Susan Jane (Sue) Cooper

I started my working life as a Home Economics teacher firstly working for Norfolk County Council and then Lincolnshire County Council. It was whilst teaching in Lincolnshire that I became involved in teaching Road Safety – as a tutor for the newly established Schools Traffic Education Programme(STEP)

My husband and I were members of the local car club and as a result competed in many car rally’s and we gained our RAC rally licences which qualified us to take part in the RAC rally. Unfortunately, even at that time we could not afford to do this but there were not many weeks when we were not competing around the country.

As a consequence of our car club membership we went on to represent the club on the local

Road Safety Committee holding office as Chairman and Secretary for many years. This lead to me becoming even more interested in Road Safety and in 1990 I left my teaching post and took up a role as local Road Safety Officer, a post I held until 2000 when I moved to the local Highways maintenance team as a Senior Officer. I retired from that role in April 2019.

During my time as the local RSO I was introduced to the Institute of Road Safety Officers (IRSO) and held positions as Chairman and Secretary for the East Midlands Group. I chaired the 3 day National Conference held at Nottingham University.

In 1993 I was introduced to the Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers (AIRSO) and in 1997 I was appointed to the Council of Management. In 2000 I was appointed National Chairman and again in 2010 I held this very prestigious post. Between 2001 and 2010 I held the position of Chairman of the Road Safety Committee of AIRSO. This role involved me attending the ROSPA National Road Safety Committee. After my second stint as Chairman I took over as Road Safety Committee Chairman again sharing this position with the late Bob Jackson. I have been on the organising group for the National Blue Light Users Conference since its inception.

After many years’ service I was privileged to be given Honorary Life Membership of AIRSO as well as becoming a Fellow.