Road Safety Week begins across the UK
Road Safety Week has kicked off across the UK, focusing on the theme of ‘Step up for Safe Streets’.
Co-ordinated by road safety charity Brake, the annual event is intended to raise awareness of road safety. Businesses and other organisations, schools and communities can all participate, with road safety demonstrations, talks and other events taking place.
‘Step up’ for a safe future
Brake has said that the campaign is intended to encourage all road users to ‘step up’ and take part in “the creation of a safe and healthy future”. It suggested that everyone pledge to use roads safely, minimise vehicle use and “shout out” for design-led solutions.
It also recommended that schools help pupils to learn how to use roads safely, while organisations can change or improve their policies and procedures to help them choose design-led solutions to help keep people safe.
The charity also called on the emergency services to highlight their role in keeping the roads – and their users – safe, while it encouraged policy-makers to develop and mandate proven design-led solutions.
Reducing road accidents
Road accidents are a major cause of serious injuries and fatalities in the UK. According to the Department for Transport (DfT), 1,784 people lost their lives on UK roads in 2018. Meanwhile, there were 25,511 serious injuries in road traffic accidents reported to the police that year.
The DfT also found that driver or rider errors or reactions were responsible for the majority of fatal road accidents in 2018, causing 915 deaths. Not looking properly and losing control of vehicles were the biggest causes of these accidents.
According to the Road Safety Week network, safe journeys can take place when road transport networks human error doesn’t go on to result in serious injury or fatalities. It also wants safe spaces for vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians to be priorities in order to facilitate healthy journeys.
Progress to be made
Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake, the road safety charity, said: “Road Safety Week provides a unique opportunity, every year, to focus the public, organisations and policy-makers’ attention on the importance of road safety. With someone being killed or seriously injury on a British road every 20 minutes, each one a preventable tragedy, there is still huge progress to be made.
“We believe that it is everyone’s human right to be able to get around in a safe and healthy way every day. That is why this year, from 18-24 November, we want everyone to ‘Step up for Safe Streets’ and learn about, shout about and celebrate the amazing design-led solutions that can help us create a safe and healthy future for all.”
If you’ve had a road traffic accident that was caused by someone else, you could be able to make a claim for compensation to help you get back on your feet and on the road. Just give us a call, request a call back or start your claim online to find out how we can help.
