Road Safety
Safety on our roads affects us all. As a society we would not accept the number of deaths that occur on our roads in any other walk of life.
There is already excellent work taking place to improve the safety of our roads. The focus of the Road Safety Strategy is to prioritise the areas that present the greatest risk, with the long term objective of reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured in Thames Valley.
Thames Valley Police’s Roads Policing Unit operates as part of the Joint Operations Unit in collaboration with Hampshire Constabulary. I support the fantastic work done by their officers and staff – often one of the most challenging roles in policing. Whilst the police have an important role to play in enforcement, much of the preventative work to save lives needs to be carried out in partnership with local authorities and other agencies who are responsible for ensuring a safe road network.
Road Safety Strategy
The Road Safety Strategy seeks to strengthen the collaboration between the various agencies responsible for the road network across the Thames Valley with the aim of creating safer roads for all.
Key priorities outlined in the Road Safety Strategy include; educating the public about safe driving practices and traffic laws, enforcing traffic laws to deter unsafe behaviour, sharing data to identify collision hotspots and inform improvements to the road network, improving road infrastructure, supporting a swift emergency response to incidents and providing better support for victims.
The Strategy promotes the application of the Safe Systems Approach to road safety – safe behaviour, safe vehicles, safe roads, safe speeds and a rapid post-collision response.
The PCC’s Road Safety Strategy was developed in consultation with Thames Valley Police, highway authorities, councillors, interest groups, road safety and transportation professionals and other key stakeholders.
Thames Valley Road Safety Partnership
The inaugural meeting of the Thames Valley Road Safety Partnership took place in January 2025 in Oxfordshire. Representatives from a number of Local Authorities across Thames Valley joined Matthew Barber and emergency service colleagues to discuss how we can all work together to support the priorities set out within the Road Safety Strategy.
The second meeting of the Thames Valley Road Safety Partnership took place in June 2025. The Police and Crime Commissioner and Thames Valley Police provided an update, which included the positive news in a reduction of those Killed or Seriously Injured on our roads in the Thames Valley. Representatives also made the commitment to a multi-agency approach to education, communications and improved access to road safety data.
Community Speedwatch
Community Speedwatch is a national initiative where members of local communities, with the support and supervision of their local police, record details of speeding vehicles using approved detection devices.
Funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, speedwatch groups in the Thames Valley are provided with a starter kit on a loan basis, including a speed detection device, to help volunteers assist in the battle against speeding motorists.
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