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road
safety news - week commencing 6 january
New powers
introduced to combat nuisance motorists
Joy riders and nuisance drivers who blight communities by using
local streets, parks, wasteland and public footpaths as race tracks
will have their vehicles seized on the spot under a new police
power that came into force on New Year’s Day.
The measure, implemented under the Police Reform Act 2002, allows
police and community support officers to seize cars and motorbikes
driven carelessly, inconsiderately or ‘off-road’ in
a manner that causes alarm, annoyance or distress. The owner of
the vehicle will have to pay up to £357 to retrieve it.
Car and motorbike owners will not be liable to pay a fee to recover
their vehicles if they are not the driver, have not consented
to the vehicle’s use and could not have prevented the vehicle
being driven in an anti-social manner.
"Joyriding and the anti-social use of cars and motorbikes
can blight local communities, causing misery and distress to people
going about their daily lives," said Home Office minister,
John Denham. "We are determined to deal with
this growing problem and are giving police and community support
officers radical new powers to seize vehicles being driven recklessly
on roads, public footpaths, parks and housing estates. This will
put an immediate stop to dangerous and intimidating behaviour."
More @ http://213.121.214.245/n_story.asp?item_id=324
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20mph
on key London roads
London mayor Ken Livingstone is planning to introduce
20mph speed controls on the capital’s strategic road network,
according to a report in Surveyor (19 December).
Transport for London is discussing seven potential sites for pilot
schemes with boroughs. The A23 at Streatham – recently voted
the country’s least attractive thoroughfare – is among
the locations being considered.
The move to extend 20mph limits – normally confined to residential
areas – to main roads has been championed by Jenny Jones,
the mayor’s ‘safety ambassador’. The Green Party
London assembly member has campaigned to make 20mph limits the norm
in London.
The zones are being considered for parts of the Capital’s roads
network with above-average pedestrian casualty rates, Bernie
Hewing, TfL service development advisor confirmed. Typically,
the zones would be limited to short sections in high streets where
there is intense pedestrian activity. |
Scottish
road casualties fall but deaths rise
The Scottish Executive has announced a fall in the number of road
traffic accident casualties (Local Transport Today, 19 December).
In 2000-01 19,894 casualties were recorded, a 3 per cent fall on
the previous year and the lowest figure since 1954.
However, the number of deaths on Scottish roads actually increased
by 6 per cent to 347. Child casualty figures fell by 1 per cent
to 2,956 and 543 died or were seriously injured - one down on previous
figures. The report can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00220-00.asp |
‘Safer
driving’ focus for RoSPA’s 2003 road safety conference
RoSPA’s 2002 congress coincided with the Government's consultation
on 'Introducing a More Structured Approach to Learning to Drive',
and explored ways of improving driving standards, in particular
by providing better driver training.
2002 saw a massive expansion in safety camera partnerships, the
introduction of the Hazard Perception Test and the Government's
response to the Work-related Road Safety Task Group's recommendations
for reducing at-work road accidents.
The 2003 Road Safety Congress will continue the theme of 'Safer
Driving' by examining what progress has been made during 2002 and
by exploring how to reduce the risk of other groups of drivers,
for example: older drivers, vocational drivers, minibus drivers
and public transport drivers.
More @ http://www.rospa.co.uk/road/ |
Darling
delays ‘quiet lanes’ scheme
Countryside campaigners have been dismayed at the news that the
DfT is to hold a second round of consultations on ‘quiet lanes’
(Surveyor, 19 December). This further delays regulations for local
authorities on creating special areas where rural roads are made
more suitable for walking, cycling and riding, despite the apparent
success of pilots.
Transport secretary Alastair Darling has told the
Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) that he will
consult again on draft regulations before they are finalised and
laid before Parliament, pushing publication well into the new year.
They had been expected in autumn 2002 – two years after quiet
lanes were included in the Transport Act – together with a
draft revision of circular 93/1 on setting speed limits.
The original consultation closed in October 2001 but since then
there has been no response from the Government.
CPRE’s head of transport policy Paul Hamblin
said the absence of guidance and regulations was creating uncertainty
for councils keen to create quiet lanes.
"Quiet lanes were an important component of both the Transport
Act and the rural white paper but there doesn’t seem to be
the impetus within the DfT to take them forward," said Hamblin.
‘This is despite the fact that monitoring shows it to be a
successful and well-supported initiative.’ |
Walkers’
campaign against risky roads
The Ramblers’ Association is launching a campaign to improve
crossing facilities at points where recreational footpaths cross
main roads in England (Local Transport Today, 19 December). The
Safe to Cross campaign will be launched in April 2003 with the publication
of a dossier of dangerous crossings. Further details are available
at www.ramblers.org.uk/campaigns/safetocross.html |
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