South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 23/03/2012

Police accident reports show that there were just two fatal casualties on roads within the district in 2011, compared with 11 in 2010 and nine in 2009.

Serious casualty figures also indicate a positive outcome for 2011. By November, serious road casualties in the district numbered 30, compared with 86 during 2010 as a whole.

The positive data is echoed in recent figures published by the Department for Transport, which showed that South Gloucestershire had the lowest casualty rate among all British local authorities in the years 2007 to 2009. In total, 33 people were killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles in South Gloucestershire during the three years, compared with a national high of 455 in Westminster.

Welcoming the news, South Gloucestershire Council Executive Member for Planning, Transport and the Strategic Environment Brian Allinson said: ”This is very good news for all those who are committed to improving road safety in South Gloucestershire.

“The council takes road safety extremely seriously and we work closely with our partners in the police, with schools and with other agencies to identify where and why road accidents happen and what can be done to prevent them.

“However, we cannot afford to become complacent. Two fatalities is two fatalities too many, and will continue to make every effort to make sure that South Gloucestershire continues to be one of the country’s safest areas to live and work.”

The council continually monitors police reports in order to identify where people are injured on South Gloucestershire’s road network, and who is involved.

This data is used to target spending on areas where injury accidents occur most often and on the most vulnerable road users such as children, pedestrians and riders of two wheeled vehicles. It is also used to monitor the effectiveness of these interventions.

Examples of recent road safety engineering interventions, based on accident monitoring figures, include:

• Traffic signal installation at the A38/ B4509 junction in Falfield: casualty numbers reduced from 7 in the 3 years before installation to zero in 3 years later.
• Traffic signal installation at the B4465 Westerleigh Road/Shorthill Road crossroads in Westerleigh: casualty numbers reduced from 15 in the three years before installation, to none in the three years following installation
• Mini roundabout installation at the Westerleigh Road/ St Briavels Drive junction in Yate: casualty numbers reduced from 12 in the three years before installation, to none in the three years following installation
• Bend treatment works on Lansdown Road at Battlefields: casualty numbers reduced from three in the three years before treatment, to none in the three years following installation.

The council also has a very active Road Safety Education, Training and Publicity team which delivers a wide range of education and training services to vulnerable road users who are most likely to be involved in accidents, such as children, cyclists and motor cyclists.

Each year the team provides road safety training sessions to thousands of people throughout South Gloucestershire. In 2011 alone, the team had direct contact with 27,902 students of all ages, ranging from primary school to university.

The team also provides motorcycle and pre-driver training schemes as well as working with the Institute of Advanced Motorists to encourage 17 to 24 year old drivers to take further driver education.