Deputy Mayor Jo Coles joined more than eighty partners this week to strengthen collaboration and support safer roads across York and North Yorkshire and beyond.
Leaders and road safety professionals from across the north of England attended the first Northern Regional Road Safety Summit, hosted by the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership on Monday 2 February 2026 at the joint Police and Fire Service Headquarters in Northallerton.
Opening with a speech from the Deputy Mayor, who spoke about the importance of working together to tackle the complex challenges around road safety, the event brought together colleagues from policing, fire and rescue services, local authorities, national agencies, charities and campaigners.
It was a chance to share ideas, learn from each other and build on a shared ambition to reduce road harm and improve safety for everyone who uses our roads.
Jo Coles, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime said:
“Over the last decade 390 people have been killed on the roads of York and North Yorkshire, each of them a tragedy, devastating a family and community. For too long the numbers killed and seriously injured on our roads have remained stubbornly high.
David Skaith the Mayor and I set out our commitment to improving road safety in our region in both our police and crime plan and our fire and rescue plan and are absolutely determined to provide positive, leadership as we take this work forward together. Improving the safety of our roads is not a job for just one agency. It has to be about partnership.
So this week’s Northern Regional Road Safety Conference, hosted by the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership was extremely welcome.
It comes just weeks after the Government published the new national road safety strategy and brought together local partners and national leaders on road safety. We have a real opportunity now to turn the page as a region on over a decade of stagnation in progress on reducing road deaths.
Thanks to David Skaith, the Mayor, the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership is now on a stable financial footing and going forward can now take a more strategic approach to reducing road deaths in our region. There’s a lot of work to do but we’re determined to make progress because one person being killed or seriously injured on our roads is one person too many.”
Ben Moseley, Assistant Chief Constable North Yorkshire Police and Chair of the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, said:
“The York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership’s purpose is to lower the number of casualties on ourroadsand we do so by tackling issues including excessive speed, driver distractions, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and careless driving.
We are grateful to all our partners who attended the event and who work together to achieve this common purpose.”
National insight and local leadership
The day included strong national representation, with contributions from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, National Fire Chief’s Council and National Highways. Speakers focused on the role of roads policing, prevention and behaviour change in keeping communities safe.
Delegates also heard from charities and campaigners including Brake and the British Horse Society, who shared powerful insight into the real-world impact of road collisions and the particular challenges of improving safety across a large rural area.
Best practice from across the country was shared through case studies from places including Warwickshire, Gwent, Humber, Cumbria and East Riding of Yorkshire. North Yorkshire Police also led sessions on fatal collision investigation and review, aiming to spark discussion and shared learning throughout the day.
A shared commitment to safer roads
The afternoon focused on open discussion and collaboration, with partners talking honestly about what is working well and where more can be done together.
Key themes included enforcement, education and how safer road design can help prevent serious harm, reinforcing the Combined Authority’s commitment to working alongside partners to make roads safer for everyone.