The number of people being killed or seriously injured on Knowsley’s roads is down 16% since 2010.
Figures from Merseyside Police, compiled for the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership, show this significant reduction in road casualty figures for Knowsley between 2010 and 2015.
The success is thought to be in part down to a programme of education and training developed by Knowsley Council to help keep our children and young people, their teachers, parents and guardians safe on the roads.
As part of the education programme, Knowsley teenagers recently enjoyed performances of Tiny Giants, a thought-provoking play, which tackled the important issue of pedestrian safety amongst teenagers.
Produced by local theatre company, Time, the play was performed to year 9 pupils at all Knowsley’s secondary schools and set out clearly the potential consequences that distractions such as mobile phones or wearing headphones can have whilst being out and about.
Val Burke, Pastoral Assistant for Year 8 and 9 at Knowsley Park, said: “The performance was really good and put across the road safety awareness in a brilliant way. The pupils enjoyed it and were quite emotional at the end, so hopefully this brought home the importance of road safety.”
In addition, the council’s parking enforcement programme has helped to improve road safety outside schools, improve the flow of traffic in town centres and support resident parking schemes. It hopes to prevent the inconsiderate and dangerous parking to increase the overall safety for pedestrians and other drivers.
During 2015 the council invested £430,000 into local road safety schemes and remains committed to reducing injuries on our roads. Recently, a new pedestrian crossing opened on Cronton Road, Huyton. It provides local residents with a safe and easy way to cross this busy main road.
Lisa Harris, Knowsley’s Assistant Executive Director for Regeneration and Housing said: “We take road safety very seriously in Knowsley. We are very pleased that the investment we have made into education, enforcement and engineering has had such a positive impact on the reduction of the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.
“However, one person killed or injured is one too many and we will continue to improve Knowsley’s roads network and road safety in the borough.”
Pictured: Children in Knowsley taking part in road safety training.
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