Monday November 14th marks the beginning of Road Safety Week; an annual campaign which seeks to raise awareness of the dangers surrounding UK road safety, and how we can all do our part at preventing risk.

 

According to the UK Governments’ reported road casualties in Great Britain, there are 5 people every day who lose their lives due a road related accident, alongside 84 people also being seriously injured daily too.

Breaking this down, the figures reveal that car occupant deaths and serious injuries are the most common, closely followed by pedestrian deaths, motorcycle users and cyclists. Bus, truck, van and otherwise unknown vehicle occupant deaths were also listed, and yet a significant amount of the deaths and injuries involved are all thought to have been preventable.

Now, as we near closer to the 2022 Road Safety Week, we’re exploring how this annual campaign has helped spread a national culture of road related safety, and deep diving into the impact it continues to make for the victims whose lives have been changed forever following road related collisions.

 

What is Road Safety Week?

Road Safety Week is an annual campaign hosted by Brake, the Road Safety Charity. It’s the biggest event the charity runs, and each year Brake are supported by thousands of schools, organisations and communities across the UK who sign-up to share important road safety messages, remember people affected by road death and injury, and raise funds to help Brake care for more road victims.

Now in its 25^th year, the ‘Safe Roads For All’ theme has been confirmed to run between November 14^th – 21^st 2022, intending to bring together communities and professionals to raise a voice for everyone's right to make safe and healthy journeys on safe roads.

 

What does the Road Safety Week campaign set out to do?

Whist each annual Road Safety Week has its own theme, the purpose of the overall campaign stays the same. This is:

• To think about how everybody can use roads safely to protect not only themselves, but all other road users too.
• To understand how safe roads can enable everyone to make safe and healthy journeys.
• And to remember road accident victims, share their stories and recognise the life-changing effects road related accidents can inflict.

For 2022, the ‘Safe Roads For All’ aims to raise awareness of key areas of road safety, such as safe speeds, recent updates to the Highway Code and its newly announced hierarchy of road users, as well as the importance of inclusivity to keep every single person safe on the roads, no matter how they travel.

The response to the campaign then helps to support UK Government objectives, and guides them on areas of investment to enable people to make safe, healthy and sustainable journeys.

 

Can anybody volunteer to support Road Safety Week?

Absolutely. As Road Safety Week is a national campaign which involves every single road user, there are plenty of opportunities for the community to get involved, regardless of age, business or funds available.

Some excellent examples of this would be where:

• Schools facilitate talks, sessions or learning designed to help children understand why safe roads are important.
• Organisations guide employees on understanding how their professional drivers can protect themselves and other road users through good policies, procedures, training, and education.
• Emergency service professionals highlight the work they do to reduce the number of road related casualties and care for people affected by road accidents.

• And also, by road collision victims themselves, who share their personal stories to show how road safety behaviours can have the power to completely change a persons’ life.

 

Assisting with ongoing support

As well as hosting Road Safety Week, Brake also run the National Road Victim Service, which provides both emotional and practical support for families who have been bereaved or suffered life-changing injuries due to road related accidents.

The service cares for approximately 1,000 road victim families each year, though on average, it costs around £1,200 to support a family suffering bereavement or serious injuries. This means that in order to keep the National Road Victim Service running, Brake must raise over £1,000,000 in donated funds each year.

The stark truth, however, is that this fund still only stretches to support one in every four of the families throughout the country, and so to provide suitable care for everyone affected, professional support is often needed.

 

When lives change, we’re here to help

At Harrison Associates, we have developed, delivered and monitored tailor-made rehabilitation plans for those with catastrophic trauma, multiple injuries and disabilities, for over 30 years.

Our team are trusted by over 500 legal firms, trusted by the solicitors and insurers dealing with complex cases, and most importantly of all, we are trusted by the people whose rehabilitation we manage.

 

To find out more about our services, contact our team today.