Latest news from the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership:

Investigations into collisions that saw 55 folk die on Lancashire's roads last year show that some of the fatalities could have been prevented with five main contributory factors that cause serious road traffic collisions.

These are know as the ‘Fatal 5’: speeding, using a mobile phone, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seat belt and careless drivingRoad users who commit one of the Fatal 5 offences are far more likely to be involved in a fatal collision than those who do not.

As a road safety partnership we are committed to preventing any more deaths occurring as a result of actions that are so unnecessary. To do this we will work in partnership across communities to deliver road safety education, engineering, engagement and, where necessary, enforcement.Human error is by far the biggest contributory factor to fatal and serious collisions and despite improvements in vehicle safety all road users need to take extra care.Some examples of careless driving include:

• Inappropriate speed – e.g. in poor weather
• Not paying attention
• Driving whilst tired
• Lack of concentration
• Under taking
• Failing to signal
• Making an improper turn
• Distractions such as eating, drinking, passengers
• Driving too close to the vehicle in front
• Risk taking behaviour – e.g. inappropriate overtaking

Lancashire Constabulary will enforce the law and anyone detected committing an offence will be dealt with accordingly. Lancashire officers can and do test drivers for the presence of alcohol and drugs at the road side.A careless driving offence carries a penalty of:

• Between 3 and 9 penalty points
• A fine of up to £5000
• A driving ban
• A prison sentence