'Slow down' sticker campaign is launched in Skegness to save lives across county

PCSO Dave Bunker came up with the idea after receiving a rising number of concerns about speeding from the local community.

He researched alternative ways of engaging drivers in road safety campaigns, and found a similar initiative in the USA.

Now, not only is the campaign being launched locally, it is also being used to drive down speeding across the county.

“Over recent months we've been getting increased complaints about speeding motorists," said PCSO Bunker, who has been working with the community in Skegness to combat crime for 15 years.

"I put forward the sticker campaign that has been successful in the US to our teams and we are launching this week.

"We deliberately used the 'Slow Down' message in Lincolnshire to empower members of the community to help us make the roads safer

“Let’s do this together. If average speeds fell by one per cent the number of crashes on our roads would fall by five per cent.

"Every community across Lincolnshire will know the impact speeding can have on safety, from navigating our many rural roads where blind bends or poor overtaking can mean speeding poses even more of a risk, to keeping the streets where our children go to school or play safe.

“Tackling speeding is an important priority for the residents and people working in my neighbourhood and the rest of Lincolnshire, which is why as a force we are rolling this out county-wide. Every driver can contribute and #SlowDownInLincolnshire.”

The new road safety campaign by Lincolnshire Police comes after three lockdowns failed to curb fatality numbers.

During 2020 there were 52 fatalities – just two less than the previous year despite three national lockdowns – and an additional 394 people seriously injured on county roads.

The pledge to drive safely aims to instill community pride and ownership of the safety of their roads and is being run in partnership with the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP). It aims to cut the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county's roads.

As well as from Skegness Police Station, the stickers can be collected from others across Lincolnshire, including Spalding, Holbeach, Boston, Sleaford, Stamford, Bourne, South Park (Lincoln), Gainsborough, Louth, Horncastle, Spilsby, Market Rasen, Grantham and Mablethorpe.

They can be displayed either on the rear bumper or windscreen of a car, van, farm machinery, motorcycle, or other larger fleet vehicles, and will also be handed out by local Neighbourhood Policing Teams.

The initiative also has the support of the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership. John Siddle, of the Partnership, commented: “We know around 25 per cent of injury collisions have speed as a contributory factor and all collisions are exacerbated by speed. In previous enforcement campaigns we have seen drivers, local to their own community, exceeding the speed limit. What we say to drivers is to slow down in your community as well as other communities where people just like yours want a safe place for their families.

“Despite three lockdowns in the last year we have still seen families torn apart by death on our roads, and although the overall number of injury collisions has fallen, the fatalities remained similar to previous years. We ask all drivers to ‘slow down in Lincolnshire’, and be that driver who keeps others, and themselves, safe.”

People are also asked to support by sharing social media posts, using #SlowDownInLincolnshire and #drivesafelincs. Drivers are encouraged to take a photo of their vehicle displaying the sticker and tag in their local policing team to help promote the project.

This new community project is the first push of a year-long road safety campaign launched by Lincolnshire Police under the banner of #drivesafelincs.