Roads are essential to our everyday lives, and to our economic prosperity. We all use the roads in some way, by driving, riding, walking or travelling as a passenger, and we depend on them to obtain goods and services. Unfortunately, this comes at a price, which includes people being killed and injured. However, road deaths and injuries are not inevitable. The last few decades have demonstrated how effectively a comprehensive road safety strategy can reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads, despite increasing traffic levels. Reported road deaths in Wales have reduced from about 250 a year in the 1980s to 111 in 2013. Over the same period, road casualties have decreased from about 11,000 (including 3,500 serious injuries) to 8,335 in 2013 (including 1,033 serious injuries).1 This success has been, in part, due to the priority the Welsh Government and partners have given to road casualty reduction. Despite these improvements, 2 people die, and 20 are seriously injured, on the roads of Wales every week. The Welsh Government has reaffirmed its commitment to reducing these unnecessary deaths and injuries with the publication of the Road Safety Framework for Wales in 2013. 2 It stresses the need to work closely with partners to achieve three challenging targets: * 40% reduction in the total number of people killed and seriously injured (KSI) on Welsh Roads, meaning 562 fewer killed and seriously injured casualties. * 25% reduction in the number of motorcyclist KSI, meaning 64 fewer motorcyclist KSI. * 40% reduction in the number of young people (16-24) KSI, meaning 139 fewer young people KSI. The challenge of reducing these preventable deaths and injuries has become even greater in recent years with the need to focus public spending where it has the greatest impact. Local authorities have had to make difficult decisions about priorities for expenditure. While road safety must accept its share of these restrictions, cutting road safety services too far could mean more people being killed or injured, and may see local authorities in breach of their statutory duties. In addition to the human cost, road accidents cost millions of pounds and so preventing them saves millions. The Department for Transport reports that in 2013 a fatal casualty cost the economy £1.7m, and a serious injury £196,000. 3 A considerable proportion of non-fatal casualties are not reported, even when those involved require medical or hospital treatment. The real number of road casualties in Wales every year is estimated to be about 39,000. 4 Despite these challenges, local authorities can continue to deliver effective road safety services that help to reduce casualties and the severity of those casualties by ensuring that their road safety services are: * Evidence-informed. * Co-ordinated with other public services. * Designed and delivered in partnership. * Evaluated to ensure effectiveness. This Guide shows how you can help to achieve this in your role as a local councillor. (Author/publisher)
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