Road safety boost in £850k windfall

Ministers have handed Staffordshire an £850,000 windfall to boost road safety.

Transport bosses at the authority received news of the Government grant yesterday as part of a £3.6 million of extra funding for road safety projects.

The cash, announced by Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick, will be used to reduce the number of motorcyclists involved in accidents on Staffordshire's roads.

Staffordshire County Council has pledged to invest a further £1.5 million into the high profile campaign over the next two years.

The road safety projects will include educating motorcyclists and drivers about the dangers of vulnerable road users; a compulsory basic training course which will be the first of its kind in the country; highways improvements and high-profile education and awareness campaigns.

The training programmes will be subsidised and are open to experienced motorcyclists as well as those who have just passed their test.

The latest figures show that 315 people were killed or seriously injured on Staffordshire's roads in 2007 with 82 of those being motorcyclists. Generally, bikers make up just one per cent of all traffic.

Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for road safety Carol Dean said the funding would save lives.

"I am delighted that Staffordshire has been awarded such a fantastic amount of money to help to tackle the number of deaths and serious injuries among motorcyclists on our roads.

"This grant really will save lives and will prevent many tragedies that may otherwise have occurred."

Les Dyble, traffic management officer for Staffordshire Police also backed the campaign.

He said: "Motorcyclists are extremely vulnerable road users and it is vital that everyone is aware of the dangers that they face.

"The extra funding will help us to get the road safety message out loud and clear to even more parts of the community than ever before."

Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: "This extra funding will support local authorities using the latest techniques, which in turn will help to spread good practice around the country and make our roads safer for everyone."