This week is Road Safety Week (15-21 November) and we wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone about why being aware of the simple actions you can take to maximise your safety when you’re out on the road is vital.
In the UK, 1,516 people were killed on UK roads in 2020 and on average, someone is killed or seriously injured on a road every 22 minutes.
Road crashes are tragic events, and death and life-changing injuries have a devastating effect on families and local communities.
Nic Haywood, a paramedic at East Midlands Ambulance Service recalls when she responded to a road traffic collision. One of the patients had not been wearing their seatbelt
She said: “Not everybody involved in a collision not wear a seatbelt dies, but they must live with the life-changing injuries for the rest of their lives.”
The good news is that death and serious injury from road traffic collisions are preventable if road users are safe and share responsibility.
We want to make sure our local communities are aware of our top safety tips, so we can ensure road users are staying safe throughout the winter.
Make sure you:
- Regularly check the condition of your vehicle, particularly your tyres.
- Stick to speed limits
- Keep your distance from other road users, especially in poor weather conditions
- Wear your seatbelt
- Never use your phone whilst driving
- Never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Plan your journeys
- Download the free what3words app which can help you to pass on your location to breakdown services and emergency services if you don’t know where you are
- Also consider UK grid reference and Ordnance Survey as location search and finder tools
The theme of Brake’s designated road safety campaign this year is ‘Road Safety Heroes’.
The Emergency Service’s help care for people after a crash. Ambulance Services get medical help to people as quickly as possible, the Fire and Rescue Services get people to safety after a crash and make scenes safe to protect people from harm, and the Police enforce traffic laws and ensure that anyone driving dangerously is caught, as well as help their partners at the scene of an incident.
Anyone can be a road safety ‘hero’ as whether you walk, ride or drive, we all have a responsibility to use roads safely to protect ourselves and others.
For more road safety information visit the Brake UK website.