..presenting road safety across the UK


road safety news - week commencing 3 march

DfT introduces measure to reduce risk of road/rail collisions
Guidance to reduce the risk of vehicles obstructing railway lines was announced last week by minister for transport John Spellar. The report ‘Managing the accidental obstruction of the railway by road vehicles’ takes forward recommendations made by the Health and Safety Commission and Highways Agency last year.

The report sets out:
• criteria for the apportion of responsibility and costs of improvements made at locations where roads meet, cross or run close to railways.

• guidance on enhanced risk assessments and physical measures to help reduce the risk of vehicles accidentally leaving the road and getting onto the railway.

• means to identify relevant information that it would be practicable and useful to collect about incidents where road vehicles get onto railway property.

"The report sets out the work of representatives of the highway authorities, railway infrastructure authorities and other organisations to identify the steps we consider should be taken jointly by railway infrastructure authorities and highway authorities to manage the risk of the accidental incursion of road vehicles onto the railway," Mr Spellar said in a written ministerial statement.

Copies of the report will be sent to all local highway authorities and railway infrastructure authorities.

More @ www.dft.gov.uk
Alan Brant seminar details announced
The West Midlands Branch of the Institution of Highways & Transportation is presenting the Alan Brant National Seminar this spring, entitled ‘Managing Traffic for Safety’. The seminar is aimed at road safety practitioners as well as engineers and technicians.

The seminar will focus on current thoughts and aspirations for the future in meeting the Government’s targets for casualty reduction on the highway infrastructure. Delegates will be introduced to the latest thinking from the DfT, the Highways Agency, local authorities, TRL and safety camera/casualty reduction partnerships.

Speakers will include Andy Rhind (project manager, DfT Road Safety Division,), John Smart (safety team manager, HA) and Paul Forman (head of investigations and risk management, TRL).

The seminar will take place at the Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, 8 April 2003. Further information and a booking form can be obtained from Stuart Wollaston, 01684 568483, sjw@24hastings.fsnet.co.uk, or Richard Attwood, 01905 766830, rattwood@worcestershire.gov.uk
DSA improves online booking facilities for theory tests
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has introduced new facilities for learner drivers and riders who book their theory tests via the Internet.

Customers can now check the details of the bookings they have made, change their booking to a different date, time or test centre and cancel a booking, obtaining a refund if appropriate.

Booking via DSA's web site began in December 2001 when teenagers anxious to become fully qualified drivers began booking their tests on line. By last October, over 1,000 bookings a day were being made this way, making it a more popular service than the postal system.

"The additional facilities mean that for the majority of customers, the entire theory test booking process can be carried out on-line," said DSA's IT Director Gordon Court. "They also represent a major step towards the DSA meeting the Government's target of having all services available electronically by 2005."

Work is carrying on towards the introduction of an Internet booking service for practical tests. It is hoped this service will be available this summer.

The DSA website address is: www.dsa.gov.uk
GEM warns drivers that winter could return
With British drivers and the transport systems being caught out twice this year already by sudden but not especially severe weather conditions, The Guild of Experienced Motorists (GEM) has brought out a new and improved version of its popular free leaflet, A Motorists Guide to Driving.

"We may believe we are over the worst and heading towards spring, but March is quite capable of throwing surprises at us," says GEM chief executive, David Williams. "Ice, heavy rain and hail can be common features of April as well and these make driving difficult if road users are unprepared. The upgraded leaflet has hints on how to drive as safely as possible in these challenging."

Recent Met Office statistics show that GEM has good reason to issue a warning. In March 2001 temperatures of –21.7C were recorded in Sutherland. The next year 10cm of snow fell in Northumberland on the 10 March, and the same week winds of 60 knots were recorded in Norfolk.

Planning a journey during winter, coping with problems once you are underway and a driving check-list are other features of the leaflet that has been produced and financed with the help of GEM’s charitable arm.

The Motorists Guide to Winter Driving is available free from GEM at Station Road, Forest Row, East Sussex RH18 5EN or call 01342 825676.
Census finds public still prefer the car for commuting
More that four times as many people in the UK drive to work as commute by public transport according to the latest figures to emerge from the 2001 census (Surveyor, 20 February).

The Office of National Statistics has produced information for local authorities that reveals a continuing rise in car ownership and low levels of public transport commuting, even in the largest towns and cities outside London.

Although the proportion of households in England and Wales with one car was almost unchanged between 1991 and 2001 at about 44 per cent, those not owing a car fell from 32 per cent to 27 per cent and those with two or more increased from 24 per cent to 29 per cent. In Scotland, about a third of households have no car or van compared with two-fifths in 1991.
Scottish Executive funds school travel posts
The Scottish Executive has announced funding for school travel co-ordinators to promote safe and healthy ways for children to travel in every local authority area (Local Transport Today, 20 February). The posts were recommended by the Scottish School Travel Advisory Group, and the co-ordinators will work with their local authority and schools.
New address for PACTS
After 11 years at St Thomas' Hospital, PACTS has moved to new premises at Clutha House, 10 Storey's Gate, London SW1P 3AY. Tel: 0207 222 7732. Fax: 0207 222 7106.
Cars account for 80 per cent of commuting trips in Northern Ireland
 Only six per cent of the population of Northern Ireland use public transport to get to work, according to a Government commissioned travel survey (Local Transport Today, 20 February).

The Department for Regional Development study surveyed over 5,000 households - the first time such a survey has been conducted in Northern Ireland. Eighty per cent of respondents use the private car for commuting and further 11 per cent choose to walk. Respondents make an average of 978 journeys per year. Just over on quarter of households do not have access to a car, but the figure was 46 per cent for households in Belfast.

Travel Survey for Northern Ireland 1999 – 2001 is available at www.drdni.gov.uk/roads.
DfT accepts case for weekday car-free events
The Government has agreed that ‘In Town Without My Car’ day events should be held on 22 September each year, rather than the nearest weekend to that date, as it had previously suggested (Local Transport Today, 20 February).

DfT best practice guidance for event organisers says that if a weekend event is planned, ‘this must be in addition to, not instead of the main event on 22 September’. The guide contains information on how to run an event, what the pitfalls could be, and how to avoid them. Twice as many events took place last year compared with 2001.