Mayor of London, Boris Johnson recently announced his plans to reduce the traffic light crossing times in Camberwell.

The decision has raised several concerns from pedestrians especially from the older public. After carrying out research by the University College London, it was confirmed that the amount of time pedestrians will have to cross the road is a maximum of 6 seconds; not only this, the result shows that the majority of people who are aged 65 or more will need at least 12 seconds to cross the road.

Since the disclosure of the research; a member of the public ‘Tom Flynn’, started up a petition that has now reached a total of 56 signatures from the public, in order to ask the Mayor of London to reconsider his decision.

Flynn explained “we ask that the Mayor of London reverse the decision to cut crossing times at the Camberwell New Road, Denmark Hill, Camberwell Green, and Camberwell Church Street Junction, restoring the time the green man is onto at least 12 seconds so Camberwell residents of all ages can cross the road safely”.

With having 56 supporters, the petition only requires 43 more in order for it to be considered by the Mayor of London, many of the supporters also commented on the recent announcement.

Alison Pywell, a resident of Camberwell Green, said “I am a healthy 24 year old and I walk often. I rarely cross before the lights change, so this is very unsafe for anyone with mobility problems. There are enough accidents at Camberwell Green and it must be made as safe as possible”.

Alexander Chan, a supporter of the petition warned that “6 seconds is too short for older or disabled people to cross the very busy main roads in Camberwell. This is especially relevant due to the large numbers of older people who use the hospital and the popular medical practice which is located at the junction”.

To support the petition, visit www.change.org and keep the pedestrians of Camberwell safe.