The Road Safety Partnerships Grant scheme will:
- be used by the Unity Partnership - acting on behalf of Oldham Borough Council - for road safety education targeted towards adults in five areas in Oldham with concentrations of road casualties, to help them to pass key messages on to children and so reinforce road safety education in schools.
- fund a project aimed at deploying low-cost, in-vehicle speed management systems in Lancashire. This will involve an enhancement to standard satellite navigation systems to provide warnings when drivers are speeding and when they are approaching corners.
- fund a project aimed at reducing the disproportionately high numbers of motorcyclists casualties on the A537 'Cat & Fiddle'. This funding is a result of a joint bid put forward by Cheshire East council, Derbyshire council and Derby City council
Jim Fitzpatrick said:
"Britain has some of the safest roads in the world and in 2007 the number of people killed on the roads fell below 3,000 for the first time since records began in 1926.
"But if we are to continue to cut this terrible toll we need to find innovative ways to tackle the road safety problems we face. This extra funding will support local authorities using the latest techniques, which in turn will help to spread good practice around the country and make our roads safer for everyone.
"I look forward to seeing the results of this exciting projects in Cheshire, Lancashire and Oldham."
Eight local authorities will use the funding to tackle road safety problems in their areas using new techniques, then share evidence with other authorities and agencies. The money is in addition to the £110m given to local authorities each year to spend on road safety and local transport capital funding support of about £1.3bn per year.
Other authorities to benefit are Bristol, The London Borough of Hounslow, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.
Funding of £28,500 was also today awarded to the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) to support child safety week and up to £41,000 is available for Brake related to road safety week. ENDS
