Thank you for contacting me recently regarding pedestrian safety.
I agree we should be making it easier for everyone – and especially the 10 million people in Britain aged over 65 – to walk safely in our local streets, communities and countryside. I also appreciate that organisations such as Living Streets have made a number of important recommendations to improve pedestrian safety.
I share your concern that some people simply do not feel safe enough to walk in their own communities. 16 pedestrians are killed or seriously injured on our streets every day and it is clear that more needs to done to make our streets safe for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
The current Government has neglected this issue over the last five years. A Labour Government, however, will make walking and cycling transport priorities and reintroduce national standards to reduce road deaths and serious injuries, which were dropped by the current Government. We will also encourage local authorities to adopt 20mph limits on residential roads where appropriate and ensure that pedestrians and cyclists are considered in all new transport schemes.
Labour will create a new £89 million active travel fund to support new local investment in cycling and walking projects and infrastructure. This extra investment will be funded by switching spending within the existing transport budget.
A Labour Government would also widen public access to green spaces and devolve control over transport spending to local authorities, thereby ensuring that local communities have a greater say over local priorities.
I also believe we should look to the learn lessons from the Active Travel Legislation that has been introduced by the Labour Government in Wales, which has helped ensure that local authorities improve the walking and cycling environment in all communities.
Thank you again for writing to me and for sharing your views.