..presenting road safety across the UK


road safety news - week commencing 31 march

SRSC reports high awareness of drug drive campaign
High public awareness of the Scottish Road Safety Campaign’s (SRSC) recent anti drug driving campaign was identified in research published last week.

The drug driving television campaign was developed after research published in 2001 showed that there was low public awareness of the risks associated with drug driving, and that general knowledge of the law on drug driving was very poor. In addition, research published in 2000 indicated that 18 per cent of people killed in road accidents had used illegal drugs.

The campaign targeted young drivers and provided information about the techniques used by the police to detect drug driving. The campaign report shows that public awareness of the campaign was high and that there is an ongoing need to educate 17-24 year olds about the dangers of drug driving.

"Too many people are willing to dice with death and this is why we are determined to raise awareness of the risks associated with drug driving," deputy transport minister Lewis Macdonald said. "The research shows that significant progress has been made. The television advert has allowed the message to hit home that besides the very real risks of causing injury to themselves and others, those that drive under the influence of drugs are very likely to be caught. I am also encouraged that that the advert has been particularly successful in reaching the 17-24 year old key target group."

The advert is the first phase of a strategy to tackle drug driving, and the research will enable the SRSC to develop further activity to complement and build on the television advertising.

More @ http://www.srsc.org.uk
Roads to be redesigned as part of safety project
Seven busy main roads across England are to be redesigned as part of a three-year Transport 2000 project to demonstrate how best to tame traffic for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists ((Surveyor, 27 March).

The ‘Revitalising communities on main roads’ initiative was launched last week to test interventions on main roads heavily used by both vehicles and pedestrians, but judged unsuitable for pedestrianisation. Seven authorities were selected from 15 applicants, and the main roads are in Ashford, Bakewell, Bradford, Evesham, Luton, Kingston-upon-Hull, and Southwark.
Seat belt ignorance ‘international epidemic’, says GEM
While Britain can feel moderately satisfied with the impact of its seat belt legislation, road deaths in developing countries remain at epidemic proportions, says the Guild of Experienced Motorists (GEM).

Unlike the UK, where more than 90 per cent of drivers and front seat passengers ‘belt up’, seatbelt wearing in emerging nations is very low.
GEM welcomes a move by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to develop an educational manual for worldwide distribution to help overcome the problem. The TRL’s work in this area is being financed by the Federation Internationale de l’ Automobile (FIA).

"A recently completed study of road crashes globally allows us to estimate between 750,00 and 880,000 die in this way annually," says GEM's chief executive, David Williams. "Around 85 per cent of these deaths occur in developing and transitional countries where road safety is a low priority. This level of life-taking has the same impact as a major plague or famine, and aid agencies would move into overdrive if a million lives where under threat."

The UK Government has estimated that since ‘clunk, click every trip’ became a byword two decades ago, it has reduced UK casualties by at least 370 deaths and 7,000 serious injuries every year. This will have saved the nation £1,599m annually, based on the DfT’s cost estimates of casualties.
Speed camera torched again
Arsonists who torched a Norfolk speed camera for the second time in four weeks were branded ‘mindless’ by safety campaigners in the county (Eastern Daily Press, 26 March). The camera in Norwich was doused in fuel and set alight in the early hours one morning last week.

The £30,000 camera was set alight last month and had only just been replaced. Bryan Edwards, of the Norfolk Casualty Reduction Partnership, said those responsible were mindless. "The camera was seen by a police patrol car at around 1.30am. It is very, very frustrating when local residents support the cameras and casualties have been reduced on that stretch of road," he said. "It will be replaced as soon as possible because that is a high-priority area."

The arson is the latest in a string of attacks on speed cameras in Norfolk.
Traffic speeds report published
The results of a survey of traffic speeds in the main urban areas in England outside London were published last week. The report, Traffic Speeds in English Urban Areas: 2002, shows that:

• The average traffic speed across the major road network of large urban areas was 21.4 mph during peak periods (0730-0930 and 1630-1830) and 25.7 mph during the intervening off-peak periods.

• During peak periods, almost 30 per cent of time was spent at speeds below five mph, and over 50 per cent at speeds of less than 20 mph. In the off-peak period, around 20 per cent of time was spent at speeds below 5 mph, and 40 per cent at speeds of less than 20 mph.

• Between 1999/00 and 2002, average peak period traffic speeds fell by 0.5 mph and average off-peak traffic speeds were unchanged.

More @ http://www.dft.gov.uk
Bus usage in Scotland increases again
The Scottish Executive has welcomed an increase in national bus patronage for the third consecutive year (Surveyor, 27 March).

Bus and coach statistics for 2001-02 reveal that there were 441m passenger journeys, an increase of one per cent on the previous year – only the fifth rise since records began in 1975.

The survey also revealed that there is scope to further increase bus usage. Only around 9-12 per cent of journeys made by adults each day are made by bus, and this figure falls to 2-5 per cent in small towns and rural areas.

But with an average of 87 journeys per head of population – 15 per cent more than for the whole of Great Britain - the statistics show Scots use buses more than those below the border.