Let’s talk about speed

The principal aim of CLOCS is zero fatalities or serious injuries from construction related vehicle movements.

Clearly driver competence and driver behaviour play a key role in ensuring vehicles move safely from A to B and understanding how speed affects the risk of incidents and the likely impact of any such incidents is vital.

Additionally, the majority of us and those who work in our organisations also drive, whether it is a key part of our roles or not, and therefore also have a responsibility to ensure our roads are safe. Understanding the role that speed plays in road safety can only help.

For this Safety Forum, we were joined by Lucy Straker, Campaigns Manager for road safety charity Brake who provided an overview of the upcoming Road Safety Week and their Brake5 challenge, explaining how we can all get involved.

Lucy then moved onto an interactive survey which asked a number of questions of the audience and their own experiences and views on speeding. This led to a fascinating, and at times divisive, discussion around the issue of speeding and some of the possible solutions, such as the introduction of 20mph as a default speed for some roads, the use of technology in restricting speed, harsher penalties and the role of education and engagement.

Looking forward

Brake’s Road Safety Week is happening from 19-25 November 2023 and this year’s theme is ‘Let’s talk about speed’. To learn more about signing up to Road Safety Week, please visit https://www.brake.org.uk/roadsafety-week.

For more information on the Brake5 Challenge, visit https://www.brake.org.uk/road-safety-week/fundraise.

And finally…

Our thanks to Lucy for giving up her time to share her knowledge and insights with the CLOCS community, and thanks also those who attended, contributing honestly but constructively, sharing their own thoughts and experiences.

The voice of our members is vital to the success of CLOCS so please contact the team if you have any queries, suggestions or concerns about any aspect of CLOCS.