Issue - meetings

The Head of Performance Management & Business Support attended to brief the Committee regarding the ECS Performance Overview report.

It was noted that the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents had increased and this was disappointing. The Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking stated that this was a trend that was the same for neighbouring boroughs. The department would be looking at the trends and doing what it could to reduce the number of KSIs. A Member asked if these figures could be broken down so that Members could differentiate between those who were injured and those who were killed. She asked if this data could be provided for future reports. The Assistant Director for Traffic and parking said that the data was available and that he would disseminate it.

A Member commented that it was not good enough just to say that other boroughs had seen similar increases, she stated that what was required was not a reactive response but that the Council should be more proactive in taking measures to reduce KSIs. She felt the current KSI figures were unacceptable. She also asked if a breakdown of the figures could be provided for each Ward. The Assistant Director responded and said that this data could be extrapolated and sent out. He also said that the Council already identified dangerous roads and where accidents were happening. He said the Council did not have the resources to make every road safe, but they used data to try and identify if there was a pattern of accidents and hotspots. The Council would then prioritise these areas. It was also important to identify the age groups involved.

A Member stated that a 26.7% increase over target was not a slight increase but was a significant one, she also pointed out that a serious injury could be life changing or could in fact be fatal after 30 days. The Assistant Director responded and said that 99.9% of deaths would occur within the 30 day period. The Council would be informed by the police concerning this. He said that every fatality was fully investigated. A Member said that she objected to the use of the term ‘accident’ in these instances because careless driving was not an accident.

A Member stated that she had undertaken a survey with local residents before the recent elections and found out that a big concern was road safety. She expressed the view that smaller accidents were not being recorded on the Council’s KSI database.

A Member pointed out that Bromley had more miles of road than any other borough in London. 

RESOLVED that the report be noted and that in future, KSI data would be broken down by Ward and would also show the number of people killed and the number of people seriously injured.