A Partnership Strategy for KSI Reduction

The Board’s partnership includes representatives from Essex County Council, Essex Police, Essex Fire & Rescue Service, East of England Ambulance Service and The Highways Agency. The Board also works in co-operation with the adjoining Unitary Authorities of Southend and Thurrock.

Formal meetings of the ECRB are held quarterly and bi-weekly ‘Battle Plan’ meetings are attended by partner representatives who are at the front-line of the intervention activities, enabling a quick response to deal with identified issues or problem areas that have arisen.

The Intervention Strategy
A range of interventions were explored in 2006 but in July 2007 the Board launched a new strategy with its emphasis on high profile enforcement, media engagement and very visible public education. This was primarily funded from the Specific Road Safety Grant provided to Essex County Council and also utilised pooled resources from each of the partners.

The Intervention Strategy outlined a combination of activities which international research had shown to be effective in having an immediate impact on reducing road collisions and casualties.

Enforcement
The cornerstone of the strategy was the provision of high levels of road policing activity by Essex Police, to be carried out over a sustained period on identified routes or in areas where the greatest number of KSIs were being recorded. The activity was supplementary to the levels of road policing activity already being undertaken by Essex Police.

High levels of intensive activity were targeted to address key user groups or behaviours most at risk of involvement in serious accidents, which included motorcyclists, young drivers and their passengers, speed related offences and drink/drug driving.

Publicity
High profile publicity was a key element of the casualty reduction success in Essex, the aim of which was to inform the public about the increased enforcement and why it was happening. An introductory campaign highlighted the use of covert enforcement vehicles, and regular media releases report on the results of intervention activities.

Alongside this, a calendar of campaigns was developed based around the DfT’s national campaign schedule, selecting the most relevant local issues to support the strategy. This provided further opportunities for launches involving all of the partners, highlighting the key issues and targeting road user groups most at risk. All of the partners support the campaigns at launches, public events and education opportunities.

Outcomes
Since its inception in July 2007, the Intervention Plan has evidenced a significant reduction in KSI casualties, contributing to the large downturn seen in Essex on the network as a whole.

The outturn KSI figure for 2009 is 658 – the lowest ever reported for Essex – resulting in more than 300 fewer killed or seriously injured casualties per year in just three years.