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Police appeal notice after death of Artur Piotr Ruszel (Image-Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign)

Vigil for Manchester cyclist killed in car crash

Artur Piotr Ruszel to be remembered on Friday, February 13
by John Stevenson
Mon, Feb 09, 2015 17:26
0

A vigil is to be held in Manchester this Friday, February 13 in memory of cyclist Artur Piotr Ruszel, who died after a collision with a car on January 13.

The 45-year old was cycling on Upper Brook Street when the crash occurred. He died from his injuries later the same day.

The vigil, at 7pm, will be an opportunity for people to pay their respects to Mr Ruszel and will call on the  authorities in Greater Manchester to implement a Vision Zero policy, adopting a target of zero for road traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign said: "Police records state that 656 people were killed or seriously injured on Greater Manchester’s roads in 2013. We believe this is 656 people too many.

"Regional figures  highlight that 1,144 (42%) of the 2,697 people killed or seriously injured on the North West’s roads in 2013 were people walking or cycling; an unacceptable proportion, especially given the lack of danger these vulnerable road users present to others. Within Greater Manchester this proportion is even higher, reaching 54% in 2010 - the highest proportion in the country.

"As at 8th February, 16 cyclists have already been killed on Britain's roads in 2015 including two Greater Manchester residents. These tragic losses challenge our city’s aspiration to be a healthy and attractive modern global city where cycling feels safe and becomes a genuine transport option for everyone’s local journeys. To address this challenge we also wish to highlight the urgent need for our local authorities to provide safe Space for Cycling – so more people can cycle more safely, more often."

People are invited to assemble at the junction of Upper Brook Street and Brunswick Street on Friday February 13 from 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start.

For more information see the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign website.

2015 fatality
Fatality
Artur Piotr Ruszel
Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign
Manchester
John Stevenson

Acknowledged by the Telegraph as a leading cycling journalist, John Stevenson has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc editor Tony Farelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013 and these days he lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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