Initiative to save council road safety education hit by government cuts
A Midlands road safety expert has joined a nationwide initiative launched by a Shropshire organisation aimed at offering councils a “lifeline” to continue road safety education under threat from budget cuts.
Adrian Hide, Road Safety Manager with Staffordshire County Council, has joined former colleague Nick Lloyd at Managed Road Safety Solutions, part of the successful Shropshire based TTC Group, road safety education and training specialists, which also deliver Government approved and police contracts around the UK.
Together they have 43 years experience in road safety and have both managed local authority road safety teams and pioneered a number of successful nationwide road safety education schemes.
“We are passionate about saving lives. Communities will suffer because budgets have been slashed in local authority road safety departments across the UK,” said Adrian, who was on the panel which introduced driver education as an alternative to court fines for motorists in the 1990’s.
Local Authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to provide a comprehensive lifesaving road safety service with recent budget cuts, he said.
“We want to fill these gaps and help dedicated road safety teams as they struggle to fulfill their statutory responsibilities.”
Nick Lloyd, who was head of Staffordshire County Council’s road safety team for 15 years, welcomed Adrian as a co director of the team.
“We have a wealth of experience in local authority road safety and now we have a unique service to offer and are the only company with the specific purpose of delivering comprehensive road safety services which are vital for the future of road safety education,” he said.
With some councils forced to cut their road safety teams by more than half, Managed Road Safety Solutions (MRSS) will work with local authority road safety managers to fill gaps in existing services caused by the stringent budget cuts.
They also offer complete road safety education programmes covering the whole remit of road safety provision.
These include a full range of education and training programmes for schools, pedestrians, cyclists, young drivers, motorcyclists and motorists.
Local authority road safety programmes introduced in the 1970’s and 1980’s contributed to the reduction in road deaths and casualties on UK roads. Last year saw a rise in road casualties for the first time in a decade co-inciding with road safety budget cuts.
MPs on the Transport Select Committee recently said that local councils now had a “patchy” road safety record because of budget cuts and the loss of skilled staff.
They called for more driver training for young motorists and denounced it as “shocking” that road deaths were the biggest killer of young people. They have called on the Department of Transport to "name and shame” local authorities under performing on road safety.
For more information contact MRSS at the TTC Group, of Hadley Park, Telford, on 01952 607187, visit www.mrss-uk.com or email contactus@mrss-uk.com for an information pack.
