Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership (WRSP) is asking the public for their views on how the county’s roads can be made safer by taking part in a public consultation on a new Warwickshire road safety ‘Strategy to 2030’. The public consultation starts today 18 August and can be viewed here www.warksroadsafety.org

Key partners, including Warwickshire Police, Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire and Highways England are developing the strategy together with external consultant Agilysis and now need the public’s input.

WRSP Chair and Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire Philip Seccombe said “This is an important document as it sets out the long term vision for Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, detailing the activities, structure and objectives up to 2030 and also includes how road safety activities will be evaluated.

“To continue to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads, we need the public’s support and involvement. That’s why we are keen to encourage as many people as possible to take part in this public consultation to have their say.”

WCC Councillor Wallace Redford, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning said “The partnership is keen to harness the increase in cycling and walking rates during 2020 due to the global pandemic and UK lockdown. These active travel choices bring many health and wellbeing benefits as well as a positive impact on the environment. Promoting active travel forms part of the new Strategy to 2030 and we would like to hear the public’s views on this.

The proposed Partnership vision is:
‘Using an evidence based Safe System approach, we will strive to eliminate fatal and serious casualties, thereby creating a safe road environment which will encourage active and sustainable travel.’

Warwickshire Police Chief Constable Debbie Tedds said “Whilst it is pleasing to see a downward trend in the number of people killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads and the impact and devastation this causes to individuals lives, as a partnership, we need to see this continue to reduce further. This new Road Safety Strategy to 2030 adopts an ambitious target of a 50% reduction in road deaths and serious injuries by 2030, working towards ‘Vision Zero’.

“Whilst protecting all road users from harm continues to be one of our priorities for our officers and staff, the number of road fatalities and severe injuries has plateaued in recent years which is why, as a partnership we are proposing a new approach to help protect people on our roads.”

The partnership is proposing a new ‘Safe System’ approach where the whole system is designed to help protect people on our roads.

This definition from ‘Towards Zero Foundation, 2020’ explains what a Safe System is.

To help build a safe road system that is forgiving of mistakes, investment needs to be made in the creation of Safe Roads, Safe Speeds, Safe Vehicles, Safe People and Post Collision Care to put layers of protection around people to keep them safe from death and serious injuries on the road. All parts of the road system must be strengthened in combination to multiply the protective effects and if one part of the system fails, the other parts will still protect people.

Highways England Assistant Regional Safety Coordinator, Marie Biddulph, said “Safety is always our number one priority and we believe no-one should come to harm when travelling or working on our roads.

“Highways England are responsible for maintaining the motorways and major A roads, including the A45 and A46, in Warwickshire and we are committed to meeting a target of zero injuries or deaths on our UK road network by 2040. That’s why we fully support the ‘Safe Systems’ approach and would welcome people’s thoughts and input on it.”

Chief Fire Officer Ben Brook “We are really looking forward to working with local communities in Warwickshire to help create a safer road environment for everyone. The partnership will be looking at how vehicles, roads and roadsides can be improved to protect people and we will also be looking at how we can encourage the public to play their part too by using the roads safely.

It’s also important to remember that whilst the strategy paints the broad picture, due to the length of time it covers, the detail will need to be flexible to take into consideration factors such as shifts towards cycling and walking, and away from public transport as well as the financial environment.