Young and old driving behaviours targeted to cut crashes

Motorcyclists, younger people and older drivers are to be targeted in a bid to cut the number of crashes on roads across mid and west Wales.

The move forms part of a plan by Mid and West Wales Fire Service to deliver a change in behaviour on the roads.

It said it rescues "significantly more" people from crashes than fires.

Its corporate plan did not show figures for the area but noted "casualty reduction targets" across Wales are not being met.

"We deal with the consequences of road traffic collisions RTCs and the impact they have on human life and our communities on a daily basis, as we rescue significantly more injured people from RTCs than from fires," the corporate plan report said.

• Crashes which cause injury down 11%

"Education and intervention is key to reducing the number of RTCs on our roads and the service has a shared role in delivering this along with other road safety partners."

The service said it was working with Wales' two other fire services on a road safety strategy which runs until 2020.

But over the next year it has set out how it plans to play its role.

It wants to:

• Deliver activities to improve the safety of motorcyclists on roads by encouraging people to take motorcycle safety courses

• Develop a road safety youth intervention course which will target young people who have been identified as being of high risk due to their behaviour on the roads

• Target road safety education activities and intervention for older drivers

The aim of the plan is to deliver "an increased awareness of the dangers from irresponsible driving, resulting in less accidents, leading to safer roads within mid and west Wales and beyond".

"Even though road safety has improved considerably in recent years, in 2014, there were a total of 8,208 reported casualties as a result of RTCs - 103 people were killed and 1,160 people were seriously injured in Wales," the report added.

"Recent figures released for the April 2016 year show that RTCs in Wales are not achieving the causality reduction targets set out in the Wales Road Safety Framework.

"The key strategic indicators on Welsh roads set by the Welsh Government is set at a target of 40% and the current figure is reported at 21%."