The Government’s road safety improvement strategy Tomorrow’s Roads: Safer For Everyone, published in 2000, set national road traffic casualty reduction targets to be achieved over a ten-year period.
The three targets focused mainly on the reduction of Killed and Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties and included the following targets:
All of these reductions were to be achieved in comparison to a baseline, set as the average for the period 1994 to 1998.
Highway Authorities throughout the country have been working towards the achievement of these targets by implementing various road safety initiatives. Many have set local targets, in some cases more ambitious than those set nationally, as part of their Local Transport Plans (LTP) or Local Public Service Agreements (LPSA).
In Doncaster, the LPSA has seen the Council commit to a stretched KSI casualty reduction target of 50% against the baseline and to a local target for the reduction of all child casualties across the Borough. The work of the Council, together with the efforts of the various partner organisations across the County, is also contributing to the casualty reduction targets set as part of the South Yorkshire LTP.
Child Casualties
The target set as part of the LPSA was to reduce child casualties to an average of 230 per annum over a three-year period (2006 to 2008). The recent progress has been very encouraging; child casualties are now at a level which is significantly less than half of that recorded six years previously. Latest figures show that this reduction continued into 2008, and that the target has been reached. The actual average number of child casualties across the three year period was 167.
Good progress is also being made as part of the Council’s contribution to the national child KSI casualty reduction target. The total number of child KSI casualties across the Borough in 2008 was 14; this followed a total of only 10 during the previous year which was the lowest total ever recorded. With reference to the baseline period this represents a reduction of over 50%.
Local Area Agreement
Following the end of the LPSA in 2008, the Council has agreed a set of new local and sub-regional casualty reduction targets as part of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) initiative. Partner authorities across South Yorkshire have agreed to include road safety as a key priority within their LAA and have each selected National Indicator 47 as the basis for a countywide target. This is based on the South Yorkshire LTP KSI casualty reduction target and is intended to reduce these casualties by 20% from the 2001-04 baseline average by 2010. The graph below shows recent performance, and progress towards this target. Please select the thumbnail image below to open a larger version. (This will open in a new browser window)
Doncaster Council has also set further local targets giving priority to the reduction of child road traffic casualties. The first is based on National Indicator 48 and is intended to reduce child KSI casualties across the Borough by 50% from the 1994-98 baseline by 2010. The second is a local target, intended to continue progress achieved under the LPSA, and this is intended to reduce all child road traffic casualties by 50% from the 1994-98 baseline by 2010. The graphs below show recent performance and progress towards these targets. Please select the thumbnail images below to open a larger version. (These will open in a new browser window)
The Government has recently consulted on a set of proposals for national casualty reduction priorities and targets to follow those set in 2000 and which come to an end next year (2010). These new national targets will set the agenda for casualty reduction efforts across the country and will inform and direct further work at a local and sub-regional level, including the development of new targets and priorities for South Yorkshire as part of the next LTP.
