LYMM based roads safety campaigner Rod King has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours in recognition of his services to Road Safety.
Rod, who has been campaigning for the safety of vulnerable road users since 2000, is founder and Campaign Director the national “20s Plenty” campaign.
Although now known for his work in founding and then acting as Campaign Director for 20’s Plenty for Us, Rod has been working for road safety for many years.
It was in 2004 when he visited Hilden, Germany, (the twin town of his own home in Warrington) that he realised that the foundation of their successful walking and cycling strategies was a decision made in 1990 to adopt a 30km/h speed limit for most streets. With 23% of in town trips made by bicycle and promotion of public transport this had led not only to a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists but one with 40 fewer cars per 100 people travelling than in Warrington.
This transformed his opinion on road safety as he realised that in the UK we were inadequately trying to protect cyclists (and pedestrians) within a road environment where our vehicle speeds were 60% higher than such places as Hilden. And so a personal campaign was launched both within Warrington and in cycle and pedestrian campaigning nationally to ask for 20mph limits on most residential streets. What has subsequently been termed “Total 20”.
In 2007 he set up 20’s Plenty for Us in order to assist communities who wanted lower speeds on their roads but required advice and guidance on how this could be done. The voluntary organisation now has 200 local campaigns and has been influential in the Total 20 policies already adopted by local authorities with a total population of 12m people. Its latest “It’s Time for 20” campaign calls for the DfT to change the regulations so that repeater signs are no longer required on 20mph streets, but only on remaining 30mph roads.
Rod’s efforts as Campaign Director are still voluntary, but now complemented by dedicated resources in York and London.
Rod said: “To be honoured with an MBE for “Services to Road Safety” is significant not only as recognition of my personal efforts but also of the enormous progress which has been made in establishing lower speeds as the norm on community roads. We are moving from a past tradition of accepting that motor vehicles could dominate where people lived, worked and shopped into one where we share the streets more equitably and enable people to choose to walk or cycle without fear of fast traffic.
“It acknowledges the aspiration and efforts of individuals, communities, councillors and council officers around the country who simply want to “make their places better places to be”. Their feedback has been an inspiration to not only myself but also to our National Campaign Manager, Anna Semlyen and London Campaign Co-ordinator, Jeremy Leach.
“It really is “Time for 20” and this honour is very gratefully received. Perhaps most of all it signifies that 20’s Plenty for Us is much more than a
campaign for change, but is a movement towards a more civilised way of sharing our streets.”
20’s Plenty For Us campaigns for a 20mph default speed limit in residential streets without physical calming.
For more details visit Web www.20splentyforus.org.uk Twitter @20splentyforus
