West Midlands to Appoint Volunteer Commissioner to Reduce Road Fatalities

A volunteer commissioner will be appointed to address the reduction of fatalities and severe injuries on roadways in the West Midlands. This position is one of two scheduled to be filled early next year, and its responsibilities will involve ongoing collaboration with local councils, law enforcement, and teams from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to tackle reckless driving, according to Mayor Richard Parker. He further stated, “We need to change behaviours, we need to challenge those behaviours, arrest more people and have sentences recognising the seriousness of those crimes.” However, Shivaji Shiva, a campaigner representing Better Streets For Birmingham, commented: “I don’t think the mayor is going far enough and people are going to continue to die.” Applications for the roles of road safety commissioner and active travel commissioner concluded on 24 November. During an interview with BBC Radio WM, Mr Parker detailed current regional road safety initiatives, which commenced after an action plan was introduced last month. He mentioned having engaged with campaign organizations and striving to tackle the “awful number of accidents.” He clarified that more mobile and average speed cameras have been put into service. Mr Parker stated, “The police are focusing a lot more on those places where those incidents are more severe.” Furthermore, he and the regional police and crime commissioner have jointly appealed to the Home Secretary, requesting that funds generated from speeding fines be allocated to finance enhancements in road safety. Neil, a caller from Bordesley Green participating in the WM programme, informed him: “I was involved in an accident on the Coventry Road and it’s just frightening to go out there on the roads now.” He urged the mayor to “get out there and look for himself” at drivers who use the route “like a racetrack.” In reply, Mr Parker expressed his shock and distress regarding the tragic occurrences happening throughout the region. Mr Parker is currently in the process of selecting individuals for the two roles, which collectively receive £10,000 in annual funding; however, campaigners have voiced criticism regarding their extensive scope. Mr Shiva stated: “We’ve got two volunteer commissioners on modest honoraria as opposed to the previous salaried post. “We’ve got a mayor who’s still talking about accidents on our streets when we know they are anything but accidents. “We need to do more to deliver the infrastructure projects across the region where the WMCA can work with the city councils to alter the way our streets are managed.” Mr Parker indicated that the WMCA allocates £71 million annually to active travel and road safety. He added, “I want my commissioner to help me deploy that by working with others and that is what they will do.” The article concluded with information on how to follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on social media platforms Facebook, X, and Instagram, and an email address (newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk) for submitting story ideas. A copyright notice for 2024 BBC, stating all rights reserved, was included, alongside a disclaimer that the BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external sites and an invitation to read about their approach to external linking.