Speed Or Safety?

Advice to Vulnerable Road Users

lccadmin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:51:03 +0000

Three serious collisions within the last 48 hours which have claimed the lives of two people and critically injured another have highlighted the need for vulnerable road users to be extra vigilant this winter. Jonathan Clarkson of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership said: “As vulnerable road users most affected by the change in the winter weather, motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians need to be aware that stopping distances of road vehicles are significantly longer in icy, snowy or frosty conditions. “The colder periods of the day such as in the evening, and first thing in the morning before sunrise, hold some of the worst conditions.” Each year Leicestershire Police issues winter driving advice to motorists. This year, the local Road Safety Partnership is also issuing advice to vulnerable road users, who should consider:

Looking both ways before safely crossing the road
Using pedestrian crossings and crossing islands where available
Allowing more of time to walk across the road in wet or icy conditions
Wearing reflective or light clothing if walking down unlit roads
Being mindful that road markings may be obscured by ice, and to expect traffic coming both ways – even down one-way streets
Walking on the pavement so that cars travelling on your side of the road are travelling towards you

Christmas 2011 Drink Drive campaign

lccadmin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:29:01 +0000

The Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Road Safety Partnership Christmas Drink Drive campaign is running throughout December with the theme of “None for the Road.” The campaign, which was launched on Tuesday 29th November, was supported by Dawn Bycraft, the mother of Earl Shilton resident David Johnson who was killed by a drunk driver in 2004 at Elmesthorpe. The None for the Road campaign message is being supported by radio advertising, beermats and washroom posters in local pubs along with featuring prominently on the petrol pumps of supermarket forecourts. For further information please visit the Leicestershire Constabulary website.

Enforcement Information

lccadmin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:52:02 +0000

The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership working with Leicestershire Constabulary has published the numbers of prosecutions arising from each fixed speed and red light camera enforcement site for 2010.

Annual Collision and Casualty Data

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:40:17 +0000

As requested by the Department for Transport the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Road Safety Partnership has published site-specific information for each of its fixed camera sites. The information includes annual collision and casualty data back to 1990 for the numbers of killed and seriously injured people and for all personal injuries. To view this data and to view the list and map of speed camera sites, click here.

M1/M6 Catthorpe Viaduct replacement, M1 Junction 19

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:22:36 +0000

The 50mph speed limit through the roadworks is being enforcement using average speed cameras for the safety of road workers and all road users. When approaching the roadworks:

Keep within the speed limit – it is there for your safety.
Get into the correct lane in good time – don’t keep switching.
Concentrate on the road ahead, not the roadworks.
Be alert for works’ traffic leaving or entering roadworks.
Keep a safe distance – there could be queues in front.
Observe all signs – they are there to help you.

Driver Education Workshops – Revised Fee (Feb 2011)

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:20:33 +0000

All Speed Awareness and Traffic Light Workshop offers dispatched by the Road Safety Unit from 21st February 2011 will be charged at £90. Previously, workshop fees were charged at £70. For more information about the scheme, visit www.drivereducationleicester.com

Traffic Light Workshops Introduced

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:06:14 +0000

Although running a red light is extremely dangerous, it has become common practice in this area. Collision figures reveal that, since the beginning of 2003, there have been over 350 collisions due to motorists running red lights. These crashes have resulted in 551 casualties; 3 of which were fatal. The problem is much bigger than this as there is no accounting for the number of unreported incidents and ‘near misses’ or, to put it another way, ‘near hits’. To address this problem, the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Safety Camera Scheme is now offering an educational workshop to motorists detected disobeying a red light at the lowest level. The workshop aims to raise awareness of the dangers and risks of disobeying traffic signals, encourage better driving practice and reduce offences. The 2½ hour workshop is delivered by Approved Driving Instructors and road safety professionals. The Traffic Light Workshop, alongside the Speed Awareness Workshop, is delivered by Leicestershire County Council and it is an alternative to the fixed penalty of a £60 fine and 3 points against your licence.

Speed Enforcement A607 Rearsby to Melton

admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:09:59 +0000

From the week commencing 13th April 2009, the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Safety Camera Scheme will be deploying mobile speed camera enforcement along the A607 Rearsby Bypass to Melton.

In the 3 years from 1st January 2006, there have been 34 injury collisions resulting in 65 casualties on this road. This stretch of the A607 will be classified as an ‘enforcement route’ and will be targeted under the Force’s ‘Community Concern’ enforcement policy. A spokesperson for the Safety Camera Scheme said:

‘Route enforcement has proved to be extremely successful at reducing casualties resulting from road traffic collisions. The combined reduction of fatal and serious injury collisions on our core route sites, the A47 and the A5, amounts to a massive 44% over the last 3 years. Our Community Concern policy allows us to address the very real collision problems along this route until a more permanent solution is put in place.’

Route: The enforcement route is the stretch of the A607 between the start of the Rearsby Bypass at Queniborough and the roundabout at Edendale Road, Melton and is 12.47Km in length. Collisions & Casualties Collisions from 01 Jan 06 to 31 Dec 08 (3 calendar years)

Collisions
Slight

Serious

Fatal

Total

No. of Collisions by severity
23

9

2

34

Casualties
Slight

Serious

Fatal

Total

No. of Casualties by severity
47

11

7

65

‘Street Lights’ Campaign

admin — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:19:56 +0000

A campaign launched at the beginning of January 2009 was run to help drivers identify and stay within 30mph speed limits. The campaign delivered a very simple message:

‘Street lights, but no speed signs mean the limit is 30′

The message was displayed on billboards across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. It addresses the common reason given by drivers for exceeding speed limits in urban areas; that they didn’t know what the limit was because there were no speed limit signs.

The campaign reminded drivers of information provided in the Highway Code. The Highway Code states that the speed limit in built-up areas is 30mph. It continues by saying “The 30mph limit applies to all traffic on all roads in England and Wales with street lighting unless signs show otherwise.” In this area, there are 88 camera sites – 53 of which enforce a 30mph limit. With 60% of our sites enforcing 30mph limits, the authorities expect that the majority of offences would be detected for this speed limit. However, our figures reveal that for the previous 3 years, an average 96% of all offences were detected at the 30mph limit. The ‘Street lights’ campaign addresses these figures and aims to increase motorists’ ability of identifying 30mph zones so that they don’t get ‘caught out’ through lack of knowledge and awareness. Educational campaigns like this coupled with publicity of our camera locations and the mobile camera enforcement schedule all ties into the Safety Camera Scheme’s efforts to combat speeding through education, encouragement and enforcement. A spokesperson for the Safety Camera Scheme said:

‘The good news is is that speeding offences have reduced dramatically over the last 3 years with 15,000 less offences in 2008 compared with 2006. This indicates that more and more motorists are choosing to obey speed limits.’

‘However, there is still a lot of work to be done to bring this figure down further. Publicity campaigns like this and other educational programmes like the Speed Awareness Workshop all aim to reduce speeding and ultimately facilitate the authorities’ targets for reducing collisions and casualties on our roads.’

The ‘Wasted’ Road Show

admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:45:59 +0000

Developed by the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Road Safety Partnership, the ‘Wasted’ Road Show is geared to address the high level of young drivers and passengers killed and injured on our roads.

From 1st January 2004 to the end of September 2008, there have been: 86 fatal, 361 serious injury and 3,917 injury collisions involving young drivers. The ‘Wasted’ Road Show is a hard-hitting and thought-provoking event which will make young people think seriously about the responsibilities of driving and the terrible consequences that can result from inexperience combined with high spirits, peer pressure and recklessness. The presentation mixes film with a live, interactive dramatic performance and is based on a real incident which occurred in Ratby, Leicestershire in 2006. The incident resulted in the tragic death of Hannah Barnsley, aged just 15 years old, two other passengers suffered severe injuries and the driver was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving. To watch the video trailer for the event, visit www.wastedroadshow.com To contact the team to find out more or book places, please call Hema on 0116 305 8201 or email hlad@leics.gov.uk 27 x 1hr presentations have been scheduled over a 2 week period from Tuesday 3rd February 2009 to Friday 13th February 2009 at the following venues: Peepul Centre, Leicester Loughborough Town Hall Uppingham Theatre Leicester College (Leicester College students only) Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth I College (WQEI College students only)