Safer Roads Partnership aims to further reduce number of accidents

The number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in the West Mercia region has fallen by 70 per cent since the Safety Camera Partnership was set up, the first annual review conference by the Safer Roads Partnership heard.

The Safety Camera Partnership became the Safer Roads Partnership in April 2007 and now has a wider remit to cover all aspects of road safety on the county's roads.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, chaired the conference held at the Courtyard Theatre, Hereford.

He said: "Latest figures show there were 22 fatalities on the county's roads last year which compares with a maximum of 17 in each of the previous four years so we still have a lot of work to do.

"However, since the remedial work was carried out on the A49 at Ashton there have been no fatalities or serious injury accidents on that stretch of road and this shows how effective proper improvement measures can be," he added.

Trevor McAvoy, Safer Roads Partnership manager, told the conference that as a Safety Camera Partnership they were only able to enforce speed limits at cluster sites or they would not get funding from the government but now they were able to carry out measures on all of the county's roads.

He said: "Our use of speed limits led to a 70 per cent reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured at these cluster sites but now we are able to cover all of the county's roads and will be targeting the entire length of the A49 and plan to then look at the A44, A438, A4103 and A465.

"We have to accept there will be peaks and troughs in the number of accidents but, when compared with the wider roads network throughout West Mercia, we are doing really well," he added.

The Safer Roads Partnership - of which Herefordshire Council and Herefordshire Primary Care Trust are members - also includes the Fire and Rescue Services, Police, the Courts and the Highways Agency.

Mr McAvoy said it is now important to take a long-term view and it is important for them to make sure the right data is available and used to better effect in improving road safety.

Vicki Bristow, communications manager for the Safety Roads Partnership, said the partner agencies now worked together on publicity campaigns and were especially keen to target young drivers, drug driving and motorcyclists.

Vicki said: "In the past three years there have been 10 fatalities and 208 casualties following collisions involving motorcycles in the region and 20 per cent of road deaths in Herefordshire involve motorcycles."

Linda Sinker, Herefordshire Council's school travel advisor said 93 out of the 103 state schools in the county have travel plans and these have led to the introduction of more 20mph zones outside schools as well as off-road cycle routes.

Alan Hickling, Herefordshire Council's school travel support worker, said Much Marcle School has added the problems of travelling into school to the curriculum and this was a good way to ensure the issue was kept at the forefront by pupils, parents and the local authority.

Richard Lawrence from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue said his service now had a statutory duty to attend road traffic collisions and was pleased to be a new member of the Safer Roads Partnership.

John Partridge from AmeyMouchel, managing agent for the Highways Authority, explained how they carried out remedial works on the county's trunk roads.

Councillor John Stone, chairman of Herefordshire Council and ward member for Ashton, thanked Mr Partridge and said the new anti-skid surfacing and flashing sign on the A49 had made a significant difference with the majority of motorists now slowing down and a drop in the collision rate.

Paul Bristow from West Mercia Constabulary said it was hoped to start national speed awareness courses in 2009 which would help to change the attitude and behaviour of drivers who carry on speeding.