The police and crime commissioner for Cambridgeshire is funding a new county-wide road safety post.
Announced in a press release on Tuesday (17 Jan), PCC Jason Ablewhite (pictured) says the new police casualty reduction officer post is designed to help reduce the number of collisions on Cambridgeshire’s roads.
Mr Ablewhite added that the new officer will lead on the educational element of road safety campaigns such as ‘drink drive’ and ‘THINK!’, on behalf of Cambridgeshire Police.
The successful candidate will also work with partner agencies to influence the way people behave when they drive, cycle or walk near roads.
The move is seen as a positive step for road safety education, training and publicity (ETP) in Cambridgeshire, with the new officer likely to be in post from spring 2017.
PCC Jason Ablewhite said: “The social and economic cost of road collisions is felt by a wide range of statutory and non-statutory agencies, not just the emergency services immediately involved, but those in the healthcare system who are responsible for helping people recover.
“This new role provides an important resource to help educate people about keeping safe on our roads.”
Chief constable Alec Wood, Cambridgeshire Police, said: “Enforcement activity alone will not reduce fatal and serious collisions and it is vital we also focus our work on preventing them from happening in the first place.
“This role will form an important part of that work to change driver behaviour and save lives.”
Photo: Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire
Any police force that still has or re-introduces an officer dedicated to and focused on road safety matters has my vote. Losing such posts in the past few years has been counter-productive to road safety partnership working.
Pat,Wales
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The Chief Constable, who now has far less authority to decide on what the policing priorities are in his area should know that its never been that Enforcement alone will stop wrongdoers. Neither will Education alone. There are two other E’s and they are Engineering and Environment. Put these four things together and one may have a recipe for improvements on our roads. One alone stands no chance but all together is a better bet that progress can be made.
Bob Craven Lancs
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