To Mal Statham, and the general population of the City of Coventry.

As a group, we want Hales Street, Trinity Street, and the Burges to become a pedestrian zone.

This is a result of us feeling the need to speak out and try to make a change that will help ensure the safety of the people of Coventry and prevent further incidents similar to the recent crashing of a Stage Coach Bus into the side of the aforementioned Sainsbury’s. This tragic incident happened on the 3rd of October and resulted in multiple injuries and the death of 2 people, one a 70 year old woman whom was passing by, and an 8 year old boy travelling on the bus. A 9 year old girl is still fighting for her life at the Birmingham Children’s hospital. We, as citizens, will stand against the lack of change in that area of the City Centre.

This tragedy was not the first to befall this same area. There have already been 3 incidents involving a bus crashing both on Hales Street and Trinity Street, including the most recent one, 2 of which have cost human lives.

·In 2011 a man in his 70’s was ran over by a Stage Coach Bus on Hales St, the man was taken into hospital with broken limbs and a severe head injury, he passed away in the hospital.

·In 2012 a Stage Coach bus crashed into Pawnbrokers on Trinity St, injuring 3 people.

This area is the busiest place in the City Centre and it is not yet a pedestrian zone, we need to change that. College and University Students traverse that area every day, in addition to the rest of the general public, it is absolutely an accident risk zone.

The people’s safety is the most important thing. Not only for us, the general public, but for any transport companies. We want young people, elderly people, and anyone in-between to feel safe and not have to worry about walking through the City Centre of Coventry.

Obviously this begs the question, where do the busses go? This could be a concern. We suggest that busses from the area go straight to the Pool Meadow Bus Station. Any other bus stops can be spread out throughout town for example by the Quadrant where the traffic is far less dangerous. This should be done in the very near future whilst construction and road works are already happening, so as to avoid wasting time, money and resources.

Closing off the road outside of what is now Primark in the City Centre has improved the safety of citizens a lot however we feel the pedestrian zone should be extended further down to make our City Centre even safer.

Is the comfort of people more important than their and our safety? How many more deathly incidents must there be for change to finally occur?