Tuesday 26
June 2007
09.00hrs
Chief Fire
Officers from across the UK are meeting at Avon Fire & Rescue
Service (AF&RS) Headquarters, in Bristol, this week (Wednesday
27 June) to discuss road safety.
Fire and rescue
services have a statutory duty to rescue people from road traffic
collisions. The Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) believes as
well as responding to incidents, the fire and rescue service can
make a major contribution to prevention and protection, through
education and working with other agencies.
AF&RS
Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive, Kevin Pearson, who heads up
CFOA’s ‘Protection’ stream for road safety, says: “We deal with the
consequences of bad driving, responding to incidents caused by
drinking and driving, speeding or using a mobile phone behind the
wheel. These kinds of incidents cause devastation, not just to
those involved, but to their families and friends too. If we can
help educate people about road safety and change the way they
behave on the roads we could reduce accidents and ultimately save
lives. I am delighted that my colleagues from across the UK are
coming to Bristol to further develop our strategy for improving
road safety"
Fire and rescue
services already work with other agencies to promote a range of
safety and prevention messages. However, the Chief Fire
Officers will be looking at how to expand on this through further
education and road safety campaigns.
CFO/CE Pearson
said: “We’ll be considering how we can most effectively contribute
to bringing about safer roads, safer vehicles and safer drivers.
We’ll then be highlighting the best practices and urging other
organisations to adopt these
approaches.”