OPCC Supports Road Safety Week 2023
The annual Road Safety Week is designed to raise awareness and share important road safety messages.
It is also a chance to remember people affected by road death and injury. The UK road safety charity Brake organises Road Safety Week. The charity supports people bereaved and seriously injured by road crashes, helps people be ‘community champions’ for safe and healthy mobility and campaigns for safe streets and the rights of road victims.
One of Brake’s main focuses is speed. Speed is a critical issue for the safety of our roads. One in four fatal road crashes are caused by excessive speed. If we all drive too fast, we collectively increase the risk of crashes, and being involved in a crash.
Nationally each year, drivers who speed or travel too fast for the road conditions contribute to more than 10,000 collisions, resulting in 345 deaths and 3,388 serious injuries. *
In Avon and Somerset, there has been an increase in fatal road traffic collisions this year compared with 2022. Fifty-six people have sadly been killed in 48 collisions, while the previous year saw 44 fatal RTCs, an increase of nine per cent. There have also been 124,667 speeding offences, this year alone.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) is acting to raise awareness of Road Safety Week and the importance of safer streets.
Community SpeedWatch (CSW) volunteers have been out in our communities this week. They monitor vehicle speed and raise awareness about the risks of driving too fast. These dedicated volunteers also highlight risk areas and potential offenders to the police who can then get in touch to educate people before they cause an accident or injury on our roads and incur legal penalties.
Commenting, Mark Shelford, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said:
“Speeding is one of the major causes of death and serious injury on our roads in Avon and Somerset. The impact goes beyond the individuals involved, harming families and wider communities. This is why road safety is a high priority for me in my role as Police and Crime Commissioner.
“We all have a part to play in ensuring the roads are safe for everyone, and, as an active member of my local Community Speed Watch I will be out volunteering this Road Safety Week to support police efforts to encourage safe driving.
“I can’t thank everyone enough for the actions taken this week to raise awareness of road safety, together we can make our streets safer.”
*Department for Transport (2022) RAS0704: Reported Road collisions, casualties and vehicles where speed was a contributory factor by severity, Great Britain, ten years up to 2021.