Shropshire company helps budget hit councils to save lives on the road
A lifeline is being offered by a Shropshire road safety organisation to cash strapped councils so that they can continue to provide first class life saving road safety education schemes.
With £23 million slashed from road safety budgets nationwide, councils are being forced into cuts in road safety departments across the UK – as fatal and serious road casualties record a rise for the first time in recent years.
The TTC Group, of Hadley Park, Telford, with its team of road safety professionals, has stepped in so that councils can maintain “robust” casualty reduction programmes in financially challenging times - just as the House of Commons Transport Committee called for the Government to step up its road safety vision and "name and shame" under performing local authorities.
The IAM has already called for councils to look at new and innovative ways of saving lives on the road after 50 councils saw an increase in road deaths and injuries in 2010 and 2011.
Managed Road Safety Solutions (MRSS), part of the TTC Group, will provide fully managed road safety programmes or work with road safety managers to fill the gaps in existing services so that councils can save money but still provide top quality road safety education.
Targeted intelligence led interventions using contracted trainers will see a typical saving of 30 per cent against traditional delivery methods, forecast Nick Lloyd, with 24 years experience in council road safety, who is spearheading the innovation.
“Councils have worked extremely hard to provide a high standard of road safety education and training and they face tough times with stringent budget cuts. The Department of Transport has estimated that Road Safety Teams have had a 40-45% cut in staff and budgets which have seriously reduced their ability to provide a premier service, despite all their best efforts,” said Nick, who was in charge of Staffordshire County Council’s road safety team for 15 years.
TTC Group Chairman, Graham Wynn OBE, who is also a director of MRSS, said they would link with local authorities to offer a service “second to none.”
“Road safety education is one of the many vital services that councils need to maintain. However, it must deliver value for money while being responsive to local community needs, which is where we step in,” he said.
“We have a proven track record borne from years of longstanding experience in providing education and training in road safety. We have very high standards and only employ the best road safety professionals in the country who are passionate about road safety.”
"We firmly believe that this new approach provides a long term sustainable way for road safety education,” added Mr Wynn, whose organisation is one of the UK's leading driver training specialists putting on courses for police, councils and companies, with the aim of reducing road traffic casualties.
