Ruffley named Road Safety Parliamentarian of the Month by Brake

Tuesday, 11 March, 2008

David Ruffley MP has this week been named as Parliamentarian of the Month for February by the road safety charity Brake.

David has been campaigning for improved road safety in his Bury St Edmunds constituency, and the wider Suffolk area, since his election in 1997.

The issues David has campaigned on include:

• Improving the A14 at the Rookery Cross Roads and Haughley Bends

• Improving the A143 and in particular the Great Barton stretch of the road

• Young driver education programmes

• Calling for greater central Government investment in Suffolk road safety projects

David is also recognised for detailed questioning in the House of Commons on road safety figures for his constituency and the rest of Suffolk.

David said:

'I am pleased that the important work I do to improve road safety in Suffolk has been recognised by Brake.

'Brake do some fantastic work on road safety across our country. In particular they aim to prevent death and injury on the roads through education of all road users and campaigning for improvements to road safety. In addition they care for people who are bereaved or affected by serious injury in a road crash through support services. They are an excellent charity and I am delighted to be associated with the work they do.

'Work is continuing on the vital improvements to the A14 at the Haughley Bends and local residents can rest assured that I will be keeping a close eye on the project to ensure it does not suffer similar delays to the Rookery Crossroads.

'Suffolk Constabulary and Suffolk County Council have made educating young drivers a priority. However, as in the rest of the country, Suffolk sees a disproportionately large number of young people involved in road traffic accidents. This demonstrates just how vital driver education programmes are and I will continue to press for their improvement and extension.'