Website passes 100,000 landmark

The number of hits on the LARSOA website since it was relaunched in 2002 passed the 100,000 mark last week.

The site was launched in its present guise – built around a road safety newsfeed - on Wednesday 5 June 2002. Since then, it has become established as the best place to find out what’s happening in road safety across the UK.

In the early stages the site attracted around 500 hits and 150 visitors each week. In September 2002 the number of weekly hits exceeded 1000 for the first time - and the 1500 barrier was broken in January 2003.

The next major development came in July last year when the DfT agreed to partner LARSOA in the venture. "This enabled us to increase the frequency of the members news service from monthly to weekly, and the numbers have climbed steadily since then," says Nick Rawlings, managing director of Stennik, who edits the site.

The average number of weekly hits currently exceeds 2000, and the weekly visitor level is around 550.

"There is no doubt that the excellent working relationship between the website team, the DfT and the team at Stennik has contributed enormously to the success of the project," says Brian Hogarth, secretary of LARSOA. "The project has exceeded all our expectations and it has been very satisfying to be involved."

Nick Rawlings cites the enthusiasm of road safety professionals as crucial to the success of the news service. "RSOs are passionate about their work and have a thirst for information," he says. "They are keen to know what is going on in other parts of the country, and to pick up on good ideas.

"Their hunger for knowledge is one of the key reasons the newsfeed has proved so popular. If road safety professionals were not interested in what they do, they would not be as keen as they are to read our newsfeed."