When Lives Collide

This is the name of an extremely moving exhibition at the Oxo Gallery (until January 29).

It recounts the stories of those who have either lost friends and family to road 'accidents', or have been victims themselves.  Each story is accompanied by a large portrait photo.

It nearly left me in tears by throwing into sharp relief the misery that surrounds the daily carnage on our roads.  It says so much more than the bald statistics we've grown so used to, but I still think they're worth repeating here:

In London

• 300 lives lost every year
• 2 in 5 road deaths is a pedestrian
• 1 child killed every 2 weeks

In the UK

• On average, 10 people killed every day
• You have a 1 in 200 chance of dying in a road crash
• Pedestrians and cyclists account for 1 in 3 road deaths

In Europe

• 40,000 road deaths each year
• Road crashes are the leading cause of death and hospital admission for those under the age of 45

Across the world

• Over 1 million road deaths each year

RoadPeace (the source of these statistics) also estimate that a 20mph speed limit in residential areas would reduce child road deaths and serious injuries by 67%.

There is a campaign to introduce a 20mph speed limit in urban areas - why the the powers that be resist this is beyond me.  Allowing metal boxes to hurtle around at 30mph (and a lot of the time a lot faster as enforcement is so poor) just inches from pedestrians is lunacy.

Avian flu, Sudan 1, BSE - sure, all potential crises.  But if only we could react with the same urgency to a crisis that has been with us, day in and day out, for nearly a century.