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2006
New task force driving accidents down

1075 people were killed or seriously injured on roads in Essex in 2004. That is on average three people every day dying or suffering serious injuries, which include brain damage, paralysis, loss of limbs, severe burning or facial disfigurement - injuries that can change lives forever.

A new multi-agency task force - Essex County Council, Essex Police, Essex Fire and Rescue, the Highways Agency, Essex Safety Camera Partnership and Essex Ambulance Service - is launching a wide-reaching series of initiatives to clamp down on the anti-social use of the county's highways. The agencies will work together under a new management board, which will drive this project through.

The initiative will see co-ordinated and unprecedented crackdowns on dangerous driving across the county, specifically targeting speeding, seatbelt wearing, drink driving, and accidents to motorcyclists and young drivers.

Essex County Council has created the new partnership, to reduce accident numbers across Essex by 20% by the end of 2007.

The group will be using all of the tools available including education, publicity, campaigns, enforcement and road improvements.

County Councillor Rodney Bass (Con. Heybridge and Tollesbury), Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation commented: "We will be taking a zero tolerance approach to any anti-social use of the roads. Working alongside partner agencies, we want to change people's driving behaviour across the county through enforcement, engineering, education, publicity and campaigns. If two jumbo jets crashed and 1000 people died there would be public outcry, so why is it acceptable for people to drive so recklessly across Essex? I urge you to take control of your driving and think about your behaviour, otherwise it could be you. Deaths on the road are treated, by many, as 'accidental', something that just 'happens'. They are not - they are preventable tragedies with real causes."

Assistant Chief Constable of Essex Police, John Broughton, said: "Essex Police welcomes the opportunity to work with its partners within the PSA in reducing the needless tragedies which occur all too frequently on our County's roads. By targeting drink driving, speed, driver behaviour, seat belts and fatigue we will work towards reducing the incidents of killed and serious injury crashes by 20% by the end of 2007. We will maintain our determination to deny criminals the use of the road network through proactive and intelligence led policing and using powers of vehicle seizure."

Media contact for Essex County Council:
Kate Tindle on 01245 430094.
Media contact for Essex Police:
Tina Starling on 01245 452395.

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