Who shouts loudest about the roads?

When people are trained on how to help at the scene of a road traffic collision, the guidance is always the same; treat those making the least amount of noise first as they may be in greatest need. The same advice applies just as well to those in need of road improvements.

The car lobby shouts loudly. Whether it’s the substantial sums spent on delaying or diluting environmental legislation being passed in Brussels or the funding of the media’s near-constant bleating about the war on motorists, the car lobby speaks with a loud voice.

Even cyclists are beginning to be heard. A century of campaigning by lobbyists is finally bearing fruit; cycling creeps slowly up the political agenda.

The group with most to gain from improvements to roads – not least because we all belong to it – is pedestrians. Unfortunately, this largest and most vulnerable road user group appears to be the quietest.

No wonder thousands struggle each day to cross busy streets outside schools, hospitals and homes; appeals for zebra crossings are routinely turned down.

When the ETA was approached by a group of parents whose request for a zebra crossing at an accident black spot outside their local infant school had been turned down on grounds of cost, we built one ourselves.

The result was a pop-up zebra crossing that could be erected on any minor road in less than two minutes. And with no need to consider drainage, the excavation of existing pavement, disposal of material, new kerbing and paving, anti-skid surfacing, road markings and studs, new traffic signs, electrical connections and costly pillars, signal heads and poles, the total cost came to considerably less than the £114,000 quoted by the Highways Agency.

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Ethical insurance

The ETA has been voted the most ethical insurance company in Britain for the second year running by the Good Shopping Guide. Beating household-name insurance companies such as John Lewis and the Co-op, we earned an ethical company index score of 89.