Care on the road – RoSPA’s annual road safety conference

The theme of RoSPA’s 2003 National Road Safety Congress, held at Blackpool’s Hilton Hotel on 3 – 5 March, was ‘Care on the road’.

The congress focused on the three groups of motorists most at risk on the UK’s roads - the young, the old and company car/van drivers.

Here’s a brief round up of some of the topics covered at the conference.

'Arrive Alive Classic'
Trevor Wedge and Barry Morris, DSA deputy chief driving examiners, launched the 'Arrive Alive Classic' programme aimed at the over 50s at the congress.

The programme tackles health and sight issues as well as licensing requirements at the age of 70. Attendees will also be given information about recent changes to legislation and amendments to the Highway Code. Experienced driving examiners will also pass on tips and reminders about good driving practice.

Learner and novice drivers
Pat Wells and Chris Baughan from TRL Ltd reported on a cohort study of learner and novice drivers. This is looking at performance in the driving test, relating this to learning experiences, assessing attitudes to safety and collecting information on accidents/offences in early driving.

It is also monitoring the effects of changes to training/testing regime such as hazard perception testing.

Early results of the driver experience questionnaire show that almost 50 per cent have driven every day and 70 per cent have had a ‘near miss’. Twenty per cent have had an accident, mostly ‘bumps and scrapes’.

ASTRA
Alan Roger and Steve Postlethwaite from Warwickshire police introduced ASTRA, their Active Strategy To Reduce Accidents.

They told delegates that young motorists:-
• do not know how to look after their car
• know nothing of motorway driving and safety procedures
• think that cars are safe
• think they can drive fast
• think they can consume five pints of lager and be safe to drive

They went on to say that male attitudes, psychological superiority, immaturity and media influences need to be addressed through educational programmes.

Over a seven-year period from 1991 to 1998, a number of offenders attended a two hour motoring education and consequences of crime course – and this resulted in a 96.4 per cent non re-offending rate.

Stress in bus drivers
Dr Lisa Dorn, from Cranfield University, examined ways of reducing the risk of bus crashes.

She has detected higher levels of driver stress in incident-involved drivers, and a higher level of ill health and absenteeism than other occupational groups. Absenteeism, turnover and disability among bus drivers are three times higher than the national average and 90 per cent of drivers with more than 18 years service leave for health reasons.

Three projects to address this are underway:
the development of a bus driving simulator for driver training;
the development of a psychometric test to profile vulnerability to stress and fatigue;
understanding the organisational factors that may contribute to crash risk.

Incident analysis showed that the majority of ‘at fault’ incidents related to speed change problems. Younger drivers were over-represented in slowing and accelerating incidents as well as in bus lane and traffic light incidents. Older drivers were over-represented in reversing, proceeding normally, and evasive overtaking as well as in bus stop incidents.

Dr Dorn concluded there is a need to reduce the consequences of errors rather than attempt to eliminate them. This can be done by the use of a bus driving simulator for the development of appropriate conditions and the use of driver stress and fatigue management training.

Drink drive and drugs
Graham Wynn from TTC2000 examined recent developments in drink drive initiatives.

In 2002 more than 65,000 people were referred for drink drive rehabilitation. Monitoring of earlier course attendees showed a five per cent re-offending rate after four years.

Mr Wynn also spoke about drug use among drivers, which is rising at 1.5 per cent per annum. In addition the age of first usage has reduced radically. He said that drug users are no more likely to be over the drink drive limit than non drug users. This contrasts with some other countries where combined alcohol and drug use is more common.

Powered two wheelers
London's powered two wheeler (P2W) problem was addressed by Janet Kirrage, road safety education manager at the London road safety unit.

The P2W injury rate in London is currently 107 per 100,000 population - more than double the rate for Great Britain as a whole.

The highest number of casualties, almost 40 per cent, occurs in the age band 25 to 34 years but the highest severity ratio occurs for older users over the age of 65.

Some 71 per cent of P2W users were injured where they were 'going ahead'. Less than one per cent of the crashes involved drink.

The most common collision occurs when another vehicle turns right into the path of a P2W. This accounts for 21 per cent of all conflicts involving a P2W.

A powerful theatre-in-cinema presentation is being generally well received by audiences. The drama lasts 60 seconds and then a graphic safety film is shown on the screen to encourage people to think more about two wheeler safety.

Mature drivers
One in 10 drivers aged over 59 years has been involved in a major accident in the past three years, a Strathclyde University study has revealed.

Researchers surveyed more than 200 drivers aged between 60 and 88 years, with 61 of them keeping a month-long diary to record specific problems.

Nearly 10 per cent had been in a major accident in the previous two to three years, with 67 per cent involved in a near miss and 24 per cent having a minor bump.

Unfamiliar routes caused almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of those surveyed 'quite a lot' or 'some' stress, while a similar number (73 per cent) said driving on wet or icy roads made them anxious.

Heavy traffic and rush hour conditions also worried more than half of those questioned. Researcher Eleni Karagiannidou said the results may help in the debate over whether elderly drivers should undergo a compulsory driving test resit.

Safer Driving with Age is the SAGE project being run by Philip Bennett of the Cotswold Vale Primary Care Trust. The SAGE screening system includes medical checks and an assessed drive. The drive results in a patient being counselled about continuing to drive or a clean bill of health and a recall three years later.Occupational road safety

Occupational road risk
Clare Farrer from Lancashire County Council described the ‘Drive It Forward’ occupational road risk campaign in her county. As part of the campaign, some local employers have attended a seminar on the topic and been given a company action guide. There has been an encouraging response to the initiative, which will be developed further in 2003.

The United Arab Emirates has one of the highest road casualty rates in the world. Abdullah Al Marzooqi from the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ABCO) explained how his company has been trying to reduce this by using various road safety systems for monitoring fleet drivers.

The purpose of the system is to enhance the driver’s behaviour and attitude. It includes a document for safe driving, an in-vehicle monitoring system and integrated road safety. Reward schemes for drivers, performance reports and training are also included in the system.

ABCO deals with driving to and from work and at-work driving situations. To help combat its poor driving record the company has introduced black box technology, which tracks an employee's driving, along with an integrated blue key system, which enables car drivers to be identified if they are speeding or violating any of the system's rules.

Through the system, ABCO has reduced its accident level and improved drivers’ safety awareness.