New measures to reduce serious Birmingham road collisions

A range of measures have been announced to prevent people being killed or seriously injured on Birmingham roads.

Road safety campaigns, lower speed limits, greater police enforcement and easier ways of reporting anti-social driving are among them.

It follows a meeting between police, the city council and the city's cycling and walking commissioner last month.

Their first goal is to cut collisions where people are hurt or killed by 50% by the end of 2030.

In time, the aim is to have no-one hurt or seriously injured.

Hundreds of people have staged protests in the city this year following a spate of road deaths and serious injuries.

In June, Adam Tranter, the cycling and walking commissioner, said action was urgently needed and the number of serious road collisions must not be accepted as "normal".

Mat MacDonald, co-chair of Better Streets for Birmingham, said he felt road deaths did not get the same response as knife deaths.

The organisations represented at the meeting said in a statement afterwards: "The outrage felt by communities is clear and justified."

The meeting was chaired by West Midlands mayor Andy Street and included Mr Tranter, Craig Guildford, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Liz Clements, the councillor responsible for transport at Birmingham City Council, Simon Foster, the Police & Crime Commissioner and Anne Shaw, Executive Director at Transport for West Midlands (TfWM).

They agreed the police would focus on "relentless enforcement of the rules of the road" and "target the most dangerous of drivers".

TfWM agreed to organise road safety campaign this month and the city council said it would reduce the speed limit on main roads in the city from 40mph to 30mph.

It will also re-programme pedestrian crossings to give people more time to cross and speed up work on safety measures along the A45, with the first phase starting this winter.

The police force said it would also make it easier for people to report bad driving through dash cam and helmet camera footage.

The partners also agreed to increase the number of average speed cameras.

A new road safety strategy is due before the end of 2023.

Speaking after the announcement, Mr Tranter said reaching a point at which no-one is killed or seriously injured would be "one of the most challenging things this region has ever done".

He said having the interim target of a 50% reduction by 2030 was "sensible", to keep everyone focused.

He thanked the partners for getting around the table and said there must now be "a relentless focus on enforcement, safer infrastructure and education".

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