VIDEO: Lets look out for each other!

Tuesday 16 May 2017

A new safety campaign is being launched today urging people to look out for each other in 'shared spaces' such as the Victoria Avenue cycle track, and the Railway Walk.

It features a Jersey teacher, Fran Rayner, who was seriously injured after being hit by a cyclist while out jogging.

The ‘let’s look out for each other’ campaign is being led by the Road Safety Panel, along with the Department for Infrastructure - they've set up an online survey to get islanders experiences of using the Western Cycle Path (link here).

The campaign has been prompted by concerns about safety on the path. In particular, it follows an accident last year in which Jersey teacher, Fran Rayner, was seriously injured after being hit by a cyclist while jogging.  

Ms Rayner said: “I want to make sure nothing ever happens like this again to anyone else. It’s great to see so many people using the path, but we all need to look out for each other."

Her injuries have led to months of rehabilitation, and also meant she hasn’t been able to continue working or live in the way she wants to.

She added: “It was nobody’s fault. Just really bad luck. But I wanted to get a campaign running to make sure no one goes through what happened to me again.”

The campaign has been backed by First Names Group - they want people to pledge they will make a real effort to use the path safely and think of others around them, and will donate £1 for each of the first one thousand pledges; the money will be donated to the brain injury charity, Headway, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year. 

Panel Vice Chairman Peter Tabb said: “It’s vital to raise people’s awareness of the dangers on these areas and to encourage us all – walkers, dog owners, parents with young children or pushing prams, and cyclists – to be much more careful and really look out for each other. A simple ring of a bell in plenty of time or a polite call could make all the difference.”

Readers wanting to take part in the pledge can head to Jersey’s road safety website here and those wanting to take part in the Dfl survey can find it online here.