Lancashire Constabulary Road Safety Initiative Extended

A scheme that could cut the number of road trafc accident claims in Lancashire
has been extended by a month.
Rather than running for all of October, Lancashire Constabulary's Operation
Bramble initiatie has been extended to run throughout !oember as "ell. #t
aims to reduce the number of people in $leet"oood, %orecambe and Lancaster
"ho are in&ured in motor ehicle accidents by educating road users and
increasing enforcement campaigns on target roads.
'he success of the campaign so far has been mixed ( "hile the number of
accidents leading to serious in&ury on the initiatie's ten targeted roads has fallen
by )*+, the number of fatal accidents in the targeted areas rose oer October.
$urthermore, ,-. road users "ere stopped in the operation oer October, "ith
many of these driing "hile using a mobile phone or failing to "ear a seatbelt.
As a result, the decision "as made to extend the scheme, "ith the Road /olicing
0nits to continue focusing on the same roads. 'his should help the police force
achiee its goal of reducing the number of in&uries on the county's roads,
curtailing the number of road trafc accident claims and improing public safety.
Results of Operation Bramble
/ersonal in&ury solicitors are particularly concerned that Operation Bramble has
reealed "arnings about the dangers of failing to use a seatbelt or using a
mobile phone behind the "heel do not seem to hae fully 1ltered through to the
public, "ith some apparently hard(headed driers still failing to ta2e these
messages on board.
#t is against the la" to fail to "ear a seatbelt "hen driing. !ot only could
improper seatbelt use lead to legal difculties, but it "ill also ma2e the
conse3uences of a motor ehicle accident signi1cantly more seere, multiplying
the ris2 of death and serious in&ury substantially. $urthermore, if a drier is failing
to "ear a seatbelt at the time of a collision, the si4e of their road trafc accident
claim "ill be reduced, een if the accident is not the drier's fault.
Additionally, driing "hile using a mobile phone has been against the la" for
oer seen years, but some driers are still doing so. %obile phone use is a
serious aggraating factor in road trafc accident claims, and conictions for
driing "hile using a mobile phone could ramp up a drier's insurance premiums
massiely.
5hether or not Operation Bramble is successful in improing safety on
Lancashire's roads, the a"areness(raising campaign is a good use of police time.
'he rise in fatal accidents oer October could simply be a result of the aderse
"eather conditions the month sa", and could be unrelated to the police
operation. 6opefully, the ,-. road users "ho "ere found to be brea2ing the la"
and putting their o"n personal safety and that of other people at ris2 "ill ta2e
heed of Lancashire Constabulary's "arnings and change their behaiour in the
future. #f this occurs, prolonged declines in the number of road trafc accident
claims in Lancashire could become a reality.
Carol smith "or2s "ith cash adance solicitors and also she is 2eenly interested
in the e7ects of head trauma, similar trauma and accident at "or2
compensation. http899cashadancesolicitors.co.u29