This week Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) are supporting the UK’s biggest road safety event, Road Safety Week (16-22 November), coordinated by Brake, the road safety charity.
When it comes to road safety, speed matters. In a crash, 1mph can mean the difference between life and death, but we know that people still regularly break speed limits or travel too fast for the conditions of the road. Speed is important because it plays a part in every death and injury on our roads. The formula is simple: the higher the speed the harder the crash and the greater the risk of death and injury. This year’s Road Safety Week theme, ‘No Need to Speed’, is a reminder to everyone of how the speed they travel affects other people.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Area Manager Tony Crook said “As National Fire Chiefs Council Lead for Road Safety, I know this campaign provides us with opportunities to save lives and reduce road casualties across our communities”.
Road traffic collisions have become a huge part of our Firefighters daily work. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service attended 699 road traffic collisions in 2019, the majority of these incidents were caused by speeding.
Road traffic collisions can be traumatic for people as firefighters use equipment designed to cut through metal which are loud. That along with, flying glass, and potential injuries is not a pleasant situation for someone to be. Someone at some point has had to drive past the scene of a road traffic collision on the motorway and whilst your main concern is the delays it has caused you on your journey there is no denying that it looks a scary experience and that alone should encourage people to think “no need to speed.”
Visit www.lancsfirerescue.org.uk/road-safety for advice on road safety.