THE number of people killed on the county’s roads continues to fall under the police and county council’s partnership approach to making Essex a safer place to travel in.
Essex Police and Essex County Council made concerted efforts throughout 2013 to further reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured in collisions, with a record number of multi-agency operations conducted across the county.
Roads policing officers and road safety officers vow to continue with their efforts to further reduce road crashes. In 2013, 41 people were killed but Essex Police’s head of roads policing said “it is still too many”.
“We are continuing to apply this joined-up approach to reducing road deaths and the signs are encouraging, especially if you look back at the figures a decade ago in Essex when we were dealing with 80-100 people dying in the county after being involved in a collision,” said Chief Insp Rachel Nolan. “A large number, if not all, road deaths are avoidable so my roads policing officers and the council’s road safety officers encourage everyone from drivers to cyclists and from pedestrians to motorcyclists to act in a more responsible manner.
“The running of dedicated town-based operations to target careless driving, mobile telephone abuse, drink-driving, seatbelt offending driver tiredness is paying off through both enforcement and education.”
In 2013, 41 people were killed in Essex road crashes (16 drivers, six passengers, 5 motorcyclists, 11 pedestrians and three cyclists). In 2012, 43 people were killed (11 drivers, five passengers, 16 motorcyclists, one pillion passenger, seven pedestrians and three cyclists).
Chief Insp Nolan added: “Our efforts to educate motorcyclists and other road users paid off last year with a significant and pleasing reduction in rider fatalities. We will continue with our work, but also need to focus on car and lorry drivers as well as pedestrians, and we will do so not only with the county council but also with the DVLA, VOSA and Highways Agency.
A large percentage of people being killed or seriously injured in crashes continue to be attributable to three main reasons: Driving too fast for the conditions or signed limit, failure to wear seat belts and driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Essex Police will continue to rigorously enforce these offences throughout 2014.
Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation at Essex County Council and chairman of the Essex Casualty Reduction Board, Councillor Rodney L Bass said: “This reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured on the county’s roads is testament to the level of activity, support and dedication from all of the partners in the Essex Casualty Reduction Board. No fatality is acceptable, and Essex County Council and its partners are committed to working hard to bring this figure down further through a combination of education and enforcement. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility and while some drivers continue to put themselves and others at risk we will continue to promote our ‘No Excuse’ road safety campaign targeting those who speed, drink drive, use mobile phones and drivers and passengers who do not wear seatbelts.”