The road safety news in brief from the week commencing 24 July:
- Webinar encourages participation in Road Safety Week 2017 (28 July)
- Number of 90-year-old drivers reaches 100k for the first time (26 July)
- New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 in UK (26 July)
- Injury Prevention Day to focus on safer driving practices (25 July)
- BikeSafe teams up with Openroads for highways ‘extravaganza’ (25 July)
- Research suggests UK drivers prefer European roads (24 July)
- Merseyside road safety strategy focusses on education, enforcement and engineering (24 July)
Click here to read the road safety news in brief from the week commencing 17 July.
28 Jul: 09.15
Webinar encourages participation in Road Safety Week 2017
Brake is running a free webinar for fleet and road safety professionals, highlighting the benefits of taking part in UK Road Safety Week.
Road Safety Week is coordinated annually by Brake as a community event involving thousands of companies, schools, public sector organisations, and community groups. The theme for Road Safety Week 2017 (20-26 November) is ‘Speed Down Save Lives’ and focuses on the need to keep to lower speeds, especially in built up areas.
Brake’s online webinar, Taking part in UK Road Safety Week 2017, is an opportunity to hear from companies that took part in Road Safety Week 2016, and will provide employers with inspiration and advice on running successful activities and communication campaigns, both internally and as community events.
The webinar takes place between 10-11.30am on 20 September.
Katie Shephard, development director at Brake, said: “Road Safety Week provides companies with a great opportunity to engage their staff, suppliers, and customers with vital road safety messages, as well as the opportunity to run awareness raising campaigns in their local communities.
“Road Safety Week is free to take part in, and we provide all organisations who get involved with ideas, resources, and support, to help make their activities, whether internal or external, as successful as possible. I’d encourage anyone interested in getting involved in this year’s Road Safety Week to sign up for our free webinar to find out more about the many benefits of taking part.”
WEDNESDAY 26 JULY
26 Jul: 14.30
Number of 90-year-old drivers reaches 100k for the first time
New figures show that the number of people aged over 90 years who hold a driving licence in Britain has exceeded 100,000 for the first time. (BBC News)
The DVLA figures also show that of the 39m valid driving licences currently issued, 4.5m belong to drivers over the age of 70 years.
In terms of region, Greater London has the highest number of drivers over the age of 90 years (8,345), followed by Hampshire (4,457) and the West Midlands (3,729).
Looking at gender, 74,564 of the 108,777 drivers over the age of 90 are male – the equivalent of 69%.
Older drivers are required to fill in a self-assessment every three years declaring they are medically fit to continue driving.
Click here to read the full BBC News article.
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26 Jul: 10.15
New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 in UK
New diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned in the UK from 2040 in a bid to tackle air pollution, the government is set to announce. (BBC News)
The measure is one aspect of part one of the government’s programme to deliver clean air. Next year the government will publish a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy which will address other sources of air pollution.
The strategy sets out actions to meet air quality standards across Great Britain and includes proposals (among others) for local authorities to replace speed humps with other means to slow vehicles down.
Other local measures could include altering buses and other transport to make them cleaner, changing road layouts, and re-programming traffic lights to make vehicle-flow smoother.
The BBC says that ministers will also unveil a £255m fund to help councils tackle emissions from diesel vehicles, as part of a £3bn package of spending on air quality.
Click here to read the full BBC News article.
TUESDAY 25 JULY
25 Jul: 15.00
Injury Prevention Day to focus on safer driving practices
The 2017 Injury Prevention Day will take place on 16 August and focus on safer driving practices.
The event is organised by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) in an attempt to reduce the number of low-speed collisions on UK roads.
To mark the day, which uses the hashtag #IPDay17 on social media, APIL will be relaunching its long-running anti-tailgating campaign ‘Back Off’, with a brand new animated video.
The Back Off campaign messages will feature on social media, via APIL’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
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25 Jul: 11.30
BikeSafe teams up with Openroads for highways ‘extravaganza’
BikeSafe is teaming up with Openroads, a family road safety day with a difference, to create a highways ‘extravaganza’.
Taking place on Rockingham Circuit on 19 August, BikeSafe2017 aims to provide a fun day out for families, non-drivers and drivers, young and old – but with the motivation to help cut the number of people being killed or injured on Northamptonshire’s roads.
The Openroads area will involve activities, stands and demonstrations, including examples of what takes place during Police pursuits, a display of modified and supercars, an array of motorbikes on show, and activities for children, including the chance to ride in a police car and climb into a fire engine.
Firefighters from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service will be running simulated rescue demonstrations involving each of the emergency services, to show onlookers just how the services work together to deal with road traffic collisions.
Other highlights of the day include a lorry experience, run by Maxim Logistics, which enables members of the public to have a go at driving a lorry around Rockingham Circuit. The day will also involve motorcycle safety sessions and CarKraft taster sessions for young drivers.
For more information and updates, email Bikesafe, or visit the event’s Facebook page.
MONDAY 24 JULY
24 Jul: 10.45
Research suggests UK drivers prefer European roads
New research by RAC European Breakdown has suggested that drivers prefer the experience of driving on the ‘smooth, open roads’ of Europe – rather than the ‘congested and potholed’ roads of the UK.
The study, published yesterday (23 July), suggests that 69% think the condition of motorways and major roads is better in continental Europe than in the UK, while 64% believe traffic congestion on these roads is not as bad abroad.
61% of respondents believed that local roads in countries such as France, Germany and Spain are maintained to a better standard, while 53% say the frequency of roadworks is better overseas compared to the UK.
45% of respondents think that speed limits on local roads abroad are more appropriate than those in the UK.
Rod Dennis, RAC European Breakdown spokesman, said: “Our research paints a gloomy picture of the UK’s traffic-choked and potholed roads when compared to the smooth asphalt that can be found just across the English Channel.
“While it is perhaps a case of UK motorists looking through rose-tinted holiday glasses when they drive in France, Spain, Germany or the Netherlands, as the experience is such a marked contrast to the drudgery of driving on our heavily-congested roads, the general feeling is that the roads of continental Europe are better.
“And when it comes to things like the standard of roads, the quality of motorway service areas and the price of fuel, it’s hard for any driver to understand just why the UK appears to lag so far behind other countries in Europe.”
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24 Jul: 09.15
Merseyside road safety strategy focusses on education, enforcement and engineering
A new road safety strategy for Merseyside has been approved, focussing on three areas: education, enforcement and engineering.
The Liverpool City Region’s Road Safety Strategy 2017-2020 outlines the methods and measures that will be used by partners who make up the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership
The measures include:
- Education – promoting road safety messages through targeted campaigns and training
- Enforcement – ensuring road users adhere to safety measures that have been implemented, particularly driving at a safe speed
- Engineering – identifying and introducing remedial measures to improve road safety and ensuring new highway projects operate safely
The strategy also includes targeted action plans to improve the safety of cyclists, motorcycle users, senior road users and pedestrians.
Cllr Liam Robinson, transport portfolio lead for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said “We all have a role to play to ensure our roads are safer and the number of accidents and injuries on our roads are reduced.
“We can play our part, but we also need our residents and road users to play their part too by listening to and taking on board the information around road safety awareness and adhering to road safety law, particularly around speed limits and to not be distracted whilst driving, for example, by using your mobile phone.”
Jane Kennedy, Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, said “From an enforcement perspective, Merseyside Police will play its part by ensuring those disregarding road safety are robustly dealt with through the appropriate penalties, but we can reduce the need for enforcement action through better education, awareness and understanding the consequences if people continue to flout the law.”
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