AN MP has compiled a 'heatmap' on accident blackspots in Bradford East and is calling for action to be taken to "put a stop to reckless behaviour" from dangerous drivers and reduce the number of collisions taking place.
Following research revealing areas of his constituency that are hotspots for road traffic collisions, Bradford East MP Imran Hussain has called on Ministers, Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police to take urgent, targeted action before any more lives are lost.
The research compiled by Mr Hussain draws on data published by the Department for Transport on all reported accidents between 2016 and 2020, and highlights Leeds Road, Harrogate Road, Manchester Road, Wakefield Road and Queen's Road as blackspots on a ‘heatmap’ where more accidents are recorded.
Following the tragic loss of a number of lives on these roads in recent years, Mr Hussain is urging the Government to work with Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police to deliver an enhanced road safety plan, with better traffic calming measures and enforcement to tackle incidences of dangerous driving and reduce the number of collisions taking place.
In addition, Mr Hussain is also calling for greater investment in other traffic calming measures on a number of residential streets across his Bradford East constituency that are frequently used as rat runs and racetracks by dangerous and nuisance drivers, putting other road users, pedestrians and residents at risk.
Speaking on the road accident heatmap, Mr Hussain said: “This heatmap of road accident blackspots in Bradford East identifies several worrying patterns, and I am deeply concerned that so many of the collisions that take place and which put people’s lives in danger are concentrated on such a small number of our roads.
“We simply cannot let this situation where people tragically continue to lose their lives carry on any longer, and Ministers need to work with Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police in delivering a comprehensive plan to reduce the number of accidents, and particularly the number of fatalities, taking place at these accident blackspots.
“With many constituents getting in touch with me to voice their anger at dangerous and nuisance drivers also using their residential streets as cut-throughs to avoid traffic lights and busy junctions, as well as racetracks, we also need to see further measures and better enforcement to put a stop to this reckless behaviour.”
But a multi-agency partnership including Bradford Council and the West Yorkshire Police, led by Deputy Mayor for Policing Alison Lowe, has been set up with the aim to make roads safer for residents in Bradford and across the district.
Ms Lowe organised and chairs the Vision Zero Board for West Yorkshire, which is designed to ensure safer roads integration delivery around Vision Zero principles.
Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.
It was first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s and has proved successful is Europe and is gaining momentum in major American cities.
Cllr Abdul Jabar, the Council’s Executive Member for Community Safety and Neighbourhoods, said: “Imran Hussain MP is right to raise this issue which concerns many of our residents. Here in Bradford district we have a strong history of partnership working to make our roads safer.
“Operation Steerside which is a joint police and council initiative has been hugely successful in clamping down on anti-social driving across the district but we are always striving to do more. “We were one of the first authorities in West Yorkshire to adopt Vision Zero recently which is being led, across West Yorkshire, by the Deputy Mayor for Policing, Alison Lowe. This is a whole system approach focusing on prevention of deaths and injuries, doing more work on pre-emptive solutions to prevent road accidents. “Sharing data between agencies is already proving effective and we can now include the data of organisations not previously involved in road safety discussions. Vision Zero will make a difference.
“But we need Government to take the issue seriously as well. Police numbers went down by 20,000 nationally during 12 years of Government austerity. Yet the demands on services now are many times higher than they were 12 years ago.”
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