Date: 16th November, 2016
National Road Safety Week is running between 21 and 27 November, and Wiltshire & Swindon Road Safety Partnership will be running three events in support of the campaign.
The charity Brake, which runs Road Safety Week, is focusing on six road safety elements:
- Slow – breaking the speed limit or travelling too fast for the conditions is a contributory factor in more than a quarter of fatal road traffic collisions;
- Sober – even one alcoholic drink can affect your ability to drive safely;
- Secure – wearing a seatbelt is still seen as an inconvenience by many, but buckling up can halve the risk of dying in a road traffic collision;
- Silent – drivers who perform a complex secondary task, like using a mobile phone, while at the wheel are three times more likely to crash than non-distracted drivers;
- Sharp – road traffic collisions caused by poor driver vision are estimated to cause 2,900 casualties a year; and
- Sustainable – minimising driving and walking, cycling or using public transport instead helps to make communities safer.
Brake is encouraging people to make an on-line pledge to show their commitment to road safety – visit www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk for more.
Wiltshire & Swindon Road Safety Partnership – which brings together Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council – is running two Don’t Drink & Drive events during the campaign week.
Over 200 Wiltshire College students will benefit, with the first event being held at Lackham on 21 November between 10am and 2pm, and the second hosted at the Trowbridge campus on 22 November between 10am and 1pm.
Then, on 23 November, the focus will shift to business drivers, with an employee engagement event for staff at BAM Nuttall in Swindon.
Ian Hopkins, road safety manager at Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, is co-ordinating the events on behalf of the partnership. He said: “National Road Safety Week is a great opportunity to consider all of the risks to drivers, rather than focusing on one specific issue. With the shorter days, winter weather and forthcoming festive season all factors at this time of year, these events will complement our on-going work with Year 11 students and the military through the Safe Drive Stay Alive programme.”