‘Take care on the roads’

APPEAL FROM LONDON FIRE BRIGADE AS LATEST TRAFFIC COLLISION FIGURES RELEASED

SHOCKING statistics have revealed that firefighters in London were called out to 38% more road traffic collisions last year than in 2012/13.

New figures, released on Monday (November 20) to coincide with Road Safety Week, show the London Fire Brigade have attended five road traffic collisions every day in the past year.

Firefighters attended 1,431 in 2012/13, with the number rising to 1,981 in 2016/17.

In the past five years firefighters have attended a total of 8,731 road traffic collisions and crews have had to use specialist cutting equipment to release people from vehicles 2,439 times. The new figures show that Hillingdon had the highest number of road traffic collisions attended by the brigade, with 557 between 2012/13 and 2016/17.

The City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Islington were among the areas with the lowest numbers of road traffic collisions attended by the brigade since 2012/13 – with 31, 112 and 113 collisions respectively.

The staggering 38% increase in attendance at road traffic collisions has prompted the London Fire Brigade to appeal to drivers in London to drive more carefully.

“Our crews are spending an increasing amount of time attending road traffic collisions and I want to urge people to take care on the road,” said London Fire Brigade’s director of operations Tom George.

“Crews are regularly called to serious road traffic collisions – our firefighters are exceptionally well trained and have specialist equipment to free people trapped in vehicles.

“We are committed to reducing the number of road traffic collisions in London.”

In boroughs where there are a large number of collisions the brigade helps deliver workshops, in partnership with Transport for London.

The talks, like Safe Drive Stay Alive, help educate young drivers about the dangers of careless driving and includes firefighters speaking about their experiences with tragic collisions.

Mr George added: “We talk to young people across the capital at our Safe Drive Stay Alive seminars, where emergency service staff and victims talk emotionally about the dangers and consequences associated with reckless driving.

“We also run Biker Down road safety training, designed to make bikers safer on London’s roads, and host events at our fire stations where we simulate road traffic rescues to illustrate the dangers of unsafe driving.”