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Gearing up for Road Safety Week

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is gearing up for Road Safety Week – the UK’s biggest annual road safety campaign.

Photograph of students of Kirklees College watching a road traffic accident demonstration during road safety week 2021.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is gearing up for Road Safety Week – the UK’s biggest annual road safety campaign.

The theme for 2021, to be held from 15-21 November, is ‘Road Safety Heroes,’ celebrating the work of road safety professionals, and explaining how we can all help make journeys safer.

The service is partnering with West Yorkshire Police, National Highways, and local authorities across the region to champion road safety and reduce death, injury and accidents on our roads.

“If you hit a pedestrian at 40 mph there is a 90 percent chance they will be killed. This drops to 20 percent at 30 mph. The greater the impact speed, the greater the chance of death,” said Area Manager for Service Delivery, Scott Donegan

“In the UK, on average, someone is killed or seriously injured on a road every 20 minutes, and children are especially vulnerable, with more than six children aged 15 and under killed or seriously injured every day,” he added.

“We see the devastating effects on individuals, communities and families all too often, but many accidents are preventable. By driving at appropriate speeds and complying with road and vehicle safety rules, we can improve these worrying statistics together.”

“Road Safety Week is a great opportunity for us get out and speak to the public about road safety and the ‘fatal 4’ – driving at excessive speed, drinking and drug driving, not wearing seat belts and using mobile phones whilst driving.”

WYFRS staff will deliver roadshows around West Yorkshire, as well as Road Traffic Collision demonstrations using real vehicles with students at Springfield College in Dewsbury and Kirklees College in Huddersfield.

In Kirklees, the Kirklees Road Safety Partnership (made up of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Kirklees Council–Safer Kirklees, Highways Agency and West Yorkshire Police) works together to promote road safety, develop community initiatives, and support joint interventions, enforcement activities and community education.

Look out for WYFRS teams at supermarkets around West Yorkshire who will be happy to answer any questions about road safety.

Road Safety Week is led by road safety charity Brake. 

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