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Road
safety news - week commencing 28 April
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Stressed
out mums put children at risk
A recent report by Autoglass shows that mothers racing their children
to school and other activities are regularly making serious road
safety blunders (www.roadsafe.com).
The study shows that the ‘mum on the run’ now typically
makes 28 trips a week ferrying young children around, and one
in four has been in an accident while driving their children.
As mothers hurry between activities, soaring stress levels and
the distractions caused by tired or excited children result in
them taking greater risks.
Stress experts monitored mothers driving with children and found
their heart rates typically rose 51 per cent - enough to affect
decision making. Findings included:-
• more than one in three had forgotten to belt their children
up
• half admitted to driving aggressively
• 69 per cent admitted to regularly breaking speed limits
and over half to jumping traffic lights
• and 79 per cent regularly take their eyes off the road
to deal with children.
"The experts who monitored the mothers were clear that the
stress levels they were under were affecting their decision making,"
said Ian Carlisle, managing director of Autoglass.
"It’s time to slow down and put safety first."
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RAC
urges study into anti-depressants and road safety
The RAC Foundation has urged the Government to undertake an urgent
investigation into the possible connections between road safety
and taking anti-depressants - and to highlight the potential of
impaired driving performance to users of these medications (www.roadsafe.com).
It believes that up to one million people in the UK could be driving
while taking anti-depressant drugs, whose side effects can include
agitation, aggression, anxiety, dizziness and blurred vision.
The use of anti-depressants has increased dramatically over the
past decade. Between 1990 and 1995 the number of prescriptions for
anti-depressants rose by 116 per cent, and for SSRIs (newer anti-depressants
such as Prozac) in particular by 732 per cent. 2001 alone saw a
10 per cent increase on the previous year in the number of anti-depressant
prescriptions.
A recent report commissioned by the DfT also suggests that more
research is needed to investigate the effects of new generation
anti-depressants on driving performance and accident risk. It also
recommended the testing of drivers involved in road accidents at
the time for the presence of drugs, instead of the more traditional
method of using prescription records.
More @ http://www.racfoundation.org |
SRSC
announces details of road safety seminar
The Scottish Road Safety Campaign's annual road safety seminar is
to be held 29-30 October 2003 at the Peebles Hydro, Peebles, Scotland
(www.roadsafe.com).
Topics to be covered during the conference will include road safety
training and education and driver behaviour.
For more information about the conference visit www.srsc.org.uk
or send an email to: enquiries@srsc.org.uk |
Dangerous
driving debate scheduled for this week
On 30 April there will be a Westminster Hall Adjournment Debate
led by Denis Murphy MP on the issue of death and serious
injury caused by aggravated dangerous driving. Further details are
available in a briefing paper on the PACTS’ website, http://www.pacts.org.uk |
PACTS
conference proceeding now available
The proceedings of PACTS’ February conference, "Nodding
Off: Fatigue and Transport Accidents" are now available. Conference
delegates will receive a copy in the post but additional copies
are available for purchase at £15. To obtain a copy contact
Sally Verkaik at PACTS on 020 7222-7732 or admin@pacts.org.uk. |
Young
European Truck Driver Competition gets underway
The Young European Truck Driver (YETD) Competition gets underway
for drivers under the age of 30 in spring 2003 and the final, featuring
the very best drivers from the 20 participating countries, will
be held in Sweden in September 2003.
The competition aims to improve the driving skills and safety awareness
of young truck drivers. The objective is to identify the best young
truck driver in Europe, based on competence in safe driving skills
and awareness. It is the largest European competition for drivers
of heavy trucks and the first to be organised in partnership with
the European Commission. YETD is organised by Scania in co-operation
with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Transport.
Applications close on the 31 May and the national UK final takes
place on 30 August. |
UK
Youth sets up new road safety website
A new website has been set up by UK Youth to assist anyone undertaking
road user education with young people.
The site, www.roadusereducation.org,
is associated with the award winning programme ‘Momentum’,
which encourage young people to develop positive attitudes towards
the responsibilities inherent in the use of motor vehicles. The
programme has been developed by UK Youth with assistance from a
number of organisations with expertise in road safety, driver and
rider education, traffic management and representatives from the
motor industry.
The main purpose of Momentum is to raise awareness and challenge
attitudes rather than teach driving or riding skills at anything
other than a basic level. |
2002
national road condition survey published
The 2002 National Road Maintenance Condition Survey (NRMCS) on the
condition of roads and footways in England and Wales was published
last week.
The report presents information on both the surface and structural
condition of roads. Surface condition is measured using a visual
survey of defects and a machine based survey of wet road skidding
resistance. The structural survey uses a machine to measure the
deflection of a road under a standard load.
NRMCS is sponsored jointly by the Local Government Association,
the DfT, the National Assembly for Wales and the Highways Agency.
Copies of the report are available from: DfT Highways Maintenance
Data Unit, Zone 2/18, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London
SW1P 4DR. Tel: 020 7944 3092. Fax: 020 7944 2164
E-Mail: roadmaintenance.stats@dft.gsi.gov.uk.
A
copy is also available at www.transtat.dft.gov.uk.
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THINK!
conference scheduled for June 2003
The THINK! Road Safety Conference will be held
on Friday 27 June 2003 at the Millennium Conference Centre in
London.
The half-day programme will offer an opportunity to share information
and get up to date on both the publicity and policy rationale
surrounding the THINK! campaign.
Topics under discussion will include:-
• An examination of the THINK! campaign past, present and
future.
• NOP research into how DfT can effectively work together
with road safety stakeholders.
The number of delegates will be limited to 400 but the DfT will
ensure that all regions are represented. Further details and invitations
will be issued in May.
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PMRSA
seeks nominations
The Prince Michael Road Safety Awards, which recognise
achievements to improve road safety, are currently inviting nominations.
All road users, including pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, bikers
and horse riders are asked to identify those whose initiatives make
roads safer and to nominate them for an award. Each year outstanding
examples of national and international road safety initiatives are
given public recognition through the scheme.
The judging panel meets again in October and nominations are invited
by 30 August.
For further information contact Judy Walsh on 01763 287 391, jwalsh@roadsafe.com
or visit www.roadsafetyawards.com/roadsafe/RoadsafetyAwards |
Living
Streets slams DfT
The Government came under fire last week for
its failure to publish a walking strategy, despite a continuing
fall in walking trips (Surveyor, 24 April). The pedestrian pressure
group, Living Streets, launched a broadside at the DfT for spending
time and money on drawing up a strategy but refusing to publish
it. It said the DfT is more concerned about the negative publicity
that might surround its publication than on creating the physical
conditions needed to reverse the long-term decline in walking. |
TRL
launches pedestrian space software
A software package to assess the quality of
pedestrian spaces has been launched by TRL (Local Transport Today,
17 April). The pedestrian environment review system (PERS) uses
a scoring system to assess factors such as footway capacity, maintenance,
obstruction by street furniture, lighting, location of crossings,
amount of pedestrian deviation from optimum route and whether dropped
kerbs meet requirements.
An overall score for a scheme is given along with a score for each
of the following parameters: capacity, safety, quality, and legibility.
TRL is currently adapting the system to assess cycle routes. |
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Learner
driver CD under development
A learner driver tutorial in the form of a CD
is currently being developed by Absolute Media. The CD should be
released in the UK in May 2003 (www.roadsafe.com).
The CD is a serious tutorial using computer graphics to create street
scenes to highlight driving positioning and application. With over
86 driving situations to consider, the software shows each discipline
from three camera angles - ahead of the vehicle, behind the steering
wheel, and from the rear of the vehicle.
Further details about the CD can be obtained from Colin Stokes,
Absolute Entertainment, 0044 (0) 1204 669 566, colin@absolutemedia.co.uk |
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