• Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council’s CYCLOPS junction, in Hulme, wins Brake’s Local Roads Innovation Award, delivered in collaboration with Road Safety GB
  • 20mph campaigner from Faversham, Kent wins Brake’s Community Campaign Achievement Award, delivered in collaboration with 20’s Plenty, Cycling UK, Living Streets and Sustrans
  • Group of students from Murray Park School in Derbyshire, win Brake’s Youth Leadership Award for efforts to engage their school and local community in road safety
  • Images of award winners available on request
  • More information and videos available at www.brake.org.uk/VZLawards

The inaugural Vision Zero Leaders Awards, co-sponsored by driive and Reflex Vehicle Hire, celebrates achievement in three categories: Local Roads Innovation; Community Campaign Achievement; and Youth Leadership. The Vision Zero Leaders Awards aim to inspire others by telling the hidden stories of civil society leadership for road safety.

Local Roads Innovation Award

Brake and Road Safety GB have awarded Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council the Local Roads Innovation Award for the CYCLOPS (cycle optimised protected signals) junction, in Hulme. The junction forms part of Greater Manchester’s Bee Network and is innovative in placing the cycle route on the outside of the pedestrian crossings, fully segregating cyclists and improving safety for all road users.

CYCLOPS designers, TfGM Engineers Richard Butler and Jonathan Salter said: “As design engineers, safety is paramount to every design we develop, so to be recognised by a road safety charity such as Brake for the part the CYCLOPS plays in keeping people safe while enabling them to travel more actively, truly is the pinnacle for us.”

Councillor Angeliki Stogia, Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Transport, Manchester City Council, said: “We’re delighted with this award. It’s fantastic to be recognised as a leader in providing safe infrastructure for people to travel more actively in the city.”

Community Campaign Achievement Award

Amanda Russell has been awarded the Community Campaign Achievement Award for 2020, by a panel of judges from Brake, Cycling UK, Living Streets, Sustrans and 20’s Plenty.

Amanda started campaigning for 20mph speed limits in Faversham in 2015, following two deaths on zebra crossings and a hit-and-run involving a school child. Her 20’s Plenty campaign group held public community events to explain the benefits of 20mph and gradually built support, finally achieving a town-wide 20mph trial scheme, the first in Kent. Since Amanda’s efforts in Faversham, more areas of Kent have looked to implement 20mph limits.

Amanda said: “I’m honoured to accept the 2020 Community Campaign Achievement Award from Brake, on behalf of all our campaigners and supporters who have helped to make this happen. I hope that our story can spur on more people to campaign for safe speeds. The 20mph limit in Faversham will make our streets, and in fact the whole community, feel so much more welcoming, especially for people wanting to get about by foot or by bike. 20mph limits are becoming increasingly common across the UK, and hopefully they will soon be the norm, not the exception.”

Youth Leadership Award

Three students from Murray Park school, in Derbyshire, Arjun Binning, Archie Couchman and George Ogan, have been awarded the Youth Leadership Award for their outstanding work raising awareness about road safety in their school and local community. The group created a committee to discuss how best to deliver road safety messaging to their school, meeting at lunchtimes, weekly. The group delivered presentations to fellow students at Murray Park school and to 251 students at the local junior school, St. Peters CE. The group wrote to the Prime Minister, receiving a response, and had plans to go to Westminster to speak with MPs, which are put on hold, due to lockdown. The students continue meeting to plan their next steps and how to make roads safer for everyone.

Arjun, Archie and George said: “Innocent people are losing their lives because of dangerous driving every day. That’s why we stepped up to raise awareness of road safety but when we started this project we never imagined we would get this far. We hope that our work has inspired people in our local community, both the young and the old, to be more aware of road safety and that our efforts will contribute to making roads safer for everyone.”

Tim Taylor, careers lead at Murray Park school, said: “We’re delighted that the students’ efforts and commitment to raising awareness about road safety have been recognised by Brake with this award. They are a credit to the school and the local community and worthy winners of the Youth Leadership Award.”

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake the road safety charity said: “Across the country, there are people working tirelessly to improve road safety who don’t often get the recognition they deserve. From students, to community campaigners to local authority road safety teams and engineers there is so much to be proud of and these combined efforts help set us on the path to our vision – a world with zero road deaths and serious injuries.

“The CYCLOPS junction is brilliantly innovative and is designed to protect the most vulnerable on our roads, people walking and cycling, while ensuring that journey times for people in motor vehicles are not impacted. The CYLCLOPS junction, and the teams at Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester City Council are worthy winners of the 2020 Local Roads Innovation Award.

“Amanda Russell’s tireless efforts to make roads safer in Faversham, and across Kent, are worthy of recognition. Her persistence and commitment to making roads safer, and communities more welcoming, is truly inspiring and shows the power of local action to make positive change.

“It is so fantastic to see students stepping up and raising awareness about road safety. Young people can be the catalyst for change on our roads and the students at Murray Park school are a beacon of hope for a future where everyone can get around in a safe and healthy way, every day.

Alison Moriarty, Fleet Risk Director from driive said: “It’s so fantastic to see hard work and dedication to improving road safety rewarded. All the winners showed outstanding commitment and this led to them achieving their results. DRiiVE is all about making the roads safer for every road user and we are delighted to co-sponsor this event with our friends at Reflex who share our passion.”

Lisa Spong, Sales Director at Reflex Vehicle Hire, said: “As a safety-centric company, Reflex Vehicle Hire take on a duty of care to protect a multitude of people. Not only do we feel the need to support our drivers and customers but all other road users too. Our aim is that no one should come to harm whilst driving a Reflex vehicle. This message permeates from the board room right through the business across all teams that carry out unparalleled levels of support. Working alongside Brake for a number of years has been an important part of our journey that allows us to expand on our knowledge and share the vital message of road safety. Shining a spotlight on these businesses and individuals is imperative to congratulate them on their magnificent efforts.”

ENDS

For further information visit www.brake.org.uk/VZLawards