Operation Uplift launched to help tackle rising road traffic collisons in Liverpool

Merseyside Police, in partnership with Liverpool City Council and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service have launched an uplift in road safety activity across Liverpool to help improve road safety and reduce those Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) on Liverpool’s roads.

At an event today (Monday 8 July), Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service demonstrated how they support casualties and extract them from a vehicle post-collision.

Andy Blythe, Station Manager at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, said:

“MFRS deal with serious Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs) every day, the consequences of which can be extremely significant for all those involved. When we deal with an RTC our approach is casualty centred with the aim of delivering a casualty into medical care in the same or better condition than at the time of the collision. As part of this a casualty’s chance of survival increases if they are delivered to definitive care (i.e. hospital specialist care) within 1 hour of the time of collision.

“There are six phases that our crews follow when dealing with an RTC. First of all, the Officer in Charge and crew will conduct an assessment of the scene, ensure a safe working area is established and establish a rescue plan in conjunction with partners from North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) for medical input and Merseyside Police who will manage the traffic to give us a safe working area.

“The crew will then stabilise the vehicle to provide a stable working platform and to prevent any further injury to the casualty. They will then create an initial access point and put a casualty carer into the vehicle to reassure and care for the casualty whilst the extrication takes place. All the glass (i.e. windscreens and windows) around the vehicle will be managed to ensure there are no uncontrolled breakages of glass during the extrication. The crew(s) will create sufficient space and access to allow the casualty to be prepared and extricated, for example, a full roof removal using hydraulic rescue equipment and the casualty being removed on a long board and passed into the care of NWAS.

“As part of the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership (MRSP) we aim to improve road safety, reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads with the goal of achieving Vision Zero by 2040. The partnership focusses on a safe systems approach to road safety, ensuring: Safe Vehicles, Safe Roads, Safe Behaviour, Safe Speeds, and a victim focused Post-Crash Response.”

Five roads across Liverpool – Durning Road, Priory Road, Wavertree Boulevard, Brookfield Drive and Prescot Road – have been identified as hotspot areas for KSI casualties. Officers have already increased visibility and enforcement activity on these roads in response to the latest data and are working with Liverpool City Council to explore other interventions to improve road safety on these roads.

The community are key in helping us to identify other problem areas and help us to take a proactive approach to prevent collisions where the data isn’t yet prevalent. You can submit a local traffic concern to the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership on their website in the Contact Us section.

Merseyside Police will be leading on targeted social media activity and delivering dedicated fatal four reduction operations across the city, targeting drink and drug driving, excess speed, those failing to wear a seatbelt and distracted driving such as mobile phones.

Liverpool City Council will continue to engage with primary schools and support the creation of a safer roads watch scheme where the community can take action to make their own roads safer.

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service will utilise local events for engagement and provide education to secondary students using the latest technology.

Jonathan Davies, Chair for the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership said:

“It’s positive to see this unified approach to road safety with action from the Council, Police and Fire services to reduce the volume of people being Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI’s) on our roads.

“Through education and enforcement, the teams will target Fatal Four offences, also utilising the latest data to guide activity. The public can help by telling us about local traffic concerns on the partnership website or even take the next step and join us in our aim of Vision Zero by signing up to become a Safer Roads Watch Volunteer.

“The heartache and lasting impact these collisions have is life changing to all involved. No one deserves to be killed on our roads and operations like this, where work together are key to reduce KSI’s and make our roads a safer place.”

Chief Inspector Steve Robinson from Merseyside Police added:

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen the devastation caused to those who have lost loved ones and suffered lifelong injuries because of reckless driving on our roads. That’s why we are committed to making our roads safer across the Liverpool area and beyond.”

“Targeted enforcement operations in known collision hotspots, often caused by the ‘fatal four’ – not wearing a seatbelt, drink, and drug driving, speeding and using a handheld mobile phone – will include high visibility patrols and roadside checks with breathalysers, field impairment tests and drug wipes.

“In partnership with Liverpool City Council and Merseyside Fire & Rescue, we are also offering advice and education to road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers to be road smart and think about the steps that all road users can take to avoid collisions.

“I want to appeal to the public to help us in reducing the number of collisions and casualties by reporting instances of unsafe driving to us, via calling 101 or submitting an online report on our website.”

In an emergency always call the police on 999.

You can submit a local traffic concern on the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership website.

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