16 October 2007

LARSOA says new funding, not legislation, is key to saving lives

The Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association (LARSOA) says that better funding for education and more effective enforcement of current laws is needed to save more lives on Britain's roads.

The call comes following today's report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) 'Beyond 2010 - a holistic approach to road safety in Great Britain' , which, amongst other initiatives, calls for a new 20mph limit in towns and cities across the country.

David Frost, LARSOA's Press and PR spokesman, said: "LARSOA supports PACTS, and welcomes today's report. There are lots of places where 20mph limits work well, but any new 20mph zones really need to be self-enforcing and we welcome them where they are appropriate. 20mph limits can help reduce accidents, but they work most effectively when they have public support and are introduced in areas where they are really needed to save lives and improve public safety on the roads.

He added: "However, in our view this is about more than just about a 20mph speed limit. What we need to focus on when it comes to saving lives is extra funding to enforce all road traffic laws and educate the public. Safety on the roads is about much more than just speed, and the government has introduced a broad range of measures like banning the use of mobile phones and stricter controls on using child seats, but these are just not being enforced as they need to be. What we need to make our roads safer is more resources and better enforcement. In our view traffic laws are more widely accepted when the public understand the reason behind them."

For more information or for an interview bid please contact Chris Taylor on 01287 610404 or 07949 287 356.

ABOUT LARSOA

LARSOA is a national road safety organisation representing road safety officers (RSOs) employed in local government across the UK.

LARSOA represents 185 of the 200 eligible local authorities across the UK, assisting RSOs to fulfil their statutory role to reduce the number and severity of road casualties through education, training and publicity programmes.

LARSOA publishes an up-to-date round-up of road safety news from across the UK on its website www.larsoa.org.uk .

LARSOA also aims to influence national debate - government policy and action together with public opinion. The association works to achieve national recognition for road safety issues, commissions research into behaviour which contributes to road collisions and develops national road safety campaigns.

The association assists in identifying achievable national targets to reduce the number of collisions on the country's roads.