Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership

Information

Route Alert

Signing Up to Save Lives!

Drivers on rural roads are to get some new pointers in a safe direction.

Pointing The Way To Safer Driving

In a unique new scheme being rolled out across the region Highway Authorities are working with Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership to make motorists more aware of the dangers they face.

Starting this month, drivers on many rural roads in the region will be targeted with extra information about the hazards that face them.

Through the use of road signs and supporting information leaflets, those in charge of the scheme hope that they can encourage motorists to take extra care and get home safely.

Every week 3 people are killed and over 200 are injured on the region’s roads; many of these crashes, particularly the most severe, are happening on long stretches of rural road. In this creative new programme of improved road signage, drivers are being given information about how many casualties there have been in the last 3 years, and about where in particular they need to proceed with real caution.

All of these roads have already received a great deal of attention from the Highway Authority in engineering work, or from the Police in enforcing speed limits. However, it is not possible to re-engineer the entire stretch and it would be difficult for the Police to enforce speed limits along the entire route.

The Signs

The Signs will be placed along each of the eleven routes to identify some of the most significant dangers.

The signs carry an instruction to motorists such as ‘Watch Your Speed’ or ‘Beware Turning Traffic’ to inform them of some specific problems.

Many of the signs will also carry information about the number of casualties that there have been over the last 3 years. Unlike other similar schemes, these figures will be updated every 6 months, to continually reinforce the message to the road user.

The Leaflets

Backing up the roadside information will be leaflets that outline the entire route, again marking where some of the most significant hazards are located, and giving general advice on what the motorists can do to help themselves and others.

The Routes

The routes that have been selected all have a number of things in common:

• They are all single carriageway roads
• They are all routes between two towns or cities
• They all have a history of collisions along the route
• They have all already received engineering works or speed enforcement to try and make them safer.

Route	Casualties	Route	Casualties
A4 Newbury – Reading	117	B4011 Thame – Blackthorn	90
A4 Reading – Maidenhead	99	A41 Bicester – Aylesbury	139
A421 Finmere - Milton Keynes	189	B482 Stokenchurch – Marlow	59
A361 Banbury – Burford	184	A413 Buckingham – Aylesbury	40
A4074 Oxford – Reading	210	A404 High Wycombe – Amersham	142
A418 Oxford – Aylesbury	85

The Analysis

Around the country a number of schemes similar to Route Alert have appeared over recent years. However, no authoritative research has been conducted on how effective such a scheme can be at influencing driver behaviour. Route Alert is different because built in to the programme is a research element. Working with Professor Frank McKenna from the University of Reading, a thorough study will look at the impact of the scheme on collisions, speeds, and drivers’ perceptions. When the analysis is complete there will be a clear conclusion about the benefits of such a programme.

Quotes

“Crashes don’t just happen at ’hot spots‘ - often, they are spread out along a whole route. They arise from many different factors, including speed, overtaking and turning at junctions. We aim to improve safety along these routes by making motorists more aware of the dangers, so they can drive appropriately.”

Bruce Walton, Collision Analyst, TVSRP

“We are deeply concerned about the number of people being killed or seriously injured on the roads in our county. We are working hard to try and reduce these figures and are hopeful that Route Alert will make a significant contribution.”

David Robertson, Executive Member for Transport, Oxfordshire County Council

“I regularly have to deploy officers to the scene of some very tragic collisions along these roads. If one family can be saved from this kind of terrible news then Route Alert will have achieved a great deal.”

Supt. Neil Olney, Roads Policing, Thames Valley Police

Leaflets to Download

• A404 High Wycombe - Amersham 756Kb 15/03/2004
• A361 Chipping Norton - Burford 771Kb 15/03/2004
• A418 M40 - Aylesbury 792Kb 15/03/2004
• A421 Finmere - Milton Keynes 663Kb 15/03/2004
• A4074 Oxford - Reading 832Kb 15/03/2004
• B482 Stokenchurch - Marlow 697Kb 15/03/2004
• A4 Reading- Maidenhead 749Kb 15/03/2004
• A413 Buckingham - Winslow 683Kb 15/03/2004
• A413 Winslow - Aylesbury 678Kb 15/03/2004
• A361 Banbury - Chipping Norton 766Kb 15/03/2004
• A4 Newbury - Reading 747Kb 15/03/2004
• A41 Bicester - Aylesbury 693Kb 15/03/2004

 

 

 

Created: 2005-10-18 09:43:46 | Last Updated: 2007-07-20 12:34:04