Fire and Rescue Service issues plea to take extra care after spate of road traffic collisions

Firefighters in Staffordshire were called to a total of 75 road traffic collisions across the county in December 2022. Sadly, a number of these were fatal and several resulted in serious injuries.

Crews attend road traffic collisions in order to extricate casualties, make vehicles safe, and support emergency service colleagues in order to reduce the risk to other road users.

Prevent Delivery Lead, Simon England said: “We are trying to raise awareness of the road safety after a recent spike in the number of road traffic collisions.

“We continually work with our partners including the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership to do all we can to keep people safe on our roads – whether that be pedestrians, drivers or cyclists.

“Firefighters are regularly called to attend road traffic collisions to rescue people from their vehicles, and like our colleagues in the other emergency services we witness far too often the heartbreaking consequences of these incidents.

“Our plea is for everyone to take personal responsibility for road safety, as it’s likely that we will see more hazardous driving conditions this winter and the risk of collisions will increase as a result.

“As drivers, we all have a part to play in making our roads safer for everyone. This means slowing down, looking after our vehicles, avoiding driving after taking drink or drugs, not using a mobile phone when driving, staying alert and always wearing a seatbelt.

“It’s also important to plan your route, allow extra time for your journey and reduce your speed in poor weather conditions.”

For more advice please visit: Driving safely in the winter (staffordshirefire.gov.uk)