas, says
Living Streets Aotearoa is the New Zealand organisation for people on foot, promoting walking-friendly communities. We are a nationwide organisation with local branches and affiliates throughout New Zealand.
We want more people walking and enjoying public spaces be they young or old, fast or slow, whether walking, sitting, commuting, shopping, between appointments, or out on the streets for exercise, for leisure or for pleasure.
