Reductions in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads – due to lockdown restrictions last year – are to be welcomed but should also inspire more action to make roads safer.

As traffic levels rise again, Road Safety Week is celebrating the work of road safety heroes across the country who are working to tackle deaths and serious injuries

The call comes from road safety campaigners at Brake as Road Safety Week 2021 (co-ordinated by Brake and running 15-21 November) gets underway.

The road safety charity says a drop of a fifth in deaths and serious injuries on roads in 2020, revealed in government statistics and due to reduced traffic, was the first decline in years and heralds renewed efforts to make roads safe for us all.

About 300 deaths and more than 6,000 serious injuries were prevented due to lighter traffic in 2020, compared with 2019. Road deaths and serious injuries declined across Britain, with the biggest drops seen in Scotland, followed by Wales, South West England and London.

There were, however, still 1,460 deaths and more than 22,000 serious injuries on roads in 2020, causing devastation to families across the country. And South East England actually saw an increase in deaths last year (239 up from 214 in 2019) – an increase of 12%.

As traffic levels rise again, Road Safety Week is celebrating the work of road safety heroes across the country who are working to tackle deaths and serious injuries and turn the one-year drop into a downward trend.

This includes government plans for a new road safety strategy; local authorities building cycle paths; companies working to ensure they use vehicles safely; and communities working for changes where they live, such as 20mph speed limits.

Brake’s Road Safety Week campaign this year also celebrates the invaluable efforts of the emergency services, including those who police the roads and save lives, at the roadside and in hospitals, and the work of the National Road Victim Service, caring for the emotional and practical needs of road victim families, as well as community services including mental health services and disability and peer support charities.

Jason Wakeford, head of campaigns at Brake, said: “Road Safety Week is the UK’s biggest annual road safety campaign and is a great opportunity to speak up for road safety. This year everyone can acknowledge and celebrate the heroic efforts of people working to save lives on roads across the country – and recognise that we can all be road safety heroes by using roads safely and taking actions for road safety in our families, schools, communities and where we work.”

Brake is calling for individuals, communities and organisations to share stories of their own road safety heroes – through social media, in schools, in company team meetings or special events.

Wakeford added: “We would urge everyone to visit the Road Safety Week website for loads of ways to take part in the campaign all this week.”

How to get involved in Road Safety Week 2021:

Brake has highlighted a theme for each day of Road Safety Week to focus celebrations on the many different groups of road safety heroes:

Road Safety Week 2021 – daily themes

Brake has also published a comprehensive PR and social media toolkit with numerous ideas for activity in Road Safety Week, including ways to share stories of road safety heroes – internally, externally, or both – during this week.