The police commissioner for Merseyside is asking local people and other agencies for their input to try and make the region’s roads safer.
Jane Kennedy has launched a consultation asking residents whether they back her proposal to make ‘improving road safety’ a new priority for the region.
The consultation is part of Ms Kennedy’s work to produce a new ‘police and crime plan’ which will shape and inform the way policing and community safety is delivered across Merseyside. The plan currently has four priorities, but Ms Kennedy is hoping to make road safety a fifth.
Since 2010, Merseyside has witnessed a ‘sharp increase’ in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads.
Jane Kennedy said: “I have become increasingly concerned about road safety in Merseyside. More pedestrians die or are seriously hurt on the roads in our region than any other part of the country.
“Last year 585 people either lost their lives or suffered serious injuries on our region’s roads – that equates to more than 11 people every single week. Any death or serious injury on our roads is one too many and 11 a week is simply unacceptable.
“Each and every one brings suffering and misery to those who are involved, their families and friends. Lives are broken and futures destroyed, yet many of these collisions are avoidable.
“I believe it is time that, in conjunction with all my community safety partners, we concentrate on tackling this issue to prevent other people needlessly losing their lives on our roads.”
The consultation will run until 16 January 2017.
Years ago when I was in service the first understanding and responsibility of a police officer’s duties was to protect life and property. Road safety came under that heading.
For decades now they seemed to have moved away from that understanding and so it seems to have been taken over or on by the Fire Service. I welcome the return of police officers becoming involved in road safety matters not only in education but in the prosecutions of offenders such as dangerous driving and other such laws, many of which are designed for the safety of all road users.
gill craven
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I contributed by responding to the consultation. In doing so I noted that whilst road safety should be a priority, the actual wording is weak at best and should have more gusto possibly including something measurable. As an aside I took myself to various Merseyside websites and found nothing related to strategy, so if nothing else the raising of the topic is already creating interest.
Peter. Merseyside
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Perhaps it would help if the commissioner could have explained what actual difference there would be in day-to-day policing, between having road safety as a priortity and not having it as a priority? What is the default ‘road safety is not a priority’ level of policing with regard to prevention of collisions and taking action against offenders?
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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Hugh,
Perhaps because, according to the report, road safety is NOT currently a listed priority for them. A common situation and presuming road safety is a priority is a common mistake the public make. Sad but true.
Pat, Wales
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PCCs consult with their communities frequently and need to assess people’s priorities in order to inform their work because they are required to do so, including the following duties:
“The role of the PCCs is to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account. They are responsible for the totality of policing………PCCs ensure community needs are met as effectively as possible, and are improving local relationships through building confidence and restoring trust. They work in partnership across a range of agencies at local and national level to ensure there is a unified approach to preventing and reducing crime.
Under the terms of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, PCCs must:
• secure an efficient and effective police for their area;
• set the police and crime objectives for their area through a police and crime plan;
• set the force budget and determine the precept;
• bring together community safety and criminal justice partners, to make sure local priorities are joined up.”
For more information go the Home Office website or: http://www.apccs.police.uk/role-of-the-pcc/
Since PCCs have considerable powers over budgets and policing priorities and the ability and willingness to make things happen on the ground, I personally welcome their consultations and, where their communities guide them, their commitment to improving road safety through enforcement and joined up working with highway authorities and other agencies. This way of working doesn’t happen automatically but it is much more effective and cost effective. Here in North Yorkshire this approach is working very well and enables us to do address issues of concern to our residents together that we could not achieve by ourselves, long may it continue.
Honor Byford, North Yorkshire
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As far as I know Paul, having a scouse accent, a dry wit and being a supporter of Liverpool, Everton or Tranmere Rovers, amongst other things, do not figure as contributory factors in collisions unique to Merseyside – the collision causes are exactly the same as they are throughout the rest of the country!
The question for me is why the Police Commissioner (not the council) feels it neccessary to get the support of the public for doing what the residents would reasonably presume is already being done anyway, without having to be asked.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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Wouldn’t it make more sense to have an objective analysis of the contributory factors in accidents in Merseyside in order to develop a strategy that targets those factors? My experience of consultations is that if councils don’t like the results of the consultation, then they simply ignore them.
Paul Biggs, Staffordshire
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In a year of unexpected voting results, let’s hope it’s not an overwhelming ‘NO’ vote then, otherwise she will have some explaining to do to her committee. Evidence based decision making at it’s best.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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Like it or not, surveys are an established way of demonstrating public engagement and evidence based decision making. Any draft public policy without surveys or their equivalent is likely to crumble under the gaze of the scrutiny committee. And then be back to square one but now running late. It is the way the system works. If it helps put road safety on the priority list which it isn’t now then, fine, do it.
Pat, Wales
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Is a public survey really necessary to establish whether the public would support ‘improving road safety’ any more than one is needed to see whether the public support, for example, ‘improving prevention of and detection of crime’?
The public generally whole-heartedly support road safety provided of course, they are not personally caught contravening a traffic law, whereupon we hear cries of ‘unfair’ or ‘haven’t they got anything better to do?’ etc. etc.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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