RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

July 8, 2004
RoSPA SEEKING IDEAS TO DRIVE ROAD DEATHS DOWN

Following recent shock figures showing road deaths in Great Britain are at their highest level for six years, RoSPA is seeking speakers who may have answers to the problem.

The subject of the Society's national road safety congress next year will be Driving Deaths Down, and RoSPA wants to hear from accident prevention experts with ideas that could make a difference to the statistics.

Kevin Clinton, RoSPA Head of Road Safety, said: "It was extremely worrying to see road deaths going above the 3,500 mark in 2003. We know the Government is on target for a 40 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2010 when the two figures are taken together, but something more has to be done to cut the number of people being killed.

"It could be that we have achieved the 'easy wins' in terms of road safety and further progress may be much harder.

"There are real concerns about the growing number of deaths involving car occupants and motorcyclists. We need to explore what can be done to influence driver and rider behaviour to prevent crashes from happening in the first place."

Subjects to be covered are likely to include: driver and rider education and training, driver and rider behaviour, car occupants, vehicles and enforcement.

The conference, in association with Britax, will be held at the Hilton Brighton Metropole from February 28 to March 2, 2005.

Potential speakers should submit an abstract of up to 500 words by September 10 to Kevin Clinton, RoSPA, 353 Bristol Road, Birmingham B5 7ST.

Bookings are already being taken for the congress, which was a sell-out this year. For more details, visit: http://www.rospa.com/road/