This month is National Road Victim Month, so we’ve written an article to ensure that as we come out of lockdown, our community is safe. Wirral is no stranger to the dangers of the road and in recent years, these figures have only risen.
The chart below shows a comparison of police force areas for the rate of pedestrians reported killed or seriously injured per 100,000 population. In conclusion, from 2014-2018, Merseyside has the worst rate in Great Britain.
To tackle this issue, the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership was formed in 2007. The Merseyside Road Safety Partnership is made up of the Merseyside councils, public services, transport partners, and most importantly, the Merseyside community. Through a combination of engineering, enforcement and education the number of people killed or seriously injured in 2010 was reduced to 511. The number of people killed was reduced from 62 to 22. They continue to develop initiatives, introduce engineering solutions and undertake enforcement activities.
In lockdown, these figures eased due to the reduced number of vehicles on the roads as we observed the government’s rules on social distancing. In April 2020, for example, during the first lockdown which commenced on 23rd March, casualties nationwide fell by 67% as road traffic reduced by 49%.
Take Extra Care Campaign
In 2020, Wirral Council supported Road Safety GB’s campaign ‘Take Extra Care’ in response to social distancing rules and regulations. It urged all road users to continue to protect the emergency services by staying alert and traveling safely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Road Safety GB’s campaign and Wirral Council were aware that as well as following the government guidance that general road safety can be easy to forget during the current challenging time and so endeavored to ensure we continued to follow these guidelines:
- Only use the roads for essential travel
- Always drive at an appropriate speed within the speed limit. Whilst the roads may seem quieter with fewer vehicles, there are many more cyclists and pedestrians travelling
- Always wear a seatbelt
- Never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Never use a mobile phone behind the wheel
- Be aware of other road users who may be socially distancing and be extra cautious
Road Safety Campaigns
This May, Merseyside Police responded to the global Road Safety Week by carrying out a number of operations across Merseyside to spread the message to all road users to slow down. They ensured that all drivers, and even schoolchildren, were reminded of the dangers of the road and how to drive safely.
As we come out of lockdown though, there is an increasing worry about alcohol being a major factor in road incidents. Over lockdown, our alcohol tolerances may have gone down due to the closure of our local pubs and restaurants. Incidents have already been reported of drinking getting out hand and fights breaking out on the Wirral, including an incident in The Swan on Holm Lane. This incident resulted in a man being injured from a glass being thrown at his head. Furthermore, Telegraph Road in Thurstaston was partially blocked for more than two hours following the incident, which took place between Church Lane (Thurstaston) and Oldfield Drive (Heswall).
There is also an extra worry as now school is out for the summer, children are more likely to get into road-related incidents and possible injury. Whilst Wirral Council does provide road safety sessions for schools, our statistics for child pedestrian injuries could be better. As shown in the graph below, the number of child pedestrians killed has lowered considerably since 2005.
There have been several notable campaigns used to create awareness of road safety. The one that springs to mind from school days is the Think! campaign involving cartoon hedgehogs educating children in ads and posters about the Stop, Look, Listen approach and wearing reflective clothing at night.
Think! was established in 1997 and is dedicated to getting the road safety message across. The cartoon hedgehog ‘No, Not Now’ was their first series of adverts that became their most popular to date, resulting in it staying on our TV screens for two decades. It was an iconic part of any millennial’s early childhood, and therefore an effective campaign. There have been others since, much darker, and with a more serious undertone as it addresses the drivers rather than pedestrians.
There have also been other initiatives such as urging more children to walk to school rather than be dropped off in a car. Living Streets – the national walking charity – is one such organisation who works with schools to create safe and enjoyable streets to encourage more children to walk to school. Walk Once a Week and Free Your Feet takes place in selected schools in the borough, with more intensive work in secondary schools through a project called Campaign in a Box.
Small Grants Programme
The Road Safety Trust has opened its Small Grants Programme, offering grants totalling £120,000 for road safety projects. Charities, local authorities, and community groups across the UK are invited to apply. The Trust is the largest independent road safety grant-giver in the UK and funds research and practical interventions committed to reducing the number of people killed or injured on UK roads. Since it was established in 2014, it has awarded grants worth £3.9m to 56 different projects.
Sally Lines, Chief Executive of The Road Safety Trust said:
“The Small Grants Programme is a real opportunity for local authorities, charities and community groups to make a tangible impact on local road safety. Projects should have the potential for being brought to scale, with the goal of reducing deaths and injuries both locally, and across the UK.”
The Small Grants Programme opens for applications on 9th September for five weeks until 18th October. Applicants can apply for between £10k and £30k.
Please, take care on the roads both as a driver and/ or a pedestrian.
