Commissioner’s Priority: Making Cheshire’s Roads Safer

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, has launched his Police and Crime Plan, outlining his six key priorities for policing, crime and community safety in the county for the next three years. One of these priorities is to make Cheshire’s roads safer.

In his Plan, the Commissioner outlines how he plans to make the county’s roads safer. This includes:

• Working with partner agencies to educate road users.
• Raising awareness of the most common causes of collisions (Fatal Five).
  • Careless driving
  • Drink/drug driving
  • Not wearing a seatbelt
  • Distracted (e.g.using a mobile phone whilst driving)
  • Speeding
• Road safety awareness in schools.
• Reducing speeding by tasking the Constabulary to set up enforcement zones and identifying deterrents to reduce speeding.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire said: “I know that making our roads safer is an incredibly important priority for residents across the county.

“I regularly receive correspondence from people across Cheshire expressing concerns about speeding and reckless driving. This promise in my Police and Crime Plan is my commitment to you that I will work with all the relevant agencies and organisations to make our roads safer.”

Responsibility for road issues can fall under the categories of Enforcement, Engagement or Engineering (e.g. road maintenance) and since coming into office, the Commissioner has met with the agencies who all share the responsibility of tackling issues on our roads. He has also held a public meeting on the subject, and has been working with groups like the Cheshire Association of Local Councils to identify the needs and potential solutions in communities across the county.

The Commissioner has also spoken to community groups and organisations who play active parts in road safety. This includes advanced driver groups, and charities who support victims and road users who have been involved in road traffic collisions and their families.

John Dwyer added: “Speeding is one of the main road safety issues I get notified about and is one of the ‘Fatal 5’. I’m committed to doing more to prevent and deter speeding in our county.

“I’m looking at a pilot scheme which will see the introduction of average speed cameras in locations across the county to measure the impact on speeding, and if it’s successful I want to roll it out even wider. I am a firm believer that average speed cameras are a greater deterrent than fixed speed cameras and I will continue to keep people updated with the progress of this pilot.”

To read the Police and Crime Plan 2021-24, go to:

www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/what-i-do/making-cheshire-safer/police-and-crime-plan

To request a hard copy of the Plan, please email:

pcc@cheshire.police.uk