Road casualty numbers at their lowest

Road casualty numbers in Rochdale are at their lowest level since the year 2000.

In 2000 the Government introduced a plan to significantly reduce road casualties nationally, with targets for every borough. At the time, 111 people (91 adults and 20 children) were killed or seriously injured on Rochdale borough’s roads, but in ten years the borough has met and exceeded its target reduction with the total number of people killed or seriously injured road casualties down to 47 in 2010.

Traffic calming, pedestrian crossings and education and training aimed mainly at children and young drivers have been used to meet Rochdale’s target by the Council’s Highways and engineering service.

The Council’s Casualty Reduction Team now talk to many thousands of the borough’s school-aged children every year and over ten years have presented approximately 10,000 interactive lessons to children and adults.

Councillor Jacqui Beswick, Cabinet Member with portfolio for Partnerships said: “With the help drivers, parents and ongoing initiatives by the Council’s Casualty Reduction Team and our partners, then hopefully our roads will continue to become safer for all users.”

“The Council were pleased to approve recently plans to introduce 20mph speed limits outside all of the borough’s schools; it’s another initiative that will make a big difference.”

Stuart Howarth from Rochdale Borough Council’s Impact Partnership Casualty Reduction Team said: “Drivers should stick to the law and Highway Code, drive carefully and give extra consideration to other road users. Parents can make sure that they talk to their children about road safety and check that any car child seats are fitted properly.”

The Service works in close partnership with Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and the Highways Agency’s ‘Drivesafe’ Greater Manchester Camera Partnership, who support the borough’s drive for greater road safety with focussed campaigns to catch drivers who break the law, and provide hard-hitting information and education about the dangers of speeding, drink driving and not wearing a seatbelt. The organisations recently held a joint day of action at Birch motorway service station as part of a national Chief Fire Officers Association initiative to raise awareness of road safety and mark the UN’s new Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Dave Kirkham, Borough Manager for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s Rochdale Borough said: “These days the majority of Fire Service callouts nationally are to road accidents where we have to deal with some very distressing scenes. The majority of these accidents could have been avoided with a little extra care, thought and patience by drivers.”