James Luckhurst and Terry Cook delve into the latest developments and future plans for Project EDWARD (Every Day Without A Road Death). They reflect on the previous series, highlighting the diverse range of guests and the valuable insights shared, particularly from unexpected contributors like coroners and surgeons.

Key Points:

• Highlighting the Coroner's Role: James shares his experience meeting Senior Coroner Derek Winter and discusses the importance of coroners in the road safety system, including the prevention of future death messages.
• Focus on the Safe System: The podcast emphasizes the Safe System approach, which includes safe vehicles, safe infrastructure, safe speeds, safe road users, and post-crash care. These components work together to prevent road fatalities.
• Diverse Guest Contributions: The episode features stories from various professionals, including driving instructors, finance directors, and emergency responders, showcasing their roles in the Safe System.
• Project EDWARD's Evolution: James explains the transition of Project EDWARD to a year-round programme under the care of the Association for Road Risk Management, focusing on webinars, podcasts, and events to promote road safety.
• Upcoming Initiatives: James mentions upcoming activities, such as a horseback journey to raise awareness of vulnerable road users and the continuation of regular outputs and parliamentary receptions.

Find out more about Project EDWARD here.

Welcome to the Project EDWARD Podcast, where we explore data-driven actions for safe mobility.

Join the EDWARD team and our key partners as we facilitate events, symposiums, webinars, discussions, and podcast episodes. Our mission is to share evidence-led good practices that support the Safe System. Tune in to stay informed and inspired by the latest in road safety and mobility innovations.

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Terry Cook: So, welcome to a special bonus episode of my role in the Save System, a Project Edward podcast. And we're back in February with a brand new season, so we thought it was an ideal time to catch up with the founder of Project Edward, James Luckhurst.

How are we doing, James?

James Luckhurst: I'm very well indeed, Terence. And how are you, sir?

Terry Cook: Well, all the better, seeing your smiley face, obviously. But I'm excited because we've got the Project Edward podcast coming back, specifically my role in the Save system. So do you want to tell us a bit about what we can expect from this upcoming series?

James Luckhurst: I'm excited because in the last series we worked hard to go far and wide and to unearth people that you may not immediately think of as connected with the safe system.

What particularly stood out for me was the coroner and going up to Sunderland and meeting a fantastic senior coroner, Derek Winter, and how generous he was, sharing his information and his experience to tell us more about the coronial process and how that fits in when unfortunately, there's a road death.

And we're going to follow that up, actually, with some more discussions about something called the prevention of future death messages which are issued by coroners. So we're going to see how more effective they might be able to be as a kind of quick win, a bit of low hanging fruit in improving the road safety picture.

Other than that, we're going to be talking to the usual raft of interesting, diverse people with stories to tell and getting out there to share the safe system, which we're focusing all our efforts on and its varying components and, and really getting out there to explain to more people exactly how it works and what role they can have in it, even though at this point they may not realize that they do have a role.

Terry Cook: Well, I want to touch back on that in a second because I think, first of all just want to mention that I've been an avid listener in the podcast since day one and I've always enjoyed it.

I think last season, if I'm being honest, has been the best work you've done. I think that it was superb. So I'm looking forward to that continuing. But last season there was a bit of a shift.

You mentioned there was the Safe system and you rebranded as my role in the save system. So do you want to just tell us a bit about why you kind of put the focus on that?

And so who's that aimed at almost?

James Luckhurst: It's aimed really as a priority at a professional audience, I suppose, to road safety professionals, police, policymakers, practitioners and those of Us who sit on the periphery of the world of road safety.

But I think we focus on the safe system because it provides that all important kind of narrative spine. I think I've used that phrase before. But rather than just let's talk about road safety with these people and find out what's going on, let's pin it to the safe system mast and to get a better understanding.

So we're all hopefully going to learn more about what I do, what you do, Terry, and what your profession do, and the vital role that driving instructors play. But going beyond that, what is the role of a finance director in the safe system?

Someone who may head up a big authority who want to introduce a vision zero strategy, but it's going to cost them money. So you need to have financial backing, you need to have the support of the finance director.

So what is his or her role in the safe system? And let's go beyond the obvious to find the people who really can make a difference.

Terry Cook: I think that's what I'm loving about the idea of going beyond the obvious because there are people you've had on the show, you mentioned the coroner before and you wouldn't necessarily at first glance associate that with the system.

But everyone plays a role and I think that's one of the biggest things I've learned from it. But I do think it's probably right at this moment to say that the majority of people listen to this podcast will be sort of road safety professionals or even that percent but there'll be some that won't.

So they may not know what the safe system is. So I suppose it's worth we take a moment just to sort of identify what it is. Do you want to just explain that for anyone that's not aware?

James Luckhurst: I'll try to do that accurately, Terry. I'm not very good at remembering this, but if you think we've got safe vehicles, safe infrastructure, safe speeds, safe road users and post crash care, the whole point of it, of these various components is that they are meant to support each other.

So that's why they're called components and not pillars, because they're not separate, they're all interchanged and they can I suppose work together to be there when one component doesn't work.

You know, if a driver behavior issue leads to something going wrong, then the consequences don't need to be tragically fatal. That's really what we want to try and do. And it is supported far and wide.

It's well respected as a system.

Terry Cook: Yeah, I'll be completely honest, it's something that it took me a little while to get my head around, the idea that it's almost a safety blanket around the driver, but the driver still needs to take responsibility.

But if something goes wrong, we've got these other measures in place. But I kind of touched on it before about the variety of guests that you've had on, and I don't want to put you on the spot too much here, but is there anyone that surprised you, Any of the guests, either in terms of anything they've said or the way they've been, or just the role they play potentially?

James Luckhurst: I think the Laura Laker that we had last year, because that kind of jumps up in my mind because I insist, never mind her surprising me. I surprised her because I leapt onto a pipe organ that was in the bowels of London Bridge Station and said, right, well, before we start talking about road safety, you're going to listen to some Johannes Sebastian Bach played on this organ.

And she was kind enough to stand there while I just indulged my passion for music.

Hopefully not too many notes in the wrong place, but there you go. Laura was great.

Seema Yalamanchili, who was the surgeon in the last series, she jumps out in my, I mean, the role of data and the, the what's coming, what needs to come. I suppose, you know, this better deployment of emergency resources, more efficient 999 calls and people going to the right hospital first time to, you know, to maximize the chances of survival.

I think that's all really interesting.

Terry Cook: And then just regarding the podcasts, what's the goal? Has it changed as you've been doing it over the years, or has it remained the same?

James Luckhurst: I think it's just to go take a little bit of a journey that goes a little bit further, I suppose, and having the opportunity to hear the backstories to various contributors and what makes them passionate about what they do and why they do it.

So it's, and it's, you know, I come from a radio background, you know, I worked for years at the BBC World Service and radio is my passion. And I suppose I want to share that passion in an area that being road safety and transport that I particularly like and hopefully, you know, bring out some interesting stories and weedle out a few interesting bits of information from, from people.

So that's really what drives me.

Terry Cook: Well, I just want to speak about Project Edward itself for a minute because I know there's been sort of some changes over the last few years and the, not necessarily a direction, but the way you're doing things.

So just want to tell us a little bit about where Project Edward is now.

James Luckhurst: Project Edward is now, as at the beginning of February, in the care of the association for Road Risk Management.

Because it's a concept, you know, it doesn't actually exist. Nobody owns it. I certainly take no ownership of it because I want everybody to use it and to be part of it if they wish to be.

It's quite a nice little acronym. It's nothing more than that. But it does seem to do well as a communications tool.

It was originally part of tispol, the European traffic police network, and has been housed in various places in the past few years, trying to work out how we fund it and what we deliver and what's worth doing.

For example, I'll be getting on a horse for five days in the middle of May to go from Lambourne Stables in West Berkshire through to the Royal Windsor Horse show in the company of Alan Hiscox from the British Horse Society, which will be to raise awareness of vulnerable road users.

The horse, the 2 meter 10 mile an hour highway code rule that, you know, how many people know about that? Not many, I fear. So that's one thing that we'll be doing.

But the regular outputs will continue. We don't do a specific week of action because we are there to share the good practice done by others around the country and we don't need to cram that all into a week.

We can spread it out through the year and we can be a little bit more responsive and spend a bit more time looking at what really works and how it can be replicated and sharing that as best we can.

And I'm really thrilled about that.

Terry Cook: I mean, that's excellent. But I also just want to mention that I think we're at a point that when you say I'm going to be riding a horse for five days, I'm not surprised.

It's just commonplace now, I think, that kind of stuff. But you mentioned all the stuff that's coming up. Where's the best place that people can find out what webinars are coming up and that kind of stuff.

James Luckhurst: I think to pop to the website and just put your name in to join our mailing list. Then we can stay in touch or drop me an email straight to jamesrojectedward.org

and I'll make sure that you, to the best of my ability, that you'll get the information that you need.

It is a lot of it is still just me. There is extra help thankfully now, so I'm not left trying to do everything because I just then end up not doing anything very well.

But yes, I check on the website.

I tell you what we did do. Terry, I don't know how you feel about this project. Edward came off the X platform at the end of December.

I think that's.

We're not the only ones to have been slightly alarmed by the direction of travel that X formerly Twitter was taking. So we're nothing to do with that now. But you can still find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and there's a new one that I can't remember what it's called, like Blue Loo or something.

Blue Sky. That's it, yes. Not Blue Loo. Sorry.

So, yes, I hope that. I hope you'll find us if you go out and look for it.

Terry Cook: I must admit I haven't come off X yet. I still there but I'm. I don't think I'll be on much longer. I think that's a. A wise choice, shall we say.

But yeah, links for everything you've said there will be in the show notes so people go and find that. But I think I want to finish up with this question.

Why should people listen to the My Role in the Safe System podcast?

James Luckhurst: I hope it'll give them some insight into what motivates other people who are doing perhaps similar things or complementary things to what they're doing. You know, I love to find out what motivates someone to be an engineer or an emergency response doctor or you know, a coroner then.

So there's a bit of mystique around some of the roles. Let's find out a bit more. And you know, I think that can just lead to a better understanding and you know, who isn't interested in other people really?

We all like to hear interesting things and we may go a bit off piste and discover all sorts of things. You never know. So the only way to find out is to tune in.

Terry Cook: Well, look, we're probably preaching conservative, but I will say this is one of the few podcasts I always listen to a day of day of download.

So, yes. But, yeah, I'm going to thank you for joining me and thank you for letting me come on to the Project Neighbor podcast today.

James Luckhurst: Thank you, Terry. Talk to you soon.