After the crash - every road victim counts.
This Road Safety Week, we are putting road victims at the heart of our campaign. Join in to raise awareness of the devastating effect of road crashes on everyone involved, and celebrate the work of the amazing people who help after a crash.
As an employer, this is a great opportunity for you to do something amazing for road safety and make a real difference.
Click on the links below for ideas and activities to help you:
- Find out more about what to do if one of your employees is involved in a serious crash.
- Understand why we need robust investigation into the causes of road crashes, to prevent future road death and harm.
- Get your team together and take part in a fundraiser to support road victim families.
- Host an event to remember loved ones killed or injured in road crashes.
- Review your policies and procedures to make sure you're doing everything you can to manage work-related road risk.
Click here for more free resources to help you take part in Road Safety Week, including guidance on how to take part, posters, images to share on social media, press release templates and more.
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If one of your employees was involved in a serious crash, would you know what to do?
Wednesday 20 November 2024, 10am - FREE!
- A free Road Safety Week webinar for any organisation that employs people who drive for work.
- Find out more about the extent of work-related road death and injury, and learn why support for road victims is so vital.
- Learn why we need robust investigation into the causes of road crashes, to prevent future road death and harm.
A link to the webinar recording will be sent to everyone who registered to take part. If you didn't register, but would still like to watch the webinar, please email us at roadsafetyweek@brake.org.uk.
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Take part in the Brake 5 Challenge
Ready to take on the Brake 5 challenge? Get your team involved and make a difference!
Every year, on average, 1,683 people die on UK roads.*
We are calling on organisations like yours to help us turn that number into action.
Join us in the Brake 5 Challenge and help raise critical funds to support road safety initiatives and provide vital support to families affected by road crashes.
It’s simple:
- Assemble your team and collectively cover 55 kms during Road Safety Week (17–23 November 2024).
- Raise £1,683 as a tribute to the lives lost on our roads.
All money raised through the Brake 5 Challenge will help fund Brake’s campaign work and National Road Victim Service, which every year supports more than a thousand families affected by road death and injury.
Click here to find out more and get in touch with our friendly fundraising team at fundraise@brake.org.uk to get started!
*Figure reflects a 10-year average from 2014 to 2023.
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Remember loved ones killed or injured in road crashes
Road Safety Week is a special time to host or attend a memorial event in memory of a loved one who has died in a road crash.
A memorial event can be as big or small as you choose. It could be a public event for others to join, or a private occasion for close family and friends.
You could hold a minute’s silence in memory of a colleague who has died, or gather over coffee and share photos and memories.
A short period of time for reflection at the beginning of a meeting is another great way to pay respects.
Donations in memory
If you are hosting a memorial event, please consider collecting donations to Brake in memory of your loved one. We can help you with donation buckets and collection envelopes, or help you set up an online fundraiser or tribute page.
Every year, Brake supports thousands of families affected by road death and serious, life-changing injury. There are many more who need our help. We receive no government funding, and we rely on the generosity of our supporters to fund our work. We are so grateful for your support.
Please email fundraise@brake.org.uk for information about collecting donations at a memorial event.
More than a third of UK road deaths involve someone who was driving for work.
If you employ people who drive for work, you can play a vital role in preventing road crashes and reducing the risk of road death and harm, while improving your reputation and reducing costs.
Road Safety Week is a great opportunity to focus everyone’s attention on making roads safer so that everyone can travel in a safe and healthy way.
Here are some of the things you can do:
- Engage staff with key road safety issues and encourage them to commit to making safe and healthy journeys
- Include road safety in your corporate social responsibility strategy to show you care about staff, customers and local people
- Introduce robust policies and procedures to manage work-related road risk
- Remind drivers to think about who they share the road with and always drive at speeds appropriate to the road conditions
- Choose routes that use the safest roads and avoid places where people live
- Run targeted training for drivers that show unsafe driving behaviours
- Commit to investigate the cause of all collisions and near-misses.
Click on the links below to find out more.
Review your driving for work policies and procedure
Road Safety Week is a great time to review your driving for work policies and procedures – are you buying the safest vehicles with lifesaving features to help drivers keep within speed limits? Do your drivers understand the technology their vehicles are fitted with?
Review schedules and routes too – make sure your drivers aren’t being encouraged to speed to meet targets. Where possible, plan routes that avoid places where people walk and cycle.
Online driver training
Use our online driver training programme to help your drivers understand six key areas of road risk and ask them to pledge to drive safely.
The training will take about an hour to complete and at the end drivers can print a certificate to show that they have completed training.
Ditch the car and walk or cycle to work
Durig Road Safety Week, why not ask employees to ditch the car and walk or cycle to work. Reduce traffic. Make streets nicer and reduce pollution.
- If you don’t have safe paths to walk or cycle in your community, drop a line to your local authority calling for a path where you need it, or a 20mph limit to slow down traffic.
- Share information about cycle incentive schemes for employees.
Watch your speed. Watch your stopping distance.
At higher speeds a driver has less time to react to a hazard on the road. A vehicle can travel a long way in the few seconds it takes a driver to notice and react to any danger. Slowing down gives the driver more time to avoid a crash.
- Learn about why speed matters for safe and healthy journeys using information on the Brake website. Focus on stopping distances, speed limits and the link between speed and risk of injury.
- Remind drivers to think about who they share the road with and always drive at speeds appropriate to the road conditions.
Take time out to think about other road users
We share the road with people who have differing needs and abilities.
Pedestrians, cyclists, and riders are vulnerable on roads and account for half of all road traffic deaths worldwide.
- Run an ‘exchanging places’ day to help drivers understand the needs of other road users. These programmes also help people who walk and ride better understand how to be safe around large vehicles. Participants are invited to sit in the cab of a lorry so they can see where the mirrors and cameras are located, helping them to see where cyclists and pedestrians are visible to a driver.
- Make a commitment to put safety first when you schedule journeys, and avoid places where people walk and ride.
Watch a short film from Brake about how the Highway Code protects people who walk, cycle and ride horses. Click here to watch the film (opens in YouTube). A version with subtitles is also available.
Crash not accident! Changing our language will help save lives.
5 people die every day on UK roads – these are not accidents. Road deaths and injuries have causes that can be prevented and we can all play our part to help, by using roads safely to protect ourselves and others and by calling for change to make roads safe for all.
- Help colleagues, clients and drivers understand how you are managing your risk and helping to stop the carnage
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What else can I do?
Shout out for road safety in your community
Communities care about road safety, and value the support of local organisations. Highlight the work you do to call for safer roads, prevent crashes caused by your vehicles and make sure your employees always get home safely.
- Use the Road Safety Week toolkit to talk about what you are doing to support the campaign throughout the week. Share important facts about the impact of road crashes on everyone involved.
- Use Brake's resources for educators to talk about road safety heroes in local schools.
- Include an article about road safety in your newsletter, blog or social media feed, to raise awareness of the impact of road crashes on communities.
- Print and display free Road Safety Week posters around company premises. Or share posters and infographics on your website or social media pages.
- Offer staff volunteering time to help at road safety activities organised by the local schools or colleges, local authority road safety team or emergency services.
Tell us what you're doing!
We love to see and hear how people are taking part in Road Safety Week. Please share pictures of your activity on social media with @brakecharity using #RoadSafetyWeek. Sharing your pictures helps us inspire others to get involved and become leaders for road safety.
Find out more about ways to partner with Brake
We rely heavily on generous support from organisations to ensure we can continue our vital work supporting road victims and campaigning for safer roads for all.
We offer lots of different ways to work with Brake, get involved and support our work.
Email corporate@brake.org.uk to find out more.