26/07/2019
The Vale of Glamorgan Council is to trial allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes along two routes in the county.
Under the scheme, they would be able to travel within the lanes for several hundred metres on Port Road, between Barry and Culverhouse Cross, and a section of Cardiff Road, from Eastbrook in Dinas Powys to the Merrie Harrier junction.
The move comes after representations from motorcyclists and motorcycling groups and the successful introduction of similar measures in other parts of the country.
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23/07/2019
A programme of investment into highway maintenance totalling just over £2.5m has been agreed by Vale of Glamorgan Council.
The three year resurfacing plan approved by the Council’s cabinet sets out a priority listing for roads in need of improvement throughout the local highway network. In total, 114 roads are due to be resurfaced over the course of the plan and 66 are due to receive preventative ‘micro-asphalt’ or surface dressing treatments.
Councillor Peter King, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services and Transport said, “Prosperity in the Vale of Glamorgan is very much dependent on an effective transport infrastructure. The agreed plan provides the foundation for this and for delivering a well-maintained and managed highway network for our residents.
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19/07/2019
The Department for Transport has published an update to its 2015 Road Safety Statement; with increased penalties for failing to wear a seatbelt being one of seventy-four measures being considered to improve road safety for people at every stage of life, from birth to old age.
Under the new plans, failure to wear a seatbelt could result in penalty points as well as fines, to reduce the number of deaths on UK roads.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said, “The UK has some of the safest roads in the world, but we are not complacent and continue to look at how we can make them safer.
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19/07/2019
Young people from across Gwent recently took part in a GoSafe competition to design a poster linked to the Fatal 5; the main causes of road traffic collisions and injuries in Wales.
Part of the brief was to fill the page with as much colour as possible and the winning posters certainly have!
The posters were created by Gwent Police Heddlu Bach (Mini Police). Each school has approximately 20 children who take on the Heddlu Bach role and Gwent Police is one of the few forces that has these amazing young people as part of their wider policing family.
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18/07/2019
Speaking at an Active Travel conference in Cardiff recently, the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, Lee Waters announced that the Welsh Government would be putting together an expert group to explore ways of clamping down more widely on illegal parking, as well as pavement parking across Wales.
The Deputy Minister also repeated the Welsh Government’s commitment to change the default speed limit for residential areas across Wales from 30 to 20mph.
He said, “Our goal is for people of all ages and abilities to be confident that they can make every day journeys by walking and cycling, and do so safely. But there are barriers in our villages, towns and cities to allow this to easily happen and this is something we must look at ways of addressing – not least as part of our wider response to the climate emergency, the air quality crisis and the obesity epidemic.
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16/07/2019
The Department for Transport (Dft) has announced a ground-breaking, two-year review of roads policing and traffic enforcement, in a bid to improve road safety. The review will consider how roads policing currently works, its effectiveness, and where improvements could be made or gaps bridged.
A pilot programme based on the review and consultation feedback, which could trial new initiatives and methods of working to see what works best in reducing road casualties, could begin as early as next year.
Road Safety Minister Michael Ellis said, “We have strong laws in place to ensure people are kept safe on our roads at all times.
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15/07/2019
Neath Port Talbot Council has been granted Welsh Government Transport Funding of more than £1.6m this year to help maintain and improve the County Borough’s roads, paths and cycle routes.
The grants have come from a variety of funds including the Local Transport Fund, Local Transport Network Fund, Active Travel Fund, Road Safety Capital Fund, Road Safety Revenue Fund and the Safe Routes in Communities project.
Neath Port Talbot Council Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Engineering, Councillor Ted Latham said, “We’re having a busy time improving, maintaining and updating our transport system.
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11/07/2019
A one-day conference took place yesterday (10 July) in Llandridod Wells, Powys, exploring developments in road safety practice. The annual event, which is free to member organisations, provides valuable networking between professionals and the opportunity to hear from a range of highly regarded presenters.
The conference programme, introduced by the Chair of Road Safety Wales, Teresa Ciano, featured eleven presentations, with the morning session including presentations from Dr Gemma Briggs (The Open University) on distracted driving and the cost of not paying attention; Dr Helen Wells (Keele University) on Mobile:Engaged and Danielle Carvell on Crown Commercial Service’s role in road safety procurement.
Rebecca Needham (RoSPA) outlined the latest developments in road safety evaluation. Followed by Andrew Rustage and David Thomas (DVLA Enforcement) with an eye-opening presentation of the vehicle defects encountered on British roads.
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02/07/2019
The Welsh Government has published Police Recorded Road Casualties, Wales, 2018, which includes information on severity of injury and type of road user.
Key points
- In 2018 police forces in Wales recorded 4,215 road accidents involving personal injury, 333 fewer (7.3% lower) than in 2017.
- These recorded accidents resulted in 5,759 casualties, 435 fewer than in 2017
- There has been a long-term fall in personal injury road accidents recorded by police forces in Wales.
- In recent years the number of accidents resulting in serious injury or fatalities has been relatively stable, with the overall decline in accidents accounted for by a continued fall in ‘slight’ injury accidents.
Within the 5,759 casualties:
- 103 people were killed, 2 more (2.0% higher) than in 2017
- 1,028 people were seriously injured, 69 higher (7.2% more) than in 2017.
- 4,628 people were slightly injured, 506 fewer (19.4% fewer) than 2017.
The Welsh Government has set three targets to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on Welsh roads by 2020, when compared with the average for 2004-08.
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