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Prioritise this! CTC email campaign aims to get Police & Crime Commissioners to make road safety a priority

Does your PCC know that four time as many people died on roads in 2011 as were murdered? You can tell them

CTC, the national cyclists’ organisation, is urging people in England and Wales to take part in a new campaign to lobby their Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to make road safety a priority.

The organisation says that of the 42 PCCs elected last November, only one made a manifesto pledge to make road safety a priority, despite the latest full-year casualty statistics from the Department for Transport showing the first rise in eight years in the number of people killed on Britain’s roads, up 3 per cent to 1,901 in 2011.

During the same year, there was a 12 per cent rise in the number of pedestrians killed, while the number of cyclists seriously injured was up 16 per cent.

As CTC points out, road casualty figures are particularly alarming when compared to those for violent crime – the number of people who lost their lives on the roads in 2011 is four times as many as were murdered that year, while 6,000 more casualties of road traffic incidents than victims of assault were admitted to hospital for treatment.

The PCCs elected in November are required to draw up a policing plan by the end of March and CTC says that more people that write to it to urge that road safety be made a priority, the more likely they are to realise the scale of public concern and to take action accordingly.

Filling in a form on the CTC website will take users to a standard letter to be sent to their local PCC – the latter's identity worked out automatically through the postcode concerned.

Residents of Scotland, Northern Ireland or Greater London should not fill out the form since those areas do not have PCCs.

Cambridgeshire’s PCC has caused controversy among local cyclists following his election by focusing on a high-profile campaign against anti-social cycling such as riding on the pavement or through traffic lights.

However, as Cambridge Cycling Campaigns says, “Enforcement of the rules is important for all road users,” pointing out that “the consequences of transgressions by motorists are likely to be far more serious than those by cyclists.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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Grizzerly | 11 years ago
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Well, I've done it, although I'm not optimistic, our local PCC is just another Labour party hack.

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cidermart | 11 years ago
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Sent one to Boris as no PCC's were voted for in London.

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andyp | 11 years ago
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Done. Minus the 'congratulations' bit, mind.

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Mostyn | 11 years ago
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Yes submitted!

Just like Antonio, I also think the media could play a better part in the safety on our roads, as a greater public awareness of the dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians, could possibly save lives.

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cavasta | 11 years ago
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Done

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antonio | 11 years ago
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I think mainstream media have a responsibility here, when death and casualties are reported from Afghanistan there is immediate reference to numbers killed since our forces were committed there, (and rightly so)and outrage is mediated. A yearly figure of over one thousand killed on our roads, and rising, and the figures are mentioned as a matter of course, if even mentioned at all.

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CraigS | 11 years ago
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Done - I'm not a fan of having PCCs because it means more elected politicians but at least it gives us a route in to raise concerns.

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