BARNSLEY Council bosses have doubled down on their pledge to ensure no motorist is killed or seriously injured on the town’s roads - after it was revealed more than 130 people were hurt in 2022.
The latest figures show that eight people were killed on Barnsley’s roads in 2022, whilst a further 131 were severely injured.
The council’s ambition is to reduce the number of fatalities by at least 50 per cent by 2030, with a longer aim of zero people killed or seriously inured by 2050.
On Monday, a new branding campaign was launched at Birkwood Primary School in Cudworth in a bid to remind pedestrians, cyclists, motorbike users and drivers that road safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Coun James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways, attended the event earlier this week - which saw the school’s council support the campaign.
He said: “Road safety is an incredibly serious topic for all of our residents, no matter how they get about our borough, so I am delighted to be launching our new strategy and brand.
“We all want Barnsley’s roads to be safer for everyone who uses them, and we hope that the implementation of this branding alongside our strategy will achieve our long-term goals of reducing the amount of people killed and seriously injured by 50 per cent by 2030 and to zero by 2050.
“The series of videos, branding and strategy are all are designed to bring road safety to the front of all of our minds and show that we all have a part to play in making our roads safer.
“I’d like to thank all of our partners who helped develop the strategy and took part in our videos and I look forward to seeing the branding in our upcoming road safety campaigns across the year.”
Inspector Matt Collings added that everyone must work together to do their bit if they are to drive down the number of incidents on the town’s roads.
“We are committed to reducing fatalities and casualties across the roads of South Yorkshire and welcome the support in us reaching our vision and raising awareness of road safety,” he said.
“We have sadly experienced 11 fatalities on South Yorkshire’s roads during 2024, leaving families and loved ones devastated, as well as having a significant impact on the lives of those involved.
“You can’t be responsible for everyone else’s actions, but you can be for your own.
“Don’t speed, don’t drive while under the influence, don’t use your mobile phone and wear your seatbelt, and ensure children are in a correctly fitting car seat.
“If we work together, we can create safer roads.”
Under the Safer Roads scheme that was launched last year, partners - which include the police force, council, fire service and Highways England - will work together to reduce the number of casualties.
