Partnership's roads pledge as part of Europe-wide safety drive

South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership (SYSRP) is supporting Project EDWARD, which stands for European Day Without a Road Death.

The initiative, organised by TISPOL (European Traffic Police Network), aims to encourage people across Europe to sign an online pledge to take extra care on the roads.

This year’s event is tomorrow and the South Yorkshire partnership has made its own commitment to responsible road use.

Joanne Wehrle, SYSRP manager, said: “We fully support this initiative to reduce the number of deaths caused by collisions on Europe's roads.

“We pledge to continue in our everyday work to promote positive behaviour and attitudes among all road users and to raise awareness about taking risks.

“Our work in this area is all year round so we will continue to place the focus on responsible road use, 365 days a year.”

Recent figures showed the number of people killed or seriously injured in Rotherham’s roads soared by almost a quarter last year.

Five people died on Rotherham roads in 2018. A total of 81 were seriously injured in a car collision, which is 28 more than in 2017.

Slight injuries as a result of a car collision dropped by 12.7 per cent.

SYSRP is asking its partners as well as everyone in South Yorkshire to make a pledge to become a safer road user. 

You can sign the pledge on-line via www.sysrp.co.uk/projectedward or by using the #projectedward hashtag, to share your pledge on social media.

“While we often talk about speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, driving using a handheld mobile phone and drink or drug driving, there are simple changes you can make to significantly reduce your risk of being involved in a collision,” added Joanne.

“Whether it's a pledge to check your tyres more regularly or put your phone in the glove box while driving, we hope people will think about making a change.”

SYSRP runs road safety training sessions for people of all ages, of which you can find out more at www.sysrp.co.uk.