Slow down – it’s Global Road Safety Week

Drivers are being urged to slow down and take care during Global Road Safety Week, which runs from 8 to 14 May.

The initiative, which is organised by the World Health Organisation, is being backed by Bury Council, and motorists are asked to show their support by pledging to #SlowDown.

Drivers are also being urged to consider the weather, traffic and vulnerable road users, when driving within the speed limit might still be too fast.

Jan Brabin, Bury Council’s senior road safety officer, said: “Drivers should understand that speeding is dangerous and that speed limits are there for a reason. According to the Department for Transport, exceeding the speed limit and travelling too fast for the conditions are significant contributory factors in road incidents, especially fatal incidents.”

Over spring and summer, Bury’s road safety team will give pedestrian training sessions to thousands of Year 3 and Year 5 pupils across the borough. Officers will also run a Theatre in Education project for Year 6 pupils in wards with a higher numbers of child road casualties.

Jan added: “Speed limits are not targets. Drivers should take care to respect the community they are driving through and not behave in an aggressive manner. We help children to develop road user confidence, awareness and skill through our work in schools, but we all have a duty to share the roads responsibly.”

Further information: https://www.unroadsafetyweek.org/en/why-slowdown

ENDS

Press release issued: 27 April 2017.

Picture: Pupils at Radcliffe Hall CE Methodist Primary School measure the speed of local traffic with Jan Brabin, the council’s senior road safety officer.