Meeting documents

A presentation by Sue Brown, Team Leader, Casualty Reduction, BCC

Members received a presentation from Sue Brown, Team Leader, Casualty Reduction, which gave details of road casualty statistics relating to the Beeches area, South Bucks and the County as a whole.

The following was noted:

• Trends and patterns for collisions are looked at to see whether they can be improved through education or changes in road layouts.
• 2010 targets include reduction of killed/seriously injured (KSI) by 40%; reduction of child KSI by 50%; reduction of slight injuries by 10%. Priorities are set in relation to where the most severe casualties occur.
• Of those KSI in Buckinghamshire in 2008, 20% occurred in South Bucks.  Although the population is small there is heavy traffic in the area and Health Authority Reports may give a distorted view of the high casualty rate in South Bucks.
• Reports are received where there is personal injury, not where it is only damage to vehicles.
• Most collisions are single vehicle crashes of which shunt collision and head on collision are the most common. 
• With regard to child causalities countywide, there were 34 between 1994-98 and in 2008 there were 18.  There were nine child casualties in the Beeches area in 2008, but no deaths between 2007-08 and no deaths to date in 2009.
• There is a human error element in 95% of road casualties and 76% is solely the fault of the road user.  Most common reasons are failure to look properly, failure to judge the path or speed of traffic and carelessness.
• People aged 17-25 make up one third of all road casualties. An event called ‘Safe Drive – Stay Alive’ is being held for secondary schools and Burnham Upper and Burnham Grammar Schools are involved.  A training course entitled ‘Get in Gear’ is also being held and, if successful will be a rolled out as a national event.
• Those people prosecuted for speeding will be offered safety training courses instead of points on their licenses.  However, this will only be offered once.
• Road Safety Officers, in conjunction with the Police have recorded post codes for those speeding to see whether the issue is local or whether it relates to through traffic.
• Road casualty figures need to continue to reduce in the future in order to meet the DfT targets for 2010.

Dev Dhillon asked about a particular area where the wall of a house had been replaced several times because of collisions.  He asked how such an issue can be resolved if there are no indicators because there is no injury.  Sue said the Service places great value on information relating to damage only collisions so that a bigger picture of where problems might be can be built up.

It was suggested that statistical information regarding the main causes of collisions should be included in any future presentation.

Sue stated that she would also be contacting Huntercombe Manor Hospital with regard to working with them on road safety issues and Karen Adamson agreed to provide a contact for the PCT.

Action:  Karen Adamson

With regard to figures relating to fatal collisions, it was noted that in 2005 there were two and in 2007 there was one.  Lin Hazell asked whether these casualties occurred in the same area and Sue agreed to provide that information.

Action:  Sue Brown

(Addendum:  subsequent to the meeting Sue Brown provided the following information:

2005 – two motorcycle crashes, one on Cliveden Road Taplow where a motorcyclist lost control on a bend, and one on the M4

2006 – 0

2007 – 1 on the B3028 Lake End Road Burnham, where a motorcyclist lost control following overtake)

Although 73% of casualties related to cars, it was during 2009, motorcyclists make up 24% of the casualties, but only 5% of vehicle traffic.

Members noted the Road Safety teams visit supermarkets to encourage parents to use seatbelts when carrying children and babies in their cars. Resources are also being sought to target other parts of the community, such as schools.  Sessions are put on in schools in order to influence young drivers.

Discussion took place regarding a request from Burnham Upper School for a crossing in Stomp Road.  Sue stated that any issues would be identified through the School Travel Plan, but there was no record of any casualties outside the school in the last three years.

The Forum noted that in the annual survey carried out by the County Council, Beeches area was top out of the 19 areas for its satisfaction with driver and rider educational courses.  Sue reminded members that it is not always the road that is the problem, it is the road user.

The Chairman thanked Sue Brown for her presentation.