Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership relaunches

Gloucestershire’s Road Safety Partnership relaunched last week (2 December) with presentations from all the key partners to renew their commitment to joint working and vision zero – a global road safety project which aims to achieve zero deaths or serious injuries on our roads.

Cllr Dave Norman, cabinet member for community safety (including GFRS) and chair of the partnership, opened the event which heard from Nick Evans, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (DPCC); Superintendent Paul Keasey from Gloucestershire Constabulary; and Mark Preece, Chief Fire Officer. They were supported by other members of the partnership and in attendance were councillors from all tiers, National Highways and community interest groups.

The event sought to relaunch the Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership, breathing new life into joint working and a shared commitment to reducing serious accidents and deaths on the county roads. Attendees heard about the new ‘strategic approach’ that the partnership will be following to achieve safe, secure, social and efficient use of the roads.

Speaking at the event, Cllr Dave Norman said: “We’ve been working behind the scenes getting this partnership together and now we have the great pleasure of launching it here today. We know we need to do more to bring down serious injuries and deaths on our roads and we have to do this together.”

Nick Evans, Deputy PCC and Chair of the Safer Gloucestershire Board, said: “We have a lot of work to do, and the tragic incidents we have seen on our roads over the last few weeks bring the reason for that into sharp focus. Now that we have re-established the road safety partnership, I hope we’ll be able to drive a concerted effort from statutory agencies and communities alike to educate all road users and encourage behavioural change. This won’t happen overnight, but is a long-term commitment to make Gloucestershire’s roads safer.”

Superintendent Paul Keasey, of Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: “I have been working at a national level with the Home Office to develop a toolkit that can be used to make road safety joint working more effective. Gloucestershire will be a front runner in the process and an early adopter of this new way of working.”

At the event attendees were asked to sign a pledge to support the road safety partnership in their commitment to vision zero. Vision zero is an aim to reduce deaths on roads to nil.

The Community Speedwatch Safety Fund, a partnership between the county council and the OPCC, was launched earlier this year with the aim of making the county’s roads safer for the pedestrians, cyclists and motorists that use them. You can find out more information on the fund here.

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk