North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is joining forces with Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC) 1404 to encourage drivers to think about safety behind the wheel and take the ‘Brake pledge’ for  national Road Safety Week  (21^st – 27^th November).

Stuart Millington, Senior Fire Safety Manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, explains: “As firefighters, we witness first-hand the terrible aftermath of road crashes.

“Five people are killed every single day by something we already know how to cure. Our roads are dangerous places, where hundreds of deaths and serious injuries take place every week.

“But by changing our driving behaviour, we can help to make our villages, towns and cities safer places to be. Every action that we take, as a driver or as a passenger, can change the outcome of a journey and the future of a family.

“We work to educate people about the importance of driving safety throughout the year, and see this partnership with RGC 1404 as the perfect opportunity to highlight safety behind the wheel to all motorists, including fans and players from across North Wales who regularly spend hours on the road travelling to matches or training.”

Stuart is appealing to motorists to take the ‘Brake pledge’ which focuses on six elements - Slow, Sober, Secure, Silent, Sharp and Sustainable.

He is joining with RGC 1404 to appeal to everyone to make and share Brake’s Plege online at www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk , and show their commitment to saving lives and keeping our roads safe.

A few facts explaining  why the pledge is important:

• Slow: Breaking the speed limit or travelling too fast for the conditions is recorded by police at crash scenes as a contributory factor in more than one in four (27%) fatal crashes in Great Britain.
• Sober: Having even one drink before getting behind the wheel can affect your ability to drive. In 2013 one in 10 (11%) drivers/motorcycle riders killed in a crash had alcohol present in their body, even though they weren’t over the legal blood-alcohol limit. One in seven road deaths are at the hands of someone who has driven while over the limit.
• Secure: Seat belts are still seen as an inconvenience by some drivers, yet using one reduces the chance of dying in a crash by 50%. 21% of car occupants killed in crashes were not wearing a seat belt.
• Silent: Drivers who perform a complex secondary task, like using a mobile, while at the wheel are three times more likely to crash than non-distracted drivers.
• Sharp: Booking in for a regular eye test should be at the top of any driver’s to-do list. Road crashes caused by poor driver vision are estimated to cause 2,900 casualties and cost £33 million in the UK per year.
• Sustainable: By minimising the amount we drive, and walking, cycling or using public transport instead, we are making our communities safer places, and doing the best we can for the environment and our individual health. Air pollution is a major killer: there are an estimated 29,000 deaths per year from particulate matter pollution in the UK, 5,000 of which are attributable to road transport.

Stuart added: “Please pledge to focus on these simple things to save lives this Road Safety Week. We’re proud to be working in partnership with RGC 1404 on the this campaign, and will be building on this by delivering face to face sessions to players on road safety in the forthcoming months.

“Partnerships like this are key to getting important messages out into the community and we will be continuing to work with RGC 1404 and communicating vital messages to fans and players alike in the upcoming months.”

Sion Jones, General Manager for North Wales Development Region and RGC 1404, added: “We were thrilled to get involved with the campaign to promote safety behind the wheel and the ‘Brake pledge’ as part of Road Safety Week 2016.

“The safety of our players and fans is of paramount importance to us, and we’ll do all that we can to help North Wales Fire and Rescue Service deliver their potentially life saving messages.”