John Taylor with Nick Lloyd, the county council's Head of Road Safety, Superintendent Dave Holdway (centre) of Staffordshire Police and Assistant Director Stuart Smith of the Fire and Rescue Service

We've got to stop this waste of life

I was delighted to attend a road safety summit organised by Staffordshire County Council yesterday.

We joined with the Police, the other emergency services and a range of experts to discuss ways to tackle the real hardcore road safety issues that lead to death and serious injury.

This is something very close to my heart. I spent 28 years in the Fire Service. In that time I attended innumerable accidents and I have witnessed the terrible aftermath of fatal incidents far too often.

Road safety in general has improved markedly in recent years. But we still have persistent problems with some groups of motorists who sometimes seem determined to risk their lives.

In particular we are worried about motorcyclists and young drivers. It is a staggering fact that 17-25 year olds represent just 10 per cent of all drivers, yet account for 33 per cent of casualties who are killed or injured. What a waste of young life.

We also have a real problem with biker deaths. Just in the last month four motorcyclists have died on our roads, taking the tragic total for the year to 20.

We are focussing time and resources on these two priority areas. Yesterday's conference will help develop new partnerships and campaigns and hopefully save even more lives.

Page Last Modified: 27/06/2007 11:01:13

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