Birmingham can get to ‘zero’ road deaths if we work together – Helsinki proves it
Campaigners gather in Victoria Square to mark 23 road deaths in a year, with 23 white roses marking each one(Image: Jane Haynes/BirminghamLive)
The 23 lives lost on Birmingham’s streets in the last year were marked with single white roses at a tender ceremony held in the city.
The event, in Victoria Square outside the city council HQ, was held to mark the first anniversary since a road safety emergency was declared.
The miserable death toll was at 22 this morning, but sadly had risen again after a motorcyclist died of his injuries in a crash in Acocks Green, said event organiser Martin Price.
READ MORE: Driver admits causing death of four-year-old Mayar Yahia in horror crash
He told the gathering that getting to ‘zero deaths’ a year was possible – as the city of Helsinki, Finland’s capital, had proved.
“There are those who say road deaths are just part of life in a busy city. We must never accept that,” said Martin, chair of Better Streets for Birmingham action group.
Young campaigners Tillie and Emmeline from Woodcraft Folk with Better Streets chairman Martin Price at the road safety emergency anniversary event
“We cannot treat this as an unavoidable risk of getting around Birmingham. We must stay focussed on one goal – Vision Zero. Zero deaths, zero serious injuries, in memory of those we’ve lost, for the safety of our friends, our families, our neighbours and in hope for the generations to come.
“Cities like Helsinki have proved it is possible. They have not recorded a single traffic death in the last year.”
The faces of Azaan Khan and Mayar Yahia, who lost their lives on the city’s streets in 2024; and Better Streets protestors at a road crash blackspot
He said achieving this would require a four pronged approach. We need to:
- Reclaim our pavements
- Redesign our streets
- Rebuild out city’s transport choices
- Enforce the rules of the road
Progress was being made, he told BirminghamLive, with a big fall in road deaths and serious injuries across the region, but “we must keep demanding more from those who represent us today and those who want to represent us tomorrow,” he said, pointing to the Council House.
And he vowed: “To the 23 lives lost since the emergency was declared, and the countless others taken before that moment of recognition, we will not forget you. We will fight for the changes that could have saved you, so others don’t suffer the way your families have.”
He added: “Even today another young life has been lost on our roads. These are avoidable deaths.”
Lucy Harrison, representing Road Peace, which supports families bereaved by road incidents and lobbies for change, said that families and friends continued to need the organisation’s help every week, with a recent fall in deaths being ‘a drop in the ocean’.
“If this was any other type of crime resulting in this level of deaths and serious injuries, nobody would rest until it was resolved. I think we are building some momentum but we need to start to see real actions that bring lasting change.
“The drop in deaths that is being reported is positive but there is still much more we need to have in place.
“There will always be drivers who disregard the law blatantly, who are at the extremes, and we need to have sentencing that deals with that. But an awful lot of deaths and injuries are caused by people who, in every other walk of life, are law abiding, decent people.
“But they get behind the wheel of a car and make shocking decisions or silly mistakes that have catastrophic consequences. We need a package of actions that can prevent that behaviour.”
Among the attendees were youngsters Emmeline and Tillie, from Woodcraft Folk, a local campaigning organisation dedicated to pressing for social change. They handed in a letter urging the city council to do more to make the roads safer.
After the event, a group of the campaigners joined a cycle ride around the city. The ‘Circle the City’ ride took in a three mile route through Digbeth, Aston University, the Gun Quarter, the Jewellery Quarter and Ladywood.
Cyclists setting off for the Circle the City event that followed the anniversary gathering
John Munro, who hosted the cycle, said it was intended to highlight the difficulties facing cyclists moving around the city who are particularly vulnerable to bad driving.
“While Birmingham has a few bits of cycling infrastructure in a couple of places, the city as a whole is a dangerous and unpleasant place for people trying to move around by one of the most affordable, efficient and healthy ways.”