Somerset Council launch campaign to tackle 'disturbing' rise in road deaths
The local authority are working with Avon and Somerset Police on the campaign
Avon and Somerset Police, along with Somerset Council, are launching a new campaign after what's described as a 'disturbing' rise in the number of road deaths.
In the county, 30 people died last year on Somerset's roads - which is the highest in a decade, when 33 deaths occurred, back in 2014.
That figure represents a rise of nearly 45 per cent on 2022 alone, whilst in four of the incidents, more than one person died.
They say driving under the influence, being careless, speeding, using a phone and failing to wear a seatbelt made up three quarters of all of the fatal crashes... which are called by the police the 'Fatal Five'.
However, it's also been confirmed that there's no particular cause or issue thought to be responsible for the increase.
According to Avon and Somerset Police 76 per cent of the collisions involve one or more of the following five behaviours:
• Intoxicated driving (drink or drugs)
• Careless or inconsiderate driving
• Excessive Speed
• Mobile phone use or distraction
• Failing to wear a seatbelt
Nearly half of the fatal collisions were caused by a vehicle crossing into the path of another one.
Of the 30 fatal casualties, 11 were car drivers, 12 motorcyclists, four were car passengers, and three were pedestrians.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Digital said: " The rise in fatalities is deeply disturbing so it is vital we try to save lives and encourage people to avoid these ‘Fatal Five’ behaviours as road users.
"With the Fatal Five campaign we want to raise awareness and influence behaviour. In addition, our Road Safety Team has increased their activities significantly in response to these figures, with 41,000 face-to-face interventions with people in Somerset in 2023, more than ever before – from school children and young, inexperienced drivers, to older drivers looking to refresh their skills.
"We might understand that drink or drug driving is unacceptable, but how aware are we that just being distracted for a split second or not being aware of our speed can have such terrible consequences?
"Hopefully the campaign across social media, and through face-to-face talks and presentations will make people think again and re-evaluate their behaviour – something we could all do with doing."
Fourteen of last year’s fatalities happened on the county’s A roads, five were on trunk roads, five were on B roads and six were on unclassified roads.
To compare the stats, 2023's figures are more than twice the number of fatalities in 2020 - with the last five years showing:
- 2023: 26 collisions / 30 fatalities
- 2022: 20 collisions / 21 fatalities
- 2021: 24 collisions / 25 fatalities
- 2020: 12 collisions / 12 fatalities
- 2019: 22 collisions / 22 fatalities
Somerset Road Safety’s delivery team delivered face-to-face training for 41,000 people in 2023. This included talks in primary schools for 12,619 pupils, as well as presentations to 8,579 secondary school pupils.
The team gave talks and training to 2,509 motorcyclists and gave 1,182 older drivers advice and guidance on how to stay safe on Somerset’s roads.
You can find out more about the Fatal Five by visiting this website.