The three Fire and Rescue Services in Wales will make their intention to drive down road traffic collision casualties very clear when they launch the all Wales Fire and Rescue Service Road Safety Strategy on Thursday.

The strategy is the first official and national pledge to the communities of Wales that Welsh Fire and Rescue Services will do all they can to help reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads in Wales.

Working in collaboration, South Wales, North Wales and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Services have spent the last year developing the strategy which is published this month.

All three Fire and Rescue Service’s Principal Fire Officers and Chairs of the Fire Authorities will be visiting the World Rescue Wales event at Cardiff International Arena on Thursday to mark the launch. World Rescue Wales showcases the skills of Firefighters from all over the globe in extricating and rescuing casualties from crashed vehicles.

Chair of the All-Wales group, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Kevin Barry of South Wales said:

“Rescues at Road Traffic Collisions have become a huge part of our operational response in recent years and Firefighters see the harsh consequences of dangerous driving every day. We are already working closely with our partners involved in road safety education and this strategy will strengthen these partnerships, helping us to achieve a common goal.”

Chair of South Wales Fire Authority, Councillor Anthony Ernest said,

“This document represents a strong commitment from the Fire Authorities to the reduction in Road Traffic Collision casualties in Wales. We have long worked to the theory that prevention is better than the cure with fires, and in our duty as a primary rescuer at road traffic collisions, we want to work with the same concept for road safety. The all Wales approach gives consistency to the proactive the work we do.”

The Wales Fire and Rescue Service Strategy is designed to support both the national road safety strategy for Wales and the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) Road Safety Group Strategy.

Welsh Assembly targets (as outlined in the strategy):
40% reduction in the total number of killed or seriously injured casualties
50% reduction in the total number of children killed or seriously injured
10% reduction in the rate of slight casualties per 100 million kilometres travelled.