Road safety partners and the public showed how important improving road safety is to them in Warwickshire by walking, running, cycling or horse-riding a total of 593.5 miles in support of the RoadPeace Challenge between 13 and 19 May 2024.
During the week, 171 people took part including local schools walking every day and one officer completed a triathlon over the weekend. Each mile achieved during the week represents someone who has been killed on our roads and the RoadPeace Challenge is in honour of their memory.
At a special event at Hartshill Hayes Country Park on Friday 17 May, 120 people joined Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire road safety partnerships, Project Edward, The British Horse Society and road safety campaigners, Patsy and Robbin Suffield for a guided walk to make a united stand against road death and injury. Together, they walked a total of 240 miles.
To honour the 19 people killed on Warwickshire’s roads in 2022, Chris Lewis of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, James Luckhurst of Project EDWARD (Every Day Without A Road Death) and several others ran 19 miles across Coventry and Warwickshire to join the Hartshill Hayes event.
Nationally, 1766 people were killed on UK roads and the number of miles covered during the week by Chris, James and supporters at Hartshill Hayes Country Park and across Warwickshire were recorded and submitted to RoadPeace in the count down from 1,766 to zero – to reflect our Vision for Zero deaths on our roads.
Philip Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire and Chair of Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership said: “Road safety is something we should never take for granted because it affects us all. The loss of lives on our roads is a powerful reminder of why our work is so important.
“This event shows our community’s dedication to reducing road fatalities and striving towards our vision of zero deaths on our roads. I’m grateful to everyone who took part and especially the team of runners who made the journey from Leek Wootton to Hartshill Hayes, representing a mile for every life lost on the county’s roads in 2022.
“By joining the RoadPeace Challenge, we not only remember those we’ve lost but also re-dedicate ourselves to our work to make our roads safer. From educational programmes to improving road infrastructure and enforcing traffic laws, all partners are committed to making a difference and meeting our target to halve death and serious injury on Warwickshire’s roads by 2030.”
Chris Lewis from OPCC said ‘It was a complete honour to contribute to the RoadPeace Challenge and very empowering to see so much support in Warwickshire. I am very grateful for that. We are determined that road victims are not forgotten and I and many others are determined to help those affected by tragic road crashes deal with their grief and pain. Today was a very memorable moment, but the battle must go on to make our roads safer everywhere’.
Find out more on Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership’s website.
