Skip to main content

UK road maintenance industry’s new safe driving through roadworks radio campaign

Leading UK road maintenance companies have this week joined together with the Highways Agency to launch a national radio campaign to ask drivers to ‘take extra care’ through roadworks. Messages being aired on commercial radio stations across England from 21st October-3rd November consist of a series of three hard-hitting messages to raise awareness among the public of the need to drive safely through roadworks.
October 22, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
The UK’s road maintenance industry has launched a radio campaign asking drivers to ‘Take Extra Care’ through roadworks
Leading UK road maintenance companies have this week joined together with the 2309 Highways Agency to launch a national radio campaign to ask drivers to ‘take extra care’ through roadworks.

Messages being aired on commercial radio stations across England from 21st October-3rd November consist of a series of %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal three hard-hitting messages audioboo.fm/BalfourBeattyCSUK false https://audioboo.fm/BalfourBeattyCSUK false false%> to raise awareness among the public of the need to drive safely through roadworks.

The campaign is being run jointly by A-One+, 2958 Amey, 1146 Balfour Beatty, 2435 Carillion, Enterprise 2377 Mouchel, Connect Roads, Connect Plus (M25), Galliford Try, 3081 Sir Robert McAlpine and 2296 Skanska UK, who provide services to the Highways Agency. The companies are all members of the Roadworkers Safety Forum, a group dedicated to reducing accidents and injuries to roadworkers.  

Every year there are hundreds of incursions into roadworks which put road workers lives at risk and lead to deaths and serious injury. These adverts focus on the lack of awareness of some drivers that roadworks are a place of work for thousands of people and that all of us have a right to expect a safe working environment.

The first message consists of a series of sirens and bells and makes a direct appeal to HGV drivers to ‘wake up’ and a voice reminds them that roadworkers are ‘made of flesh and blood’.

The second message plays a recording of a ‘sat-nav’ voice instructing a driver to plough through orange cones and kill a father of two, and ends with the message “The next time you’re approaching road works, think about the road workers, think about their families.”

The final message replays the sounds of a crash and reminds listeners that roadworks are a work place like any other.

The adverts are being broadcast during the Highways Agency’s Road Safety Awareness Week which will see awareness events taking place across the country, including the release of some hard-hitting CCTV footage which shows some of the worst incursions into roadworks on a motorway.

Tony Gates, managing director Balfour Beatty, and chair of the 2479 Highways Term Maintenance Association, which represents companies that carry out roadworks, said,  “For some reason a small minority of drivers still find it acceptable to put road workers lives in danger by not taking care when they go through roadworks. These adverts are about reminding road users that road works are like any other work place, and our workers have just as much right to work in a safe environment.”

Andy Jamieson, managing director for A-One+, said, “We launched these adverts locally last year and they proved very successful so we were delighted our colleagues across the industry have joined to support us in the first ever national radio campaign to raise awareness of roadworkers safety.”

Highways Agency asset director David Brewer said, “Improving safety at roadworks takes real collaboration across the roads industry, and I am delighted that these companies have come together to jointly fund this advertising campaign. It epitomises the spirit of co-operation that exists in our supply chain on this important issue as we continue our work to ensure that nobody comes to harm as a result of working for us - which is what our health and safety strategy 'Aiming for Zero' is all about.”

The UK road maintenance industry radio campaign ads can be heard %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal <strong>here </strong> audioboo.fm/BalfourBeattyCSUK false https://audioboo.fm/BalfourBeattyCSUK false false%>

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Fayat is positioned for growth
    January 6, 2017
    Market conditions are tough, according to Jean-Claude Fayat, executive managing director of the Fayat Group. He said, “From my point of view this crisis is not over. We have a slow recovery but this is a structural crisis and a new balance has to be found.” Despite the difficult conditions, the company is performing well and Fayat said, “Our group turnover is around €3.7 billion/year. We are a family group and we have never wanted to be on the stock exchange.” The European market has become less important
  • Fayat is positioned for growth
    April 18, 2013
    Market conditions are tough, according to Jean-Claude Fayat, executive managing director of the Fayat Group. He said, “From my point of view this crisis is not over. We have a slow recovery but this is a structural crisis and a new balance has to be found.” Despite the difficult conditions, the company is performing well and Fayat said, “Our group turnover is around €3.7 billion/year. We are a family group and we have never wanted to be on the stock exchange.” The European market has become less important
  • Volvo updates FMX construction trucks
    April 16, 2013
    Volvo Trucks has updated its FMX construction tipper range, first launched in 2010. The latest FMX adopts the Euro 6 engine line-up introduced earlier this year in the firm’s on-highway FM and FH trucks, with D11 offerings at 246-335kW and D13 engines delivering 313-402kW. These engines are equipped with non-cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The FMX range is available with Volvo Dynamic Steering (VDS), which uses an electric motor to assist the hydraulic power ste
  • Trimble and Manitowoc deal boost to construction world
    January 6, 2017
    Trimble and Manitowoc Cranes are collaborating on developing technology that boosts construction lifting industry productivity, while improving onsite crane use and data management.