Get your local fire service involved in RSW

If ever there was a time to step up and take part in the Brake's national Road Safety Week it’s this year when you see this statistic; Every 20 minutes, someone is killed or seriously injured on a British road and each of these tragedies is preventable.

It’s staggering to think that while I sit and type out this blog at least two people will be killed or seriously injured on our roads. So what can we all do and what are your Fire and Rescue Service doing to tackle this and take part in this year’s RSW?

This RSW (18-24 November) Brake want everyone to “Step up for Safe Streets” and learn about, shout about and celebrate the amazing design-led solutions that will allow us all to get around in safe and healthy ways, every day.

The Fire and Rescue Service, through my role as the National Fire Chiefs Lead Officer for Road Safety, will be taking part in events and activities across the country as part of our place in local road safety partnerships. We always look to take part in multi-agency activities linked to the National Police Chiefs Council calendar of events. This year across the country there will be many local initiatives ranging from;

• Car Washes with road safety advice
• Tyre safety checks
• Schools road safety talks
• Visits to groups to talk about safe streets
• Targeted work with young drivers
• Workshops and events for older drivers

If you would like your local Fire and Rescue Service to help you or support a local road safety initiative in RSW 2019 then please just contact them through their local website and ask for the Prevention Team leading on road safety. Where we can, we will always look to assist local partners.

Your Fire and Rescue Service exists to respond, prevent and protect the public from a range of emergency situations and we would always prefer to be involved with you during road safety week and help to make you safer when driving or as a passenger on our streets, than meeting you at the scene of a road traffic collision.

If you need any support from me for national initiatives then please email me at sean.bone-knell@kent.fire-uk.org. Otherwise I look forward to either seeing you during this week or hearing about all the fantastic work going on across the country to ‘Step up for Safe Streets’ in November.