A fire service led road safety initiative has contributed to a 25 per cent drop in incidents on South Yorkshire’s roads.
South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue attended 22 road traffic collisions in June, compared to an average of 29 incidents for the same month over the last three years.
The figures follow UK Road Safety Week (June 9-15), during which the fire service and its partners held events across the county to educate motorists, cyclists and pedestrians about common causes of road injuries such as speeding, drink driving and distraction.
Visits to supermarkets, shopping centres and Barnsley Mayor’s Parade formed part of the activity during the week, which is coordinated nationally by the Chief Fire Officer’s Association (CFOA).
Fire service and Safer Roads Partnership officers met more than 1,000 people at the events, and more than 10,000 people saw safety messages on social media, with many answering the fire service’s plea to tweet their own tips for improving road safety.
South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Gary Bruce, said: “It’s important that we measure the success of initiatives like this not just in terms of the number of people we’ve spoken to and how many leaflets we’ve handed out, but in terms of the effect they actually have in making people safer. So we’re pleased that this year’s initiative seems to have had an effect in reducing the number of road traffic collisions we’ve attended.
“Safe driving is mostly common sense. We ask people to drive at the appropriate speed, leave a decent gap between you and the vehicle in front and never, ever drink and drive. But it’s important that people to listen to our advice every single day, not just during initiatives like this one.”
The advice that the fire service gives to road users includes:
· Think speed - the risk of killing a pedestrian is four times higher at 40mph, than 30mph
· Keep your distance - leave at least a two second gap between you and the car in front
· Don’t drink and drive - just one drink can affect your response times as a driver