Road Casualties Drop by One Third after Launch of Outsourced Road Safety Contract

29 Jun 2012

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Central Bedfordshire Council has seen a 30 per cent fall in people killed or seriously injured in road accidents, since ‘outsourcing’ its road safety education, training and publicity to Amey at the end of 2010.

The two organisations have reduced costs by 10 per cent and seen a reduction in accident rates across every category – including children, motorcyclists and young drivers.*

Amey is working with Central Bedfordshire Council to deliver an integrated road safety and highways service.

The two organisations work in a partnership called Bedfordshire Highways to deliver a MAC scheme; managing and maintaining more than 2,200km of roads. Amey is also delivering a five year agreement to provide road safety education, training and publicity (ETP).

By combining engineering solutions with raising awareness of issues, Amey and Central Bedfordshire Council can adopt a structured approach to casualty prevention and reduction. The MAC has also reached its highest ever performance level; an achievement recognised by a recent Scrutiny Review of the contract which found it to be “operating well” and “delivering value for money.”

Nick Gregg, Managing Director of Amey’s Local Government division, said: “These road safety statistics are not just numbers; they’re people’s children, friends and family members. We are proud that in one year, Amey and the Council may have helped 46 people to stay alive, or live their lives to the full, through this joint road safety campaign.

“Local authorities are facing severe cuts to budgets, but Bedfordshire Highways has shown that by linking road safety with highways engineering, and innovative thinking, we can reduce accidents, as well as costs.”

Basil Jackson, Assistant Director for Highways and Transport at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “We have been really pleased with the hugely improved performance in road safety. The introduction of a holistic approach to road safety has already paid dividends for the travelling public in Central Bedfordshire by cutting fatal and serious casualties by a third, while making real cash savings for the council.”

Amey’s road safety contract includes analysing statistics and delivering campaigns, events and training designed to reach the most ‘at risk’ groups and reduce the number of road collisions. The University of Bedfordshire is carrying out a full evaluation of activity and will advise later this year whether the initiatives have encouraged members of the public to change their behaviour.

Amey has delivered a wide range of road safety initiatives through the ETP contract, including:

• Events, training and awareness campaigns linked to motorcyclists
• Campaigns to tackle drink driving and speeding
• Additional guidance and training for new drivers
• Winter skills driving workshops
• Road safety resources for teachers and children
• Workshops with the emergency services to tackle unsafe parking
• Working with the wider highways team to provide road safety advice to local residents affected by engineering projects in their local area.

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