PFCC supports National Road Safety Week
Posted Friday 15th November
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, Roger Hirst, is urging residents to prioritise road safety during National Road Safety Week 2024. The annual campaign, which runs from 17th to the 23rd November 2024, aims to raise awareness of the dangers on our roads and promote safe driving behaviours.
Last year, eight hundred and forty-one people were killed or seriously injured on roads in Essex including 44 people who lost their lives. Although this is 6.8% lower than the previous 12 months this is still unacceptably high.
Jane Gardner, Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “Every year, countless lives are lost or changed forever due to road traffic collisions. It is vital that we work together to reduce these tragic incidents and make our roads safer for everyone.
“That is why we’ve signed up to Vision Zero through the Safer Essex Roads Partnership. Over the next 10 years, it is our aspiration to reduce deaths on our roads to zero.
“While this sounds ambitious, it is achievable if we all work together. We know the five big killers on our roads are speeding, not wearing a seat belt, drink/drug driving and use of a mobile phone. Through education, better technology, improving road layouts and strong enforcement we can drive down the harm caused by road accidents.”
Earlier this year the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner allocated an extra £300,000 of Local Safer Streets Funding to improve road safety. This is being spent on extra road traffic patrols, traffic crime monitoring and Community Speed Watch at identified road crime hotspots.
The Fire and Rescue Service also works closely with young people to highlight the importance of safer driving behaviours. During 2023-2024, together with Essex Police, their joint education team delivered 1,489 programmes in Essex, reaching over 126,547 students.
The aim is to reach those young people most at risk on our roads and helping us all recognise that by working together we can bring down the number of people killed on our roads in Essex.
To find out more about what we are doing across Essex to improve road safety and look at how you can get involved visit Safer Essex Roads Partnership.
About the Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP)
SERP is a collaboration between emergency services and councils in Essex to reduce road deaths and serious injuries: SERP’s goal is to reduce road deaths and serious injuries to zero by 2040.
Between the end of September 2023 and the end of September 2024, 841 people were killed or seriously injured on roads in Essex including 44 people who lost their lives.
