Agenda item

(i)         Report of the Director of Transformations and Partnerships.

(ii)        Presentation by Dave Wafer, Strategic Traffic Manager and Chair of the     Road Safety Reduction Partnership.

The Chairman introduced the Council’s Strategic Traffic Manager (and Chair of the County Durham Road Safety Partnership), Dave Wafer and the Road Safety Manager, Paul Watson to give a presentation to update Members on the work of the County Durham Road Safety Partnership throughout 2017/18 (for copy see file of minutes).

The Strategic Traffic Manager referred Members to the casualty statistics for 2006-2016 within his presentation and highlighted the total number of casualties had reduced by 40% over this period.  He reminded Members that if you looked at figures going further back, there had been fatality figures of around 40 per annum, with figures now being around 20.  Councillors noted the general decline in all injury collisions and that the majority of those involved were car occupants.  The Strategic Traffic Manager noted that there was often focus on pedestrians, cyclists and motorbikes as their groups were overrepresented in terms of incidents.  It was noted in County Durham there had been a lot of good work in reduction through comprehensive road safety, accident investigation and prevention, alongside targeted engineering schemes.  Members noted other work included: reactive and proactive police enforcement; offender retraining courses; partnership working with colleagues from the Police and Fire; and strong data analysis to identify areas of concern and similar road user behaviours.

The Committee noted that two areas of concern were child injuries and collisions involving young drivers.

The Road Safety Manager explained that there was a lot of work with Area Action Partnerships (AAPs) and referred to maps highlighting child casualties in the County.  Members noted clusters within areas such as Consett and Stanley and also in the East of the County.  It was highlighted that this data allowed a targeted approach looking to work with the relevant partners.  The Road Safety Manager noted that many of these areas benefited from 20mph limits in some areas, to be discussed at a later agenda item.  He referred Members to a similar map, showing the casualties within the County sustained by young drivers and their passengers.

The Road Safety Manager noted while figures showed a decrease in the number of injuries, there was still a lot of work being undertaken.  It was noted that a new targeted approach for 2018 included work with the “Mini Police”, with greater coordination between partners and sharing of resources to provide a consistent message.  It was added that “Excelerate” had been revamped with: direct engagement with all of Durham and Darlington’s Advance Driving Instructors (ADIs); encouragement to take up post-driving test training delivered by ADIs; and encouraging registration with the First Car Academy website. 

The Road Safety Manager explained that as AAPs represented strong communities they provided a good opportunity for community engagement.  It was added a pilot project had been established with the Mid-Durham AAP, identifying key road user groups and areas, with a number of “fail to look” incidents being identified.  It was noted that there was use of social media and also a targeted approach to business engagement.  Members were reminded of a Christmas road safety campaign by Road Safety Great Britain (RSGB) and that a video in respect of road fatalities would be harnessed to help raise awareness.

The Chairman thanked the Officers for their presentation and asked Members of the Committee for their comments and questions.

Councillor K Thompson asked if an electronic copy of the presentation could be provided to Members of the Committee.  It was noted this would be circulated after the meeting.

Councillor D Stoker asked if changes that had taken place since the figures for 2016 had been complied, and the changes that were starting, for example the increase of 6,000 students in Durham with potential for large numbers to be using the narrow paths into the City at peak times.  He asked what could be done in anticipation to try and mitigate any potential issues.  The Strategic Traffic Manager noted that the figures were only up to 2016, the 2017 figures in the process of being verified.  He added that while there was a number of pedestrians in the City, the vehicle speeds in Durham were relatively slow and therefore usually safe.  He noted that there were many planning applications that had been approved with the developments coming through, reflecting the masterplan for the University, and that the Council would work with the University and student as regards safety.  Councillor D Stoker added that the impact would not be necessarily at the University itself, rather along the routes where the students would be coming from.

Councillor J Maitland noted an increase in the fatality and seriously injured figures for 2015 and asked if there was a specific reason.  The Road Safety Manager noted that numbers can vary year-on-year and therefore it was often more useful to look at overall trends.  He added a bus crash involving a number of children had contributed towards those figures.

Councillor K Thompson noted that some members of the public had a perception as regards the new LED street lights as being inferior and therefore asked if there was any statistics that looked at the number of casualties against those areas with the new street lighting.  The Strategic Traffic Manager noted that there was location data, and this could be looked at where any increase has been identified, though he noted not such increase at this time.

Mr AJ Cooke noted the fluctuations in figures over the years and asked if there were any specific reasons or schemes that may have impacted on the figures.  The Strategic Traffic Manager reiterated that the figures did include a random element, therefore it was important to look at overall trends in terms of reducing road casualties.

Councillor J Stephenson noted that she was very interested as regards the work with the AAPs, and as Vice-Chair at the Stanley AAP would be interested in the timetable when working with an AAP.  The Road Safety Manager explained that Mid-Durham AAP had contacted the Road Safety section in respect of their project and the first engagement with the Stanley and Consett (Derwent Valley) AAPs was due in February, looking at links to social media and local issues.

Councillor J Considine noted issues in terms of road traffic mirrors with the Department for Transport (DfT) recently stating that they are less safe and would not be installed and asked if there was any flexibility in terms of this issue.  The Strategic Traffic Manager noted that with most highways issues three are national standards that all Local Authorities would be required to adhered to, with placement of such mirrors only where there was a definitive blind spot, however, in terms of maintenance each mirror would need to be assessed on its own merits.  The Traffic Asset Manager, Keith Jameson explained that the DfT did not recognise such mirrors as sign and there was evidence that drivers can fixate on the mirrors, potentially creating more issues than they resolve.

Councillor J Turnbull noted that at Meadowfield, a planning application had been approved however signage had not been put in place.  He noted there was also an issue in terms of heavy goods vehicles being directed by their satellite navigation to the junction near to Meadowfield Club, and asked if the road at the industrial estate not being recognised was the problem.  The Strategic Traffic Manager noted the road in question was not adopted, was a private road and there was ongoing public meetings as regards planning issues.

Councillor A Patterson noted within the Performance Report that the number of children killed or seriously injured had reduced year on year from 9 to 7, however asked if the age range was known, to see they were primary age and look at this against the 20mph limits that had been implemented.  The Strategic Traffic Manager noted that this analysis could be done, with child per head of population against number of car journeys.  He added that the County performed poorly in comparison to the national figure and 20mph limits were a potential solution in the appropriate areas.  Members noted that the Road Safety Manager was looking at incident within the AAP areas.

Councillor K Thompson noted that in cases where Members may look to find solutions from problem, they are told there are no accidents and asked if there was some filtering out of those with drug or alcohol involvement for example.  The Chairman as if the Police had changed how they record such information. 

The Strategic Traffic Manager noted a national system as regards recording and that within County Durham there had not been a significant change in terms of recording, some other areas experiencing significant changes.  He added that drug and alcohol as a factor was included within the casualty figures, however in terms of fatalities it may not be known if these were factors.

The Chairman noted that as an ADI himself, he noted that those drivers that engaging with the scheme had a positive response and had increased awareness and coordination.  He asked in terms of partners what appetite there was and also asked as regards links between deprivation and accidents and how this could be tackle, including use of 20mph limits.  The Road Safety Manager noted a very strong County Durham Casualty Reduction Forum and there was a large appetite from its members.  He noted work with the Mini-Police and the Police Cadets and also the work via the AAPs to help reach the more local level partners.  The Strategic Traffic Manager added that in terms of deprived areas and child casualties, he noted that while not proven as the numbers involved were a small subset, young drivers from those areas were more likely to be involved in an accident.  He added it needed to be ascertained whether this was an attitudinal issue, with AAPs perhaps having a role to play in looking to provide information on some of these issues locally.

Councillor H Liddle noted that the Police did not attend all road traffic accidents, and asked whether the Police, Fire Service and Council captured all crashes.  The Strategic Traffic Manager noted that incidents with a casualty were recorded by the Police and areas of multiple occurrences in terms of incident where there was damage could be looked at.

Resolved:

That the report and presentation be noted.