Road safety group clocks up 20 years after drastically reducing casualties

A Leicestershire and Rutland speed camera van

A road safety organisation which has now clocked up 20 years helped reduce road casualties in the Leicestershire and Rutland area last year by an impressive 69 per cent compared to the year it started up.

During the lifetime of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership (LLRRSP), 65,781 people have been killed or injured on local roads.

This breaks down to 956 fatalities, including 27 children under 16 years of age, 6,356 seriously injured and 58,469 slightly injured.

In the first year of the partnership’s existence – 2002 – there were 5,005 killed or injured but in 2021 there was an overall 69 per cent reduction in casualties on county roads.

The proliferation of speed cameras and advances in technology have been credited with the improved safety figures.

Contrary to popular opinion there aren’t “speed cameras everywhere”, in reality only 5% of our road network is covered by camera enforcement, this includes static, mobile, average speed and motorway. Over the past twenty years our camera activations have resulted in:

Only around five per cent of the road network in Leicestershire and Rutland is covered by camera enforcement, including static, mobile, average speed and motorway cameras.

But they have resulted in 139,175 fixed penalty fines and 52,621 offences being processed by the courts.

In addition, there were 519,689 notices of intended prosecutions handed out by police officers and 258,893 driver education workshops have been completed.

LLRRSP spokesperson, Jonathan Clarkson, said: “Over the past two decades the LLRRSP has evolved and embraced new technology, in 2018 we began the migration from wet film to wireless digital cameras on the road side.

“Our mobile speed vans have also come a long way since initially using VHS video; subsequent upgrades have seen improved cameras and lenses along with the installation of forward-facing cameras to ensure motorcycle offences are recorded.

"During the last 12 months all of our camera vans have being equipped with infra-red technology which enhances speed enforcement during the hours of darkness for locations with little or no street lighting.”

The LLRRSP also organises regular drink and drug-drive campaigns in different parts of the area.