Somerset fatal crashes spark urgent road safety plea (2024)

Emergency services have issued a stark warning at the Bath & West Show in the fight against reckless driving in the Westcountry. With recent tragedies casting a sombre shadow over communities, the event served as a rallying cry to confront the harrowing reality of preventable deaths on our roads.

PC Dan Cox, the road safety officer for Avon Somerset Police, expressed grave concern over the escalating toll of road fatalities, stating, “In the Avon & Somerset area last year, we had 63 people killed. By any measure, that's a colossal amount.”

This week alone, three people have lost their lived in collision on roads in Somerset. Two women tragically died on the A361 near Frome - a hotspot for serious and fatal collisions - on Thursday, May 30 in a three-vehicle crash. The pair were the fifth people to lose their lives on that stretch of road in the past ten months.

Read More - Young biker dies in crash on A303 in Somerset

Read More - 'Common sense needed' over traffic on busy Bath streets

On Saturday, June 1, a young biker, a man in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene of a collision on the A303. Several weeks previously, a woman in her 80s died in hospital after suffering fatal injuries in a collision on the B3151 near Yeovilton. Just across the border in Dorset, a motorcyclist aged in his 20s was killed in a crash in Weymouth on Saturday.

At the Bath & West show, PC Cox emphasised the need to prioritise road safety efforts, highlighting the pervasive issues of drinking and drug driving, lack of seatbelt usage, and driver distraction. He stressed the critical role of enforcement in preventing loss of life, urging greater proactive measures to address these challenges.

“We often get criticised for doing road safety and speed enforcement work because we should be catching people who are committing burglary, for instance,” he said. “I assure you, if I were to come and knock on your door to tell you a loved one had been killed, you'd start thinking that burglary was the least of your problems. It's about understanding what's important and what isn't. We need to prevent a loss of life.”

PC Cox explained that drinking and drug driving, ‘is a big problem’ and that the force is arresting between 200 and 250 people a month because of it. He added that about 20% of their fatalities were not wearing seatbelts, adding: “The harsh reality is that in a 30mph limit if you hit the inside of your windscreen without a seatbelt, you're not likely to survive.”

He also spoke of mobile usage, saying, “You’re four times more likely to end up in a collision talking with a hands-free kit. The national stance is you do not use your phone at all. Focus on driving and then social media and chatting when you finish your journey.”

James Warner, the Devon and Somerset Fire Service road safety officer echoed PC Cox's sentiments, particularly emphasising the prevalence of incidents in rural areas. He explained the dangers of mobile phone use while driving, citing it as a significant contributor to collisions.

“Many cars have Bluetooth and handsfree kits, so you think the problem would be not using their phones,” he said. “However, people are texting on their phones and social media, looking down at a screen and taking their eyes off the road.

At the Bath & West Show, the service showcased innovative approaches to raise awareness, including a demonstration using a Ford Mustang to illustrate the impact of texting on driving reactions. He underscored the importance of public engagement to promote safer driving habits.

“People texting on their phone may think it’s not a big deal as they’re only looking down for a split second, but time-wise, it may not be a split second, maybe less the click of a finger, but the distance they could have travelled can be significant compared to if they were focused.”

He added: “Only a few per cent of all road traffic collisions are down to a mechanical failure. Therefore, almost every road traffic collision we attend could have been avoided in the first place or at least severely reduced.

“It is a real shame, which is why we get to more road traffic collisions than house fires and why you're seeing us here talk about road safety. “It can be very traumatic dealing with a fatality or somebody who is seriously injured.”

Neill Sedgwick, Somerset Council's road safety officer, highlighted the need for concerted efforts to combat road traffic collisions. He emphasised the role of education and outreach programs in informing young and mature road users about safe practices. Despite progress in reducing fatalities over the years, he noted a concerning plateau in recent trends.

He said: “We've halved the fatality numbers, but we're on a plateau now, and we're struggling to continue that downward trend with an average of five people a day in the UK being killed on our roads.

“Because they’re preventable, we don’t call them accidents. They’re crashes and collisions because something somewhere has gone wrong. I don't think anyone sets out or intends to cause harm or be involved in a collision, as it's an expensive exercise.

“It's all about busy lives and concentrating on the fact that we are directing killing machines around the roads, and we need to look at them and treat and treat the road with some respect.”