Discussion
I got a round-robin email from Brake today, encouraging untrained recipients to report roads that subjectively might have a tight corner on them.
You can also call the Zak the Zebra hotline on 0800 068 7780 to name and shame a dangerous road in your area. Callers receive a community action pack and details of the road you report will be added to a dossier of dangerous roads Brake is compiling. The road may even be chosen by Brake as the location for a media launch, whereby 'Zak the Zebra' will go along to the site to call for road safety improvements.
How can an organisation focused on improving road safety honestly be asking the public to assess what they consider to be a dangerous road? They do not define "dangerous" in any context such as its structure, environment or type of use.
This is far too open to abuse by self-important misinformed campaigners, particularly as the information will no doubt be submitted in "official" reports in order to support questionable claims and statistics, which will ultimately further fuel incorrect and adverse "public opinion" on road safety.
Cynical? me?
And who is Zak? The sooner he's sent to the UHU factory the better.
brake email said:
You can also call the Zak the Zebra hotline on 0800 068 7780 to name and shame a dangerous road in your area. Callers receive a community action pack and details of the road you report will be added to a dossier of dangerous roads Brake is compiling. The road may even be chosen by Brake as the location for a media launch, whereby 'Zak the Zebra' will go along to the site to call for road safety improvements.
How can an organisation focused on improving road safety honestly be asking the public to assess what they consider to be a dangerous road? They do not define "dangerous" in any context such as its structure, environment or type of use.
This is far too open to abuse by self-important misinformed campaigners, particularly as the information will no doubt be submitted in "official" reports in order to support questionable claims and statistics, which will ultimately further fuel incorrect and adverse "public opinion" on road safety.
Cynical? me?
And who is Zak? The sooner he's sent to the UHU factory the better.
"open to abuse"? Are you suggesting that there will be some people who won't abuse this? Balanced and normal people will immediately see through this propaganda and won't touch it. It's aimed at "the others".
Every Brake activist, sandalista, lycra monkey and T2k wallah will be phoning in their favourite Sunday afternoon stroll/ride route to complain at how dangerous it is because when they're walking/cycling 5 abreast then cars sometimes get too close to them. Cameras will of course be the solution of choice.
Every Brake activist, sandalista, lycra monkey and T2k wallah will be phoning in their favourite Sunday afternoon stroll/ride route to complain at how dangerous it is because when they're walking/cycling 5 abreast then cars sometimes get too close to them. Cameras will of course be the solution of choice.
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