Vectos

Alastair Pike, Head of Road Safety at Vectos, presented on “Road Safety: Past, Present, Future” at the inaugural RJS Road Safety Conference Wales at The Celtic Manor Resort last week. The conference was established in honour of Rhiannon Jade Smith who was tragically killed in a road accident last year.

The inspiring speakers came from a wide range of industries including medical, automotive, government, academics, police and action groups. However, the resounding message was that more needs to be done to keep our roads safe as fatality figures continue to plateau.

Alastair heads up our established, experienced and qualified Road Safety Team, with the ability to undertake Road Safety Audits (RSAs) and provide general road safety and engineering advice throughout the UK.

“I am passionate about road safety and want to provide real, tangible benefits to all road users by creating spaces that are not only safe in their operation, but also desirable for occupants,” he said.

“In Great Britain, there were 1,792 reported road deaths and 181,384 casualties in 2016, a decrease of 44% and 30% respectively over a decade. While the decrase is huge, more recently the progress has stood still.

“While road safety is improving, the fact that 1,792 families are still being impacted by such fatal tragedies and 24,101 families are dealing with seriously injured loved ones is still unacceptable for our modern society and Vectos wants to be a driving force affecting change.”

Vectos offers a full suite of road safety services including Road Safety Audits, Road Safety Engineering and Design, Collision Investigation and Prevention, and Collision Analysis. You can read more about these services here.

“Our Road Safety team members have highway engineering and transport planning qualifications and experience, so we all understand the intricate details of the design and planning process as well as the balance of what is required by clients and users,” he said.

“Currently it is only mandatory to undertake RSAs on trunk roads and motorways, with local roads simply regarded as good practice. To move towards Vision Zero, there needs to be a mindset change that encourages RSAs to be undertaken for all new developments and redevelopments. I truly believe this is critical to saving lives.”

Alastair also discussed shared space, sustainable modal shift, generational attitudes and emerging mobility technologies that will impact the way we travel and ultimately how safe our roads are.

If you are interested in learning more about our view on road safety, would be interested in hearing the presentation as a CPD, or if you have any project enquiries, you can contact Alastair and the Road Safety Team at [email protected] or by calling 029 2072 0860.