Letters

WHEN WILL CROSSING BE MADE SAFE?

1 May 2009

Almost a month has now passed since a 23-year-old woman was tragically knocked down and badly injured at Penrose Street/Walworth Road junction, following repeated warnings from local residents about safety issues at the crossing.

Just two days after the accident I asked Jeff Hook at full council, Southwark’s Lib Dem transport boss, what he was going to do to make the crossing safer.  His answer was, in the light of the events earlier in the week, at least a little insensitive. He said that pedestrians were 'potentially putting themselves in the way of traffic turning right’.

Now I agree with him that pedestrians should only cross when it’s safe and I would implore local residents and shoppers only to cross when the man goes green. But Cllr Hook’s refusal to accept that the confusing design of the crossing is also at fault is blinkered.

How many more accidents will there have to be before he stops blaming pedestrians and takes action to make this crossing safe?

Cllr Lorraine Lauder MBE, Labour, Faraday ward, vice chair of Walworth Community Council.

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