RouteAware dramatically improves safety on A45
A recent road safety scheme from Warwickshire County Council’s Road Safety Unit has significantly reduced casualties and speeds on a notorious stretch of road.
In 2007 the Road Safety Unit carried out a number of improvements on a section of the A45 between Willoughby and Dunchurch which was identified as high risk crash route due to the number of serious collisions between 2004 and 2007.
Work included the introduction of a 50mph speed limit, carriageway narrowing, resurfacing and flashing signs. According to a recent report which reviews the success of the scheme, the casualty rate on this stretch of road has dropped significantly as a result.
A new safety measure, RouteAware was launched on a trial basis as part of the review. Using prominent signage, RouteAware draws motorists’ attention to the fact they are travelling on a high-risk road. The signs use actual casualty figures to drive home the message and advise road users to watch their speed and take extra care.
The report shows an 87 per cent reduction last year in the number of recorded accidents and a 93 per cent reduction in road casualties compared to 5 years ago.
It also reveals that speed on this road has been almost halved with the number of drivers travelling in excess of 70mph nearly halved over 5 years from 363 to 194 – a reduction of 45 per cent. Likewise vehicles recorded travelling in excess of 86mph also fell from 19 to 7 a reduction of 62 per cent.
Road Safety Engineer Simon Prescott completed the report. He said “The results of the monitoring road speed and casualties numbers show dramatic decreases in both areas.
“We can therefore be statistically confident that the reduction in the final year of monitoring represents a real improvement for this road. The route has always featured highly on the counties hot route priority lists, yet now way down at number 80 in terms of its ranking.”
Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, cabinet portfolio holder for community protection said: “The results in the recent report are very encouraging.
"As an authority we are facing many financial challenges, so we welcome schemes like this which are very effective and require minimal start-up costs. So far RouteAware has proved highly cost effective both in monetary terms and weighed against the potential costs of human injury and loss of life.”
For a copy of the report ‘Monitoring Report of Casualty Reduction Scheme Completed July 2007 – A45 or for further information about RouteAware, please contact Chris Fossey on 01926 418612 or email chrisfossey@warwickshire.gov.uk