Supporting Brake’s national Road Safety Week in 2020

RCT Council is once again supporting national Road Safety Week and is promoting the ‘No Need for Speed’ theme in 2020 – with annual events in our community adapted this year to conform to social distancing guidance.

From November 16-22, national charity Brake is again coordinating the UK’s biggest road safety event, sharing the message that vehicle speed makes a huge difference to the safety of drivers and pedestrians. Someone gets injured on a UK road every four minutes, and vehicle speed plays a part in every incident. Just 1mph can mean the difference between life and death.

The formula is simple – the higher the speed, the longer the stopping distance and the greater the risk of injury and death. Find out more about Brake’s message, and Road Safety Week 2020, at www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk.

In ordinary circumstances, the Council’s dedicated Road Safety Team would recognise the annual week with a full programme of community activities – from teaching pupils basic skills about staying safe as pedestrians, to ‘drive safer for longer’ courses aimed at refreshing the driving skills for the over-60s and important partnership working exercises with emergency services.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme has been adapted in 2020. Officers are able to attend a reduced number of schools to deliver training on safely crossing the road for pupils in Years 2 and 3. Sessions are taking place at Hafod Primary, Llanilltud Faerdref Primary and Penygawsi Primary.

However, ‘Kerbcraft’ child pedestrian training isn’t able to be carried out in the same way as previous years. Officers have therefore developed a custom training package suitable for a classroom environment, rather than taking place in the community, and there has been lots of interest shown by schools.

The popular cycling training has also been running in recent weeks and continues at full capacity. All activities currently taking place are adhering to public health guidance, including adult social distancing on school sites.

Meanwhile, the Council will be running its next Pass Plus session – for people to improve their skills and drive more safely – via video conferencing. This virtual session takes place on Tuesday, December 1, at 6pm. Anyone wishing to book a place should email roadsafety@rctcbc.gov.uk or call 01443 494785.

Councillor Andrew Morgan, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Cabinet Member with responsibility for Highways and Transportation, said: “Road Safety Week is always a very important event in the Council’s annual calendar, as we aim to engage with people in the community and promote important advice to help people stay safe as drivers and pedestrians. The Council fully-supports Brake’s theme in 2020, ‘No Need for Speed’, which aims to highlight the importance of abiding by the speed limit on our roads.

“As with so many other events throughout 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that our usual activities have had to be altered to adhere to the current social distancing guidance – however, I am pleased that our dedicated Road Safety Team has been able to engage with young people in road crossing, cycling and child pedestrian training, albeit on a reduced basis.”