Today marks the launch of a major UN initiative to address the terrible waste of life through road deaths around the world. Meanwhile closer to home, local authorities in Berkshire are making their own commitment to improving road safety across the county through the new Safer Roads initiative.

Safer Roads will build on the successes of the multi award winning Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership that was formally disbanded at the end of March, continuing some of the campaigns and activities that have contributed significant improvements over the last ten years.

Since 2000, the number of people injured on roads in Berkshire has fallen by around 33%, with the numbers  killed or seriously injured falling even further; by 53%. Nevertheless, there is still more work to be done with over 2,600 people injured each year across the county.

Meanwhile, around the world, 3,500 people leave home each day and never return because they have been suddenly, violently, killed in a road crash. These tragic deaths and the misery and grief they cause are not inevitable. The United Nations General Assembly has set the goal for the decade: “to stabilize and then reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities around the world” by 2020. Millions of deaths could potentially be prevented as a result.

Britain has the safest road network in the world, but it will require the kind of action being taken in Berkshire to continue to make progress.  Through Safer Roads campaigns such as Safer Rider which reached over 4.5 million people with its viral video campaign last year and Safe Drive Stay Alive, the high impact theatre presentation targeted at young drivers, will continue to be supported.

Safer Roads is working with each of the local authorities in Berkshire to understand emerging road safety issues and to target any enforcement and education campaigns in the most effective way.

Dan Campsall, spokesman for Safer Roads explained the strengths of the new initiative:

“As the UN spotlight falls on road safety it is vital that we continue to lead the way in providing the world’s safest road network. That involves every one of us; every driver, rider, cyclist and pedestrian playing our part to ensure the safety of our communities.

For years we have been working in partnership because it offers the opportunity to use a wider range of skills in developing more effective campaigns. Safer Roads will continue the great work that has been going on in recent years because every road death is a tragedy, and we must do all we can to prevent them in the future.”

To download the full press release please click here

The viral campaign was created as part of a big push by the Safer Rider campaign to get more riders to take part in advanced training in a bid to reduce deaths and injuries on Thames Valley’s roads. A key demographic of men in their mid 30’s to early 40’s has been targeted due to a high road casualty rate.

Craig McAlpine of TVSRP said:

“Our aim was to produce a video that encouraged people to discuss the attitudes and ability involved when riding a motorcycle and for it to spread virally within the motorcycle community”

“The ‘Crashproof Motorbike’ viral campaign achieved this and the comments we have seen on motorcycle forums demonstrates that the underlying message has been clear”

“Encouraging people to look into advanced riding skills is now the key message we would like to push out via the Safer Rider website and of course ultimately reduce the number of casualties.”

Here is what one commenter said on a Motorcycle Forum:

“Anti lock brakes, Traction control, Collision avoidance, the list is endless, and they’re all very useful tools, but they are only tools and they’ll never take the place of 2 good eyeballs and a brain that functions high enough to recognize what they see.
Stay alert guys!“

Receiving well in excess of four million hits the video has been featured on countless forums around the world, with hundreds of discussions on the key message of the film; It doesn’t matter how good your bike is, a well trained rider is paramount.

Inspector Bob Jarret of Thames Valley Police said:

“As a Police Rider I get to do something I love as part of my job, the sad fact remains however that motorcyclists are still massively over-represented in the casualty figures.  Time and time again we are seeing that it’s the same mistakes as contributory factors in these collisions which could so easily of been avoided.”

“That’s why we are encouraging riders to go out, get some extra training, and learn some additional skills.  Ultimately people will get more out of their riding and it will help them to stay safe on the roads.”

By going to the Safer Rider website riders can register their interest in going on a rider training course by entering their details on the training page and in-turn those details will be forwarded to the relevant training schemes for their area.

The video was created by Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership and was made by production company ST16.

You can find the Safer Rider website at SaferRider.org where there is information on additional training and assessment rides. There are also sections on route guides, maintenance, the latest product reviews and blogs by Thames Valley Police riders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh6iodkkxx4

After significant successes in reducing casualties on the region’s roads as well as a number of highly regarded projects, the Partnership has become renowned nationally and internatally for its work to improve safety through education and enforcement. Much of this good work is likely to continue in to the future, though the governance arrangements are likely to change.

To download a copy of the full report, please click here (1Mb PDF document).

The Royal Awards recognise achievements in road safety. They are presented annually to the most outstanding examples of innovation across the world.

Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership (TVSRP) secured its success with ‘Have-a-Kip’. Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) won recognition for ‘Embrace Life’.

‘Have-a-Kip’ was created to address the high number of fatigue related crashes on the major highways in Thames Valley. By building links with high profile football clubs and businesses, the partnership successfully reached hundreds of thousands in its target audience at minimal cost.

The campaign used a respected social marketing model to ensure a structured, research-based approach with measurable performance. It delivered vital messages, about managing tiredness while driving, through a range of media.

Collision data was examined for 28-day periods before, during and after the issuing of campaign messages. The results are positive. They show fatigue related crashes on strategic roads were at their lowest level as a proportion of all crashes during the campaign.

The numbers of incidents recorded are too small to be statistically significant. However, the ‘Have-a-Kip’ brand is now well established, and more fatigue related events are planned at motorway services.

The awards were presented at the Road Safety GB Annual Conference on 16 November at the Chesford Grange, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

Presenting the awards, RoadSafe director, Adrian Walsh, said: “With reductions in central government funds to support public awareness and enforcement campaigns, well researched and skilfully executed initiatives such as these deserve public recognition. The winners thoroughly deserve their Awards; these schemes should be copied and used elsewhere.”

Dan Campsall, communications manager for TVSRP, said: “Driving whilst tired is a major issue on our roads that results in some of the most serious crashes we see. ‘Have a kip’ was designed to make the best research available to drivers but in a really accessible way; giving them some strategies to keep themselves safe.”

The unique system provides national collision data for in-depth analysis, and gives insight into the people involved in crashes.

It accesses data for all road crashes in the UK and builds profiles of risk groups in specific areas. This means resident risk and crash migration can be monitored in ways that were previously impossible.

MAST is the first national online tool of its kind, and it is helping regional road safety professionals improve and maintain safety standards across their borders.

It is based on another award-winning project created by the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership. MAST was launched in September 2009, and is an essential source for road safety professionals.

The Royal Awards recognise achievements in road safety. They are presented annually, to the most outstanding examples of innovation across the world.

MAST received its award today at a meeting of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety at the House of Commons on 2 November 2010.

John Plowman, RoadSafe director, made the presentation:

“MAST is an impressive piece of kit, which gives the road safety community a powerful tool of analysis. It deserves recognition for the major contribution it can make to casualty reduction.”

Richard Owen, Operations Manager for the partnership, accepted the award:

“We are delighted that MAST has been recognised with this prestigious award. It is a tribute to the project team and the very many road safety professionals who have supported the development of this pioneering approach.”

Richard Owen, Operations Manager for the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership welcomed the findings;

A full copy of the report can be download from the Cochrance Library here

The TVSRP report into camera site statistics over an 18 year period can be found here on our website

You can view the full report here

At the 5th Annual CIHT Awards ceremony the project team were presented with the Highly Commended prize in the innovation category. The judges appreciated the very rapid progress that MAST had made and the potential benefits that it would bring.

“The development of a unique and widely accessible online database of road casualty statistics, incorporating socio-demographic classifications, is enabling better targeting of road safety interventions. The judges were impressed by the way the powerful database and a broad user community had already been developed, providing a step change in accident analysis and significant road safety benefits.” CIHT Judging Panel

Bruce Walton, the Project Manager, expressed his delight that MAST had received this level of recognition after just a few months:

“To gain the recognition of such a highly regarded institution is extremely satisfying for myself and my colleagues. Whilst we have put in a huge amount of work to turn MAST into a reality and we have heard from many practitioners about how MAST is making a real difference their work on a daily basis this independent assessment of the importance of MAST is incredibly important.”

The see all the awards and download the brochure from the ceremony please visit the CIHT website

The Department for Transport (DfT) will be releasing road casualty statistics for the whole of Great Britain today (24th July), and once again the results for the Thames Valley are the best that the Safer Roads Partnership has on record.

Over the last ten years road deaths have fallen by 53%, the total number of people hurt on the roads in Thames Valley is down by 31%, and the number of children injured down by 44%.

Speaking for the Safer Roads Partnership, Chairman Stephen Brown said:

“Over the last ten years we have seen enormous improvements in the safety of our road network and that is a great encouragement.  However, if you are one of the 8,000 people injured on the region’s roads last year then this will come as little comfort, and we it owe to them to continue the hard work. We are committed to pressing ahead with our driver awareness programmes and excellent education schemes such as a Safe Drive Stay Alive.” 

There have been some significant reductions in crashes resulting from dangerous driving behaviour too.  Alcohol, drug and fatigue related crashes have all substantially reduced over the last ten years and serious collisions involving excessive speed are 58% lower than they were in 2000.

Looking at where the reductions have come from Richard Owen, Partnership Operations Manager said:

“There are many things that are contributing to safer roads, things like better road and vehicle design should certainly not be overlooked, but we have seen a cultural shift in the speeds that people drive at particularly in our towns and cities. The role of enforcement and education has undoubtedly changed the way we use the roads and made them safer for local communities.”

Earlier this month it was revealed that as the partnership continue to promote education more drivers are now choosing to attend a driver training course rather than receive penalty points.

Speaking for Thames Valley Police, Claire Benson, Head of Specialist Units commented

“Driver education has become a really important follow-up to enforcement. Our aim is to educate rather than alienate drivers and therefore allow them to have a better understanding of why and how their direct actions behind the wheel can affect the safety of themselves and others.“