SERVICES COME TOGETHER FOR JOINT MOTORWAY SAFETY EVENT
Motorists are being asked to consider what distracts them later this week as part of a joint road safety initiative that’s been organised by neighbouring fire and rescue services.
On Friday (25 August) teams from Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services will be joined by officers from Highways England at a number of service stations along the M1 motorway.
The teams, who will also be joined by police officers from the East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS), will be engaging with customers at their respective service stations and will be asking one key question – “what’s your distraction?”
During the course of the one-day event, the various agencies will be at a number of service stations – including Trowell Southbound, Tibshelf Northbound, Newport Pagnell Southbound, Watford Gap Northbound, Leicester Forest East Southbound and Castle Donington.
They will be on hand to speak to motorists, and passengers, about general road safety – with a specific focus on distraction – and people travelling down the M1 on that day are encouraged to have a chat with the teams about how they can make their driving safer.
Paul Speight, Watch Manager Road Safety, said: “Being distracted whilst driving can be very dangerous, for both the driver and other road users.”
“We are currently working in partnership with Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services on a joint initiative to enable us to engage with road users about the dangers of distractions.”
“We hope that in doing this we can better educate road users about the consequences of distractions, and hopefully encourage anyone with any bad habits to eradicate them and start to drive safely – this will hopefully improve safety on our roads.”
“Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service will be at Leicester Forest East Service Station (southbound) and Castle Donington Service Station so, if you see us there on the day make sure you come over and say hello.”
For more road safety information, visit www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk/your-safety/road-safety.
ENDS
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About the Service
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service provides emergency response, prevention and protection services from 20 stations across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Its headquarters is based in Birstall, Leicester.
The Service’s prevention, education, enforcement and inspection programmes have resulted in significant reductions in the number of incidents. In the last ten years, fire related incidents have reduced by 46 percent.
During 2015/16, the Service attended 666 road traffic collisions, of which 174 were extrications freeing 208 people trapped inside their vehicles and completed 5086 home fire safety checks, fitting almost 4481 smoke alarms. Staff organised or supported almost 1431 events aimed at promoting fire and road safety and arson prevention, whilst also visiting 332 schools to deliver fire and road safety education to pupils.
Contact:
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