Brake is calling on drivers ‘not to put young lives in danger’ on the back of a survey in which 44% of drivers admitted they have broken a 20mph speed limit by at least 5mph.
The survey, conducted by Brake alongside Churchill Insurance, found that of those questioned, 25% admitted to driving too fast in a 20mph area around once a month, while 20% confess to doing it on a weekly basis.
It has been published to coincide with first of three ‘Beep Beep! Days’ being held by Brake in 2016. The days are designed to help children gain a basic understanding of road safety, and also to emphasise to parents and other adults their responsibilities in protecting children.
In the survey 73% of respondents said traffic is too fast for the safety of children and adults on foot and bike on some roads, while 20% said traffic was ‘dangerously fast’ on most or all of their local roads.
As part of the ‘Beep Beep! Days’ initiative, Brake’s youngest campaigners have starred in a short road safety video entitled “Speeding Is Naughty” (featured) to help get the message through to parents and drivers that their ‘selfish actions’ can put young lives in danger.
Six-year-old Rosie Hutton said: “Speeding is naughty and if you drive too fast you could hurt me. Cars are made of metal and I am not. Please drive slowly near my school.”
Alice Bailey, campaigns adviser for Brake, said: “It was so much fun being involved with the talented youngsters who helped make this year’s Beep Beep! video, but road safety really isn’t child’s play.
“40 children are killed or seriously injured on Great Britain’s roads every week. Beep Beep! Days are a great way to start talking to children about basic road safety messages and also to remind parents, carers and all other adults of their responsibilities when it comes to keeping our roads safe and protecting little lives.”
The respondents who commented on the speeds and the dangers thereof were, at the time, presumably speaking fom the perspective of pedestrians or by-stander and not as motorists. I’m sure however, that some of those same respondents, when behind the wheel themselves, routinely and probably unknowingly, drive at the very same speeds they are complaining about. It’s something I’ve come across many times and it highlights the difference in perception of speed and ‘hazard threat’ when cocooned in a quiet, insulated vehicle, to when witnessed in a state of vulnerability, by a non-moving observer. It’s not an illusion however, as the threat and intimidation posed to vulnerable road users by speeding traffic in close proximity, is a real one and not realised by many drivers – until the next time they are by-standers of course and tut-tutting at the traffic speeds.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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