|
road
safety news - week commencing 30 September
Poor children
at greater risk on the roads
Children from Britain’s most deprived neighbourhoods are three
times more likely to be knocked down by cars, according to the Institute
for Public Policy Research which wants widespread speed limits of
20mph (The Guardian, 24 September).
In a study to be published next month, the IPPR will call for 20mph
limits to be the norm in residential areas, with poorer districts
given high priority.
The report finds that 8,000 children were killed or injured on the
roads in Britain’s poorest 10 per cent of council wards during
1999 and 2000, compared with just 1,000 casualties in the richest
wards. Among the blackspots were Small Heath and Sparkhill in Birmingham
and Middlesborough’s Easterside Estate.
This is partly because poorer neighbourhoods have more children
living in them, but even allowing for the number of local young
people, poor wards had 2.2 casualties per 100,000 children compared
with 0.6 in rich areas.
"This is a huge social problem – there are big inequalities
underlying our bad record in child pedestrian safety," said
Tony Grayling, associate director of the IPPR. He
believes the risk is greater in less affluent neighbourhoods because
children tend to take more journeys by foot, as their parents do
not have cars. They are also more likely to play unsupervised in
the street, because of lack of access to gardens and playgrounds.
2001
casualty figures published
The DfT published its annual report on road accident statistics last
week.
The report - Road Accidents Great Britain: The Casualty Report 2001
- shows that 3,450 people were killed on Britain's roads in 2001,
one per cent more than in 2000. The number of people seriously injured
fell to 37,110, which is three per cent lower than in 2000.
28 more children were killed on the roads in 2001, an increase of
15 per cent over the 2000 figure. Most of the increase was among children
in cars (though the number of children who died in cars in 2000 was
particularly low). The total number of children killed or seriously
injured fell by four per cent.
Pedestrian casualties fell by 3 per cent and the number of killed
or seriously injured pedestrians was down 5 per cent. 13 per cent
of all road accident casualties - and almost a quarter of those who
died in road accidents - were pedestrians.
More @ http://www.dft.gov.uk.
RoSPA
issues challenge to fleet insurers
RoSPA is calling for all motor insurance companies to review the systems
that fleet operators have for managing occupational road risk (MORR™)
before setting premiums.
RoSPA is staging two new seminars on MORR™ following overwhelming
demand from the fleet industry for more information. One of the key
themes will be the cost of insurance and the drain that crashes can
make on company finances. The seminars will be at Kents Hill Park
Conference Centre, Milton Keynes on 2 December 2002 and Beardmore
Conference Hotel, Clydebank on 22 January 2003
.
"The opportunity to secure major savings in future fleet insurance
premiums will be one of the main items under discussion," said
Roger Bibbings, RoSPA occupational safety adviser. "Fleet
managers and health and safety advisers must establish the number
of employees having accidents in company cars, vans and lorries and
communicate the costs of those crashes to senior management.
"In that way, employers might begin to realise that accidents
while driving for work are the biggest occupational safety problem
and that being on the road for work is more risky than working in
some of Britain’s high hazard industries such as quarrying and
construction. Besides failing to protect employees, failure to adopt
a systematic risk management approach to MORR™ is literally pouring
money down the drain."
RoSPA is writing to the Association of British Insurers asking it
to urge its members to review their clients’ MORR™ procedures.
More @ www.rospa.com/morr
Norfolk
trials ‘sophisticated’ speed signs near schools
Experimental speed-activated signs are being trialled near a number
of schools in Norfolk (Surveyor, 19 September). Norfolk County Council
has opted for three units with more sophisticated controls than ‘standard’
speed-activated signs - allowing them to be activated at certain times
of the day.
The council is examining the possibility of school staff being able
to activate the signs to coincide with the school run and other periods
and events when children may be at risk. The findings of the trials
will be passed on to the Transport Research Laboratory.
"Motorists are growing familiar with speed-activated signs and
sometimes that familiarity breeds contempt," said Adrian
Gunman, cabinet member for planning and transportation. "This
is especially true when signs aimed at improving road safety outside
school remain active outside school hours.".
Road
accidents on the decrease in Wales
The number of road accidents in Wales in 2000 fell by three per cent
compared with the 1999 figure, according to new Office of National
Statistics figures (Surveyor, 19 September).
There were 9,589 road accident injuries in the year, which is 10 per
cent below the 1981-1985 average. The number of fatal and serious
accidents (1,436) was also two per cent down on the previous year.
In Britain as a whole road deaths have hovered around the 3,400 to
3,450 mark since 1998.
New
RAC group claims to represent ‘all road users’
A new organisation funded by the RAC Foundation and the Refined Bitumen
Association that claims to represent the interests of all road users,
including cyclists and pedestrians, was launched last week (Surveyor,
19 September).
Tim Green, the director of the new Road Users Alliance,
told a press conference that the group would promote increased investment
in the road network. Mr Green, a former member of the board of the
now defunct British Road Federation, expressed disbelief at a situation
where ‘cars have become the pariahs of the transport system’.
He attacked the low levels of investment in roads given the £41
billion in motoring taxes paid last year. He went on to say that the
RUA will provide a voice for all road users - from motorists to horse
riders - and will aim to attract members from groups representing
all areas.
Essex
councillors back speed limit revamp
Essex county councillors have given their backing to developing
a county-wide speed hierarchy for the county’s road network
(Local Transport Today, 26 September). Of 59 councillors responding
to an internal council survey, 81 per cent said they supported a
three-tier speed hierarchy.
On tier one routes the focus would be moving traffic; tier two roads
would cater for local traffic within Essex; and tier three would
comprise local roads where the speed limit would be set to encourage
non-motorised users.
However Brian Goodwin, Essex’s highways and transportation
manager, explained that the changes would require new legislation.
Three quarters of members supported greater flexibility in the use
of gateway signing to allow villages to have their own distinctive
designs. But only 40 per cent said they supported the introduction
of Home Zones and Quiet Lanes.
IRSO
set to stage drugs and driving seminar
IRSO’s (Institute of Road Safety Officers) north west area
group is organising a one day ‘drugs and driving’ seminar
at Haigh Hall, Wigan on 31 October 2002. The seminar is intended
to increase awareness of the effects of drugs on the body - and
their effects on driving ability - and to look at ways forward in
tackling this problem. The cost is £65 for IRSO members and
£80 for non-members (including lunch and refreshments).
To reserve a place please write to Marion Hesketh, Shropshire County
Council, Road Safety Environment Dept, 107 Longden Road, Shrewsbury
SY3 9DS.
Places
available on TMS courses in October
The TMS Consultancy has vacancies on two of its courses in October.
The subjects are ‘Child Road Safety Audit’ on 8 October
and ‘Speed Management’ on 29-30 October.
Anyone requiring more information about these courses, or wishing
to reserve a place, should contact Gill Brooks, office
manager, TMS Consultancy, 02476 690900, www.tmsconsultancy.co.uk |
