Public want action on road safety

Eighty per cent of the 2,500 people who responded to a poll in North Yorkshire said they were concerned about road safety locally, while 72 per cent said more should be done to improve matters using education and enforcement.

A total of 52 per cent felt police in the county should have more powers to catch and punish those driving dangerously, or would support an increase in the number of mobile camera safety vans available in the county.

The survey, commissioned by police and crime commissioner Julia Mulligan after concerns were raised by residents at community events, also revealed that 60 percent cent did not know how to report a speeding concern.

Despite North Yorkshire being among the safest places in the country, police are struggling to reduce the number of people who are killed or seriously injured in accidents on the roads.

Last year the force dealt with 46 fatal collisions in which 51 people died, of which 16 were motorcyclists, compared with 2012, where officers dealt with 35 fatal collisions in which 35 people died, three of whom were motorcyclists.

According to statistics from North Yorkshire’s 95 Alive Partnership, there were 49 road deaths in 2011, 50 in 2010 and 47 in 2009. The number of less serious accidents has fallen in the same period.

Around 400 serious injury collisions are reported to North Yorkshire Police each year, resulting in approximately 450 people being seriously injured.

The county also saw a large increase in the number of fatal collisions involving alcohol, prompting concerns drivers are becoming “desensitised” to awareness campaigns about drink-driving.

A recent report said that in January to April of this year, provisional data showed the number of people killed or seriously injured was slightly up on the same period in 2013. Driver error and inappropriate or excess speed were the most common causes of crashes.

On Saturday, a 20-year-old man from Long Preston died and four other people were injured in a crash on the A629 Skipton Road near Kildwick. The cause of the crash is being investigated by police.

Mrs Mulligan said: “It is vitally important that I learn how the public feels about important issues such as this, so that I can make sure that community priorities are reflected in the decisions we take.

“The survey shows loud and clear that residents want more done about road safety, and the fact that we have had several very serious traffic accidents in the area in just the past 10 days underlines the need for action.

“Very soon, the Executive Board of North Yorkshire Police - which I chair - will meet to confirm proposals to address road safety, and we will be taking the views expressed in the survey into full account.

“Part of our discussions will include increasing the level of enforcement capacity in the police, and I hope to make an announcement on this before the end of July.”

North Yorkshire Police has set up a Major Collision Investigation Team (MCIT), a dedicated unit which looking into all fatal or life-threatening crashes to ensure traffic officers are free to patrol the roads in England’s biggest county.

The introduction of the eight officer team, based in Thirsk, replaces the previous system where police would investigate crashes on their patch, often taking them away from their regular work.