Kidical Mass: Safe streets and active mobility for children as the key to the mobility transition!
From Canada to Australia. From big cities to rural areas,the Kidical Mass action alliance are united by the vision that children and young people should be able to move around safely and independently on foot and by bike.
Children who are active by bike and on foot from an early age remain so as adults.
With our campaigns – especially the Kidical Mass bicycle demonstrations, the school streets and the bike bus (Bicibús) – we paint a positive picture of the future and make change tangible. The Kidical Mass action alliance consists of over 500 organizations, associations and initiatives from Canada to Australia. During the Action Days in May and September 2023, we mobilized over 230,000 participants in around 900 actions.
Next Action days April 22 – May 5, 2024. Be part of it!
Here you can find great impressions from many cities from the Kidical Mass Action Days September 2023
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Hashtags: #KidicalMass #StreetsForEveryone #StreetsForKids
>> Locations: All at a glance here https://kidsonbike.org/
>> Download photos (editorially free): https://cloud.kinderaufsrad.org/s/HR2tMFi6eEcfon8
>> Download Presse Release here
>> Information or interview with e.g. the Action Alliance, local groups or a partner organization? Get in touch!
Contact/Press
Kidical Mass Action Alliance
Karen Rike Greiderer – Press Officer
+49 172 464 1658
presse@kinderaufsrad.org
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Quotes from the Kidical Mass action alliance:
Rebecca Peters, ADFC national chairwoman: “Politicians have promised the people of Germany a cycling country, but there is still almost nothing to be seen of it. The ones who suffer most are the children – their routes to school and everyday routes are still mostly unsuitable for carefree cycling. On behalf of all children, I hope that their need for independent movement and safe routes will finally be taken seriously. School and play streets without through traffic, Tempo 30 as a standard speed in cities – and a child-friendly road traffic law, that’s what we need.”
Annika Liebert, Campact: “Transport Minister Volker Wissing’s blinkered view of highways doesn’t get us anywhere – on the contrary, we’re treading water. With thousands of biking children and adults all over Germany, we show Wissing at the Kidical Mass what a real traffic turnaround looks like.”
Ragnhild Sørensen, Changing Cities: “When I was seven, I was able to drive to school on my own on my first day. That was an incredible feeling of freedom that I will never forget. Copenhagen’s infrastructure made that possible. It should be natural for all children to have that security and feel the joy of being a little independent person.”
Barbara Stoll, Clean Cities Campaign: “Hundreds of children die every year in traffic accidents and because of illnesses linked to air pollution.We’re delighted to see children reclaiming the streets once more to make their voices heard. City leaders must listen and install school streets in front of every school, as well as making sure the journey to and from school is safe to walk and cycle.”
Holger Hofmann, Federal Executive Director of the German Children’s Fund: “The mobility turnaround must finally pick up speed. For this, we also need a transport policy geared to the needs of children and young people. This would help children to move independently in road traffic and, for example, to be able to get to school by bike. This is another way for children to learn how to find their way around and take care of themselves. This strengthens their self-confidence – also for other life situations.”
Kerstin Haarmann, VCD Federal Chairwoman: “Traffic policy is on the wrong track. It is not enough to rely solely on road safety training for children; instead, it must finally take measures for child-safe traffic. This includes a StVO that allows school and play streets and 30 km/h speed limits in built-up areas throughout the country.”
Markus Burbach, Parents for Future Germany (Press): “The mobility turnaround necessary for climate neutrality begins not least with the desire to cycle and the naturalness of using the bicycle as a means of transport of first choice. Safe traffic routes are a prerequisite for this, so that children in particular can preserve and increase their enjoyment of self-determined mobility.”
Elena Laidler-Zettelmeyer, Zukunft Fahrrad: “Active mobility is not only important for children and young people to be healthy and self-determined on the road. Politicians are called upon to make it possible for all road users and to create safe cycle path networks. This is the only way to achieve a socially just and sustainable change in transportation.”
