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First Fence throws support behind Road Safety Week after rise in local offences

First Fence throws support behind Road Safety Week after rise in local offences

First Fence, the UK’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of security and temporary fencing, has pledged to support and raise awareness for Road Safety Week, with its director calling for more action to be taken locally to address concerning local speeding statistics.

The campaign is the UK’s single biggest road safety event and is co-ordinated annually by Brake.

Each year, it focuses on and raises awareness of a different aspect of road safety, with the 2020 limelight turning to the dangers of speeding. This year’s campaign is called No Need For Speed.

Speaking about First Fence’s commitment to raising awareness for road safety, Vinny Kotecha, a company director, said: “What’s been clear, especially since lockdown has come into effect and the roads became far lighter, is that attitudes have relaxed when it comes to speeding.

“It’s an important issue that needs highlighting more. Brake do a fantastic job each year with their important campaigns and as a business, we felt compelled to do our bit to raise awareness for such an important issue that has come off the back of the pandemic this year.

“With winter just around the corner, our roads are becoming wetter more often and we’re supporting Brake’s message for drivers to be far more cautious on the roads and be aware that their driving doesn’t just affect them but everyone else that is on the road with them.”

Comparing the period between June and September 2019 and the same timeframe this year, First Fence has seen an increase in sales between 50% and 100% across a wide range of its road safety products; including high visibility plastic and water-filled barriers as well as other temporary and permanent roadside safety products.

It is estimated that approximately 1,850 deaths a year and more than 25,000 injuries are directly related to speeding offences - a figure that has plateaued since 2012 across the UK.

Away from the national picture, there have been some startling figures for offences across the East Midlands, highlighting how prevalent it has been during 2020 - particularly during the height of the original lockdown.

In Derbyshire alone, data from the Press Association shows that there were more than 4,000 speeding offences back in April - the first full month after the country was placed under national restrictions due to COVID-19.

In total, there were 4,107 cases of the speed limit being broken across the county - a figure that represents one of the highest in the country at that time and a huge 21% higher than the same period in 2019.

The same statistics also showed that the highest speed registered by a vehicle in the Derbyshire area was 130mph.

In Nottinghamshire, nearly 5,500 drivers were also caught speeding in the period between 25 May and 7 June - a significant increase to figures being recorded before the impacts of COVID-19 were felt. During the same period, Leicestershire recorded 1,497 speeding offences.

Similar to Derbyshire, the highest speed recorded was over 100mph in Nottinghamshire and 105mph in Leicestershire - the latter coming down a 50mph stretch of road.

Speaking about the issue of speeding, police and crime commissioner, Paddy Tipping, said: “Road safety – particularly speeding – is raised time and time again by local people during my engagement meetings around the county and there is no denying the detrimental impact it has on quality of life.”


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