South Yorkshire’s Mayor met with primary school pupils to talk about keeping safe on our roads as part of action taking place across the region during National Road Safety Week 2024.

Mayor Oliver Coppard, alongside Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley, South Yorkshire’s Active Travel Commissioner for South Yorkshire, Ed Clancy OBE, and road victim charity, Brake, heard about the steps children at Mundella Primary school are taking to make streets safer for walking and wheeling.

Over the last five years, 190 people have been killed in a road crash on South Yorkshire roads.

Another 3,819 people have been seriously injured.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “The number of deaths and serious injuries on South Yorkshire’s roads is far too high.

“Our road network has to be safe for everyone who uses and wants to use it. That’s why I’ve made Vision Zero the goal in South Yorkshire, because one death on our roads is one too many.

“Collisions have a devastating impact and we want to put an end to the unnecessary grief and suffering caused by each and every one of those accidents.

“We are supporting Brake in their work to support victims as well as the vital work of the many organisations involved when a crash happens.”

Throughout Road Safety Week, teams from across our county have been engaging with priority road user groups on a wide range of subjects from active travel and school parking to who is involved after a collision.

Today (Friday 22 November), representatives from the partnership and Brake, visited pupils at Mundella Primary School in Sheffield to discuss the challenges they face in order to travel safely. 

South Yorkshire Police Chief Inspector Peter Spratt said: "The discussions we had with the school pupils were extremely important and it was a pleasure to answer their questions around safe parking, walking to school and what we can all do to make a difference.

"We hope that those young people will now go away from the session and speak to their friends and family about road safety and why it is so important to raise awareness about the consequences of unsafe road use."

To find out more about the work of Brake visit:  https://www.brake.org.uk/road-safety-week