The future of pedestrian safety will be the topic of discussion among road safety professionals when they meet for RoSPA’s annual road safety conference in Birmingham on 11 March.
The event – titled Stop, look and listen. Can we honestly say we do? – will urge practitioners not to lose sight of the needs of pedestrians, who accounted for nearly 25% of road deaths in Great Britain in 2013.
Factors including pedestrian behaviour, shared and traditional environments and technology will be considered, and delegates will invited to debate whether publicity is still relevant within the “education, training and publicity” matrix. The role and responsibilities of local authorities, vehicle manufacturers and operators, researchers and policy-makers will also be explored.
Speakers at the event include: Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA’s chief executive; Joe Irvin, chief executive of Living Streets; and Louise Martin and Paul Cope from Staffordshire County Council who will discuss how to deliver effective road safety programmes in schools in the current economic climate.
Kevin Clinton, RoSPA’s head of road safety, said: “Pedestrian safety may be most associated with educating children, but with a public health emphasis on increasing walking, coupled with the distraction of technology and increasingly busy lives, helping adults is also an area that needs much thought.
“It’s important that we don’t lose sight of the needs of pedestrians. This conference will be a chance for road safety professionals to come together and justify how their interventions will make a difference.”
Road safety professionals wishing to book a place at the conference should visit the RoSPA website or contact the charity’s events team on 0121 248 2089.
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