Agenda item

The Chair thanked County Councillor Woollam for his work as the Member Champion for Road Safety and welcomed Councillor Fred Jackson to the role.

 

Area Manager, Matt Hamer, provided the meeting with an annual report regarding Road Safety Intervention Activity which explained the Service’s core prevention offer and also the challenges on Lancashire’s roads.

 

Members noted that, through the previous Integrated Risk Management Plan 2017-2022 (IRMP), prevention and protection services and the structure for delivery were reviewed to ensure that the Service was delivering appropriate services in line with the changing operating environment. As a result, working practices had changed with a strategic focus on the quality of the services that continued to be delivered. The services were delivered around key themes: helping people to start safe, live safe, age safe and be safe on our roads with a focus on working collaboratively with other organisations. To ensure constant improvement in all parts of prevention delivery, the Service had dedicated thematic groups whose priorities aligned to the more recent Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) 2022-2027 and the Prevention Strategy.

 

Road Safe Thematic Group

 

The Thematic Road Safety Group continued to meet every quarter during 2023-2024 with an option of in-person and virtual meetings. Area Manager, Matt Hamer, was currently the Chair of the group and membership came from all areas of the county and was a mix of Community Safety and Operational Staff. Road Safety Champion, County Councillor Ron Woollam, had close links with the group and was in regular communication with Clare Burscough, the Prevention Support Officer for Road Safety.

 

An annual plan aligned to the terms of reference had been developed alongside a priority work programme which supported the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP) ‘Towards Zero’ strategy. An ambition of the group was to improve communication between strategic and practitioner levels and also to send clear messages out to Service Areas with key road safety priorities. The Service sought to deliver focused activities in areas identified as having issues and evaluate effectiveness.

 

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Service had developed new ways of working and some of those working practices had been adopted as business as usual and offered a greater choice of delivery methods for the community, improving the Service’s reach and efficacy. The offer of virtual delivery remained part of the service’s plan and continued to be selected by schools as a delivery method across the county.

 

Lancashire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP)

 

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service continued to be a proactive member of LRSP and had representatives at both Strategic and Operational group level.The partners worked closely with each other and delivered the partnership strategy ‘Towards Zero’ Lancashire: Road Safety Strategy for Lancashire 2016 – 2026’, in an attempt to reduce those killed or seriously injured on Lancashire’s roads.

 

LFRS played an active role on the Children and Young People workstream and the Powered 2 Wheelers Workstream. The Joint Operations Group (JOG) brought partners together to look at what was currently delivered, what worked well and where the gaps where so that resources could be pooled to work efficiently and without duplication.

 

The LRSP continued to work through the action plan following the review of the partnership completed in 2022. There had been significant change in the year 23/24 with the loss of both members of staff (the Coordinator and Manager). The Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner continued to hold the Chair with LFRS Area Manager, Matt Hamer, holding the position of Deputy Chair.

 

LFRS Road Safety Core Prevention Offer

 

1.      Road Sense

2.      Wasted Lives – Young Driver Road Safety Education Programme

2.1   The Crashed Car

3.      Safe Drive Stay Alive

4.      Biker Down

5.      Alive to Drive Events

 

1. Road Sense

 

Road Sense was the name given to the road safety education programme delivered to Year 6 pupils. The session was mixed and started with a 20-minute fire safety recap followed by 40 minutes of road safety input. It provided the opportunity to draw on a previous session the pupils would have received in Year 2 and explored the consequences of hoax calls and deliberate fires.

 

The Package focused on five key road safety themes which were selected to reflect Lancashire’s issues with young people:

 

-        In Car Safety;

-        Pedestrian Safety;

-        Cycle Safety;

-        Be Safe Be Seen;

-        Bus Safety.

 

Staywise had now adopted the package. Staywise was an online resource website for Fire and Rescue Services across the country.

 

Evaluation of the package provided positive feedback from schools with 90% of teachers selecting that they ‘strongly agreed’ the session was age appropriate. The remaining 10% ‘agreed’ with this. Out of the teachers that responded, 73% said they ‘strongly agreed’ the session would positively affect pupils’ behaviour, with the remaining 27% selecting ‘agree’. The Service had not received any negative feedback. Utilising the QR code allowed the teachers to give more honest feedback and improved the efficiency of the process.

 

The following feedback had been received from teachers following a Road Sense delivery:

 

“The year 6 class were thoroughly engaged in this session. The information on fire and road safety was extremely useful. Great to link the session to the specific age of the class by talking about their journey to high school.”

 

“Very informative and knowledgeable delivery and information was relevant to our children and setting. Our children always respond better when information comes from experts with experience rather their usual teacher.”

 

The Road Sense Fact Sheet continued to be popular, with a recent change being the inclusion of a QR code for the pupils to fill in following a session. This would assist the Service to better evaluate the behaviour change effectiveness of the session as the pupils would fill it in at home.

 

The following were examples of pupils’ remarks in the free text box:

 

“My most memorable safety message was to be careful when crossing roads because if you have headphones on while crossing you wouldn’t notice a car.”

 

“Never walk out on to a road without looking and always wear a helmet when you are riding a bike.”

 

There were 6 questions on the form and the correct responses ranged between 91% and 99% of answers. It was extremely positive that the pupils were retaining such a high percentage of the information they had received as the feedback was not always submitted on the day the session took place. To date, the delivery figures were looking higher than ever before. During the reporting period, 16,603 Year 6 pupils had received the input which was an increase of 1000 on last year’s figures.

 

 

2. ‘Wasted Lives’ Young Driver Road Safety Education Programme

 

LFRS was now the only delivery partner for Wasted Lives on behalf of LRSP. The programme was aimed at young people and pre-drivers which aimed to influence behaviour and change attitudes either as a driver or a passenger, thereby reducing risk to that specific group and to other road users.

 

By actively engaging with the age group of 15 - 25 year olds, Wasted Lives aimed to maximise the opportunities for people to evaluate and reflect on their own attitudes and behaviour behind the wheel and as a passenger. Extensive evaluation had demonstrated how the package promoted real and lasting changes in how each participant behaved in a car. Since the introduction of Wasted Lives in 2010, LFRS had delivered road safety education to over 130,000 young people throughout Lancashire, including Blackpool, and Blackburn with Darwen. For the period 2023-2024, LFRS had delivered the programme to 9,965 young people, mainly face-to-face delivery but with some virtual sessions. This was an increase of over 7,000 pupils compared to the last financial year. In part, this was due to schools recovering from the pandemic and also an increase in the uptake of the newer assembly format.

 

A suite of assembly session had been developed which could be adapted in length to fit in with schools’ timetables. As the Service had developed different ways of working and now offered a short 15-minute virtual version of Wasted Lives during Road Safety Week. Schools had 3 delivery option and with the Service being more flexible in what it could deliver and how, more young people would be reached. Whilst the focus was primarily on delivery in high schools, there had been an increase in the number of requests for delivery to apprentice groups and colleges following the removal of Safe Drive Stay Alive through LRSP.

 

On the run up to the Christmas break, 2000 students from Blackpool and Fylde College received the input. The college carried out a short evaluation of the delivery and 95% of students reported it had raised their awareness of not driving safely. They also provided the following positive free text feedback:

“It got me to learn what not to do and what to do to drive safely. The presentation was great and the activity was good as I got to communicate on my opinions.”

The feedback from teachers also continued to be very positive with a similar theme about behaviour change and an engaging session being received:

 

“The delivery was pitched perfect for Y10 and Y11 students delivered in an engaging and professional manner.”

 

“Yes, absolutely relevant to the age group who can start to develop their own inaccurate and preconceived opinions at that age so it was really effective to have colleagues from real world situations to offer clarity and dispel myths. This will very much help keep them safe in the long term.”

 

2.1 The Crashed Car

 

The Wasted Lives package also had the option of being complemented by a ‘crashed car’, which was a vehicle from a real incident where, tragically, there had been a fatality. Alternatively, the car could be used as a standalone resource at a community event. The Service now completed a full year with Corey Hudson’s vehicle where the circumstances of the collision were solely speed related. He had no alcohol or drugs in his system, and he made a wrong decision to speed which cost him his life. Corey’s story had been well received by communities across the county as most drivers recognised at some point in their driving career, they had made similar mistakes. There were 2 passengers in the vehicle who were not wearing seatbelts and both sustained serious, life changing injuries during the Road Traffic Collision (RTC). Due to their own decisions not to put their seatbelts on, they had not received substantial payouts from Corey’s insurance. This strengthened the seatbelt message as it was a real example of the lifelong implications that poor decision making had.

 

Over the last year, the crashed car had increased in use at Mosques during Friday Prayers. In Central, Eastern and Pennine, staff had worked alongside the Imam to deliver key messages prior to prayers and then delivered bespoke sessions to young people at the Madrassas. This activity had been increased around Ramadan where commonly high-powered vehicles were rented to young inexperienced drivers and shared amongst friends and family.

 

 

3. Safe Drive Stay Alive

 

Safe Drive Stay Alive was a road safety initiative where the audience heard real life stories from the emergency services and families who had all been affected by road traffic collisions in an auditorium setting. The delivery was aimed at college aged students.

 

It was currently on hold. Considerable work had been carried out nationally to compare a number of packages aimed at that age group and LFRS had been involved, alongside LRSP members, in evaluating the best fit for Lancashire.

 

 

4. Biker Down

 

Biker Down was a course that was aimed at motorcyclists and pillions of all ages and experience. The free 3-hour course offered members of the public a chance to learn practical skills which could be put into practice anywhere at any time.

 

The 3 modules covered were:

 

-        Incident Management;

-        First Aid;

-        The Science of Being Seen.

 

The initiative started in Kent and LFRS had signed a memorandum of understanding with Kent Fire and Rescue Service to allow the Service to use the logo and delivery material.

 

LFRS had worked with LRSP to ensure that delivery was complementary to Bike Safe, which was a Police-led initiative. Anyone who attended Biker Down was encouraged to book onto Bike Safe which was seen as the next step in training as it involved a ride out with an Advanced Police Motorcyclist. Biker Down was seen as the start of a motorcyclists ‘learning journey’.

 

During the reporting period, there had been 146 motorists killed or seriously injured (KSI). This was 14% of the total KSI figure. Lancashire’s statistics showed that someone was 72 times more likely to die on a motorcycle than in a car on the road, higher than the national average of 60. These statistics were very concerning as motorists made up less than 1% of Lancashire’s total road user population.

 

There had been 483 attendees in the last 12 months over 26 sessions. Appetite for the courses had grown significantly over recent months with the Facebook page reaching over 1,100 likes and the reach of posts sometimes exceeding 1500 people. All attendees took part in a practical element of the course which included helmet removal and CPR. There were really important skills which might be needed should they be faced with a road traffic collision involving a motorcyclist. Feedback from attendees mirrored how important this part of the course was and how valuable they felt it was.

 

Feedback included:

 

“Great course, been attending first aid courses for over 50 years, the rules change, really pleased to learn how to remove helmet”.

 

“Having been a first aid instructor for 8 years I still learnt new skills especially the removal of a helmet.”

 

The Pre and Post questionnaire maintained very positive feedback about the behaviour change impacts of the session. One of the questions the attendees were asked was around their confidence to remove a motorcycle helmet following a road traffic collision. The scale they used was 1-5 (1 not confident – 5 very confident). Prior to the session, the average rating was 2.4 but increased to 4.7 following the session.

 

With support from County Councillor Ron Woollam, a portion of the CFA Road Safety Champion budget was utilised to provide all attendees with a First Aid kit that complemented the skills they were taught.

 

The delivery model was flexible so courses could be hosted for individual motorcycle clubs or advertised using an online booking platform for members of the public to book on independently. The Biker Down team aimed to run 12 courses per year but were exceeding that aspiration due to such a high demand for courses.

 

 

5.   Alive to Drive Events

 

Alive to Drive was a long-standing road safety event initiative. The event initially started as a partnership between LFRS and Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) in Chorley 15 years ago. Since its inception the event had grown from strength to strength and the partners who attended had grown. During the reporting period, 4 events took place in South Ribble, Preston, Blackpool, and Blackburn. These events were free to members of the public and allowed them an insight as to what happened at an RTC. There was an RTC demo at each event which involved LFRS, Police, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and National Highways.

 

The events were very well attended and 2 of the events made national press. The South Ribble event was used to launch ‘Project Edward’- Every day without a road death and Alive to Drive on the Prom in Blackpool which made both BBC and ITV news. As well as looking to educate members of the public of all ages and road user types, there was particular emphasis based on signing young drivers (17-25yrs) up to the Institute of Advanced Motorists Course at a reduced rate, which was partly funded by LRSP. The plan for these events next year was to run 1 per geographical area due to the success and high attendance. The partners involved included Police, Lancashire County Council (LCC), NWAS, National Highways, IAM, South Lancs Advanced Motorcyclists, Blood Bikes, Mountain Rescue, Tyre Safe, Pro Tyre, Fresh Drivers, Blackburn with Darwen Council, Blackpool Council and Wincanton.

 

 

Summary

 

The 12-month period had been a really positive period for Road Safety Education and the Service’s ability to engage with the communities of Lancashire. Many schools were now out of the ‘recovery’ period loosening constraints on their timetables. The Service had continued to adapt offerings and, with increased use of technology and innovative ideas by members of the Road Safety Thematic Group which meant that the education package had been delivered to over 30,000 people, an increase of 11,500 last year.

 

The Service continued to be an active member of the LRSP and, building on the review, looked forward to continuing to be involved in a collaborative approach. This would have an emphasis on the strengths that the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service brand could bring to the partnership working to deliver the collaborative ambition of a safer road system.

 

Focusing on the Service’s priorities for 2023/24, some notable progression and successful outcomes had been achieved, from getting back into primary schools, post pandemic, to engage with pupils and deliver the improved Road Sense package to re-launching Wasted Lives and Biker Down. The Service’s action plan for the forthcoming year would build on that. The figures had significantly improved, and the Service would continue to build on the successful year.

 

Over the next 12 months, the Service would be focusing on further evaluation of Road Safety initiatives, campaigns, and educational packages. The evaluation would look at 4 distinct areas; Is our targeting correct and appropriate, are we delivering according to end user expectations, are we influencing a positive behaviour change, and are we delivering value for money (i.e. for every £1 spent on prevention, what does that save in terms of prevention of an incident). The Service would also look to refresh all the education packages over the summer of 2024 to ensure a fresh approach for the new academic year.

 

County Councillor O’Toole referenced a radio programme which stated that 12.5% of all serious accidents involved young drivers and highlighted the expense of insuring a driver in that age group. Area Manager, Matt Hamer, emphasised the importance of education and the danger of distractions.

 

County Councillor Clifford expressed an interest in attending a Wasted Lives event referencing his own experience of attending a presentation involving motorbike safety when he was an apprentice with Leyland Trucks, and stated that, for young drivers, smaller cars were more expensive to insure than larger cars. Area Manager, Matt Hamer informed Members that the Service engaged with companies through Wasted Lives and the Crashed Vehicle where apprentices might have access to fleet vehicles. He advised that Insurance companies used data which raised risk flags for young drivers in certain types of vehicles that were at higher risk of an accident which increased insurance costs. The LRSP advocated the advanced motorist qualification to young drivers.

 

County Councillor Hennessy requested and Area Manager, Matt Hamer agreed that the dates of upcoming Wasted Lives events would be shared with Members.

 

County Councillor Yates stated that there were numerous accidents and near misses on rural roads and asked if LCC would be supportive of a reduction in the speed limit in these areas. Area Manager, Matt Hamer, advised that approx. 125 reports a day were made on the LRSP website from concerned members of the public around excess speed. A lot of complaints were received regarding rural roads where Mobile enforcement vehicles could be used as deterrent, especially where the speed limit changes from 60mph to 30mph. Work was taking place with Community Speed Watch Groups, around near misses to apply enforcement and to install calming measures, in conjunction with engineers.

 

 

Resolved: - That the Committee endorsed the Annual Road Safety Intervention report.