Road safety charity Brake is campaigning for ‘Safe Roads for All’ as part of this year’s Road Safety Week, which began yesterday [14 November].
Brake is calling for ‘all employers to have a board-level commitment to monitoring, reporting and improving road risk levels across their fleet and supply chains’. In addition, it wants ’employers to ensure all at-work and commuting drivers have learned the new Highway Code and the priority it gives to people on bicycles and foot’.
Analysis by the charity of 2021 UK road crash data found that there were 1,558 deaths on the road nationally in 2021, 361 of which were pedestrians and 111 were cyclists.
It also found that out of 27,450 deaths and serious injuries on roads, 1,078 involved lorries and 2,932 involved vans.
Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake, said: “Brake’s National Road Victim Service sees the devastation caused by road crashes and cares for the bereaved and injured families.
“Employers have an important responsibility to contribute to ending the carnage through occupational road risk management and can also help Brake with urgent funds we need to enable us to keep caring and campaigning.”
One of the week’s corporate sponsors is DHL Supply Chain, which has reportedly been working with staff across its 400 sites in the UK to improve road safety and has organised public events with a HGV simulator near some of its facilities.
Bob Naylor, VP of DHL UK and Ireland, DHL said: “Our Safety First culture strives not only to keep our colleagues safe on the roads, but also other vulnerable road users.
“DHL sites across the UK are preparing to participate in a variety of road safety-related activities which share the theme’s messages and raises awareness that ‘Everyone’s Life Matters’ on our roads.”
More than 240 employers involved in the operation of road vehicle fleets have signed up to take part in Road Safety Week, organising different events to support the cause, such as fleet management technology manufacturer Trakm8 launching a competition to find ‘Britain’s ultimate Road Safety Hero’.
