Concerns over police collison data (From Warrington Guardian)

Concerns over police collison data

THE quality of 'absolutely essential' traffic accident data supplied by the police is causing concern among Warrington Borough Council workers.

They warn there could be a 'further deterioration' in information since the traffic unit was disbanded in April and merged into the ordinary patrol team.

And road safety campaigners are worried poor data could lead to people missing out on safety measures because the statistics do not back up their local knowledge of crashes.

The council's concern is revealed in the draft version of the newly published transport plan for the town.

The report says: "Warrington Borough Council continues to have concerns about the reliability of data.

"These concerns are exacerbated by recent restructuring within Cheshire Constabulary, which could result in the further deterioration in data quality and provision."

Clr Brian Axcell, Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said: "When people want to get a speed limit or an engineering feature to slow down traffic, they are very often faced with statistics that say there haven't been many accidents, when people know there have been.

"That's always been a problem and that's something that needs monitoring.

"And people need to have the courage to report accidents and make sure the data is good."

A spokesman for road safety campaign Brake said: "It's absolutely essential that we are doing everything we can to get as much information as possible to prevent accidents in the future.

"If it is the case that information is not being recorded correctly, that needs looking at because this can lead to problems, and communities crying out for safety measures need the statistics to back up their claims."

The Warrington Guardian asked the police if they thought their data was adequate.

PC Nick Woodcock, from HQ uniform operations, said: "Cheshire Police is working closely with all its partner agencies, including the council, to make sure the road traffic collision data we supply is of the highest quality."