European award for Road Safety Unit
A commitment to reducing road casualties has seen Warwickshire County Council’s Road Safety Unit awarded the European Road Safety Charter by the European Commission.
In 2005, 41,600 people died in road traffic accidents in the European Union while a massive 1.9 million people were injured – some of them severely. In its White Paper on European transport policy, the Commission has proposed that the European Union should set itself the target of halving the number of road deaths by 2010.
The Road Safety Unit, based at Shire Hall in Warwick, achieved a number of targets set by the Commission, which encourages good practice and promotes initiatives, reducing the number of people killed or injured on the county’s roads.
Estyn Williams, Manager of Warwickshire Road Safety said; “Road casualties cause immense human suffering. In the late 1990’s over 700 people a year were killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads. However, this has reduced steadily over the years. In 2004 the figure was 514, but last year this reduced significantly to 406.
In reducing casualties we believe we should be evidence led - analysing how casualties have occurred - combining education, engineering and enforcement and working in partnership with others.”