Organisation: Dorset County Council
Date uploaded: 28th October 2013
Date published/launched: October 2013
While most local authorities produce casualty statistics reports each year, not all produce a plan showing what they want to achieve and how they will get there. This casualty reduction plan may be useful to others who need to produce something similar.
The plan took about six months to develop and is based on a number of strategic documents. It was developed through a group comprising ETP (education, training & publicity) members, engineers, maintenance managers, traffic management staff and planning staff.
The plan re-affirms how Dorset County Council plans to meet its challenging road casualty reduction targets and provides a revised Action Plan for 2013/14.
The plan explains that Dorset’s early casualty reduction progress was not as good as other local shire authorities. In recent years a concerted effort has been made to address this situation through a much improved evidence-led approach coupled with better co-ordinated working through the Dorset Strategic Road Safety Partnership (DSRSP) and its tactical and operational arm, Dorset Road Safe. Dorset Road Safe brings together all the local agencies with a vested interest and expertise in road casualty reduction. This improved partnership working approach has coincided with steady falls in road casualties across the Dorset County Council area over the past five years.
Although Dorset’s long term casualty trend is downward, there are early signs from the available data evidence that this trend is beginning to level off. This situation appears to be reflected in the national figures, but it is too soon to say whether it is the start of a different trend.
The casualty reduction plan says that evidence suggests that additional intelligence-led, covert and overt police enforcement supported by co-ordinated mass publicity and education activities can raise greater public awareness of road safety issues and may positively influence driver and rider attitude, which may in turn influence a longer term behavioural change. Dorset County Council will continue to actively support this approach, which is delivered through Dorset Road Safe’s “No excuse” project (see link below).
The plan includes a comprehensive action plan for 2013/14 setting out what measures will be implemented to meet targets.
For more information contact:
Robert Smith, Road Safety ETP Manager
T: (01305) 224680