Fatal Four Road Safety Campaign Launches

A campaign aimed at raising awareness of the four main causes of road fatalities takes place throughout April.

Cleveland Police’s Matrix team will focus on raising awareness of the four main causes of fatal and serious road traffic collisions; including distraction, driving under the influence of drink or drugs, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.

In 2023, there were 805 casualties from road traffic collisions in Cleveland; ten of which were fatal and 152 were serious. The fatal four was a contributing factor in a vast majority of these collisions. 

Throughout the campaign, Matrix team officers will also be looking out for uninsured vehicles and will be highly visible as they carry out patrols. Vehicles will be stopped and drivers spoken with, and roadside eyesight tests may be carried out. Drivers will be required to read a licence plate from 20m to ensure that their eyesight is adequate for driving.

Neighbourhood teams and volunteers will also carry out Community Speedwatch activity across the Force area. Members of local communities, with the support and supervision of their local police, record details of speeding vehicles using approved detection devices.

Drivers suspected of being under the influence of drink or drugs will also be subject to testing.

New legislation around possession of nitrous oxide (commonly known as laughing gas) has now been introduced, and officers are keen to point out the dangers of consuming the drug and getting behind the wheel.

Officers have found cannisters of nitrous oxide left at the scenes of some collisions.

The class C drug has become more widely used amongst young people, and it can affect people both physically and mentally and impair their ability to drive safely.

Inspector Steve Clyburn from the Matrix team said: “Far too many people are killed or seriously injured on our roads due to people ignoring the laws that are there for everyone’s safety. Some drivers continually disobey the law and this won’t be tolerated.

“Throughout April we will be carrying out high visibility patrols in order to identify drivers putting others at risk and this will be accompanied by messaging on our Cleveland Police social media pages, which aims to raise awareness of the fatal four and help us to reduce the number of serious and fatal road traffic collisions on our roads.

“The fatal four not only put the driver’s life at risk, but also the lives of other road users. Please don’t take these risks and put lives in danger.”