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ROAD
SAFETY NEWS - WEEK COMMENCING 8 SEPTEMBER
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RoSPA produces
guide for voluntary organisations
A new guide to help people who drive for voluntary organisations
to stay safe on the road has been produced by RoSPA.
Many voluntary organisations provide road transport services in
their communities and also run vehicles for their day-to-day operations.
In addition, some volunteers use their own vehicles. With between
800 and 1,000 deaths on Britain’s roads each year believed
to involve people driving as part of their job, the voluntary
sector has the same duty of care under health and safety law as
big companies.
RoSPA carried out a pilot study with three voluntary groups to
see how they handled these issues and has used their experiences
to help others. The Society has now published a framework that
can be adopted by voluntary organisations to establish a policy
for the management of occupational road risk. It has been sent
to community transport groups and road safety officers and will
be provided free to interested organisations.
"Many businesses are only just coming to terms with the need
to manage occupational road risk, so voluntary organisations are
likely to need help," said Linda Morrison Allsopp,
RoSPA’s road safety project manager. "They have a responsibility
to safeguard their employees and volunteers and do their best
to ensure none of their drivers pose a threat to other road users."
Copies of the guidance are available from Linda Morrison Allsopp,
RoSPA, 353 Bristol Road, Birmingham B5 7ST, lmallsopp@rospa.com.
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1,000
West Country speeders opt to attend workshop
More than 1,000 speeders caught on camera have opted to attend a
‘Speed Choice’ workshop rather than have three penalty
points on their licence. Speed Choice was launched by the Somerset
and Avon Safety Camera Partnership at the end of April 2003 as part
of its educational approach to reducing deaths and injuries on local
roads.
The
three-hour workshops, run by driving instructors and road safety
experts, are designed to persuade drivers to reduce their speed
and the risk of being involved in a crash. Topics covered during
the sessions include the reasons for speed limits, the consequences
of driving at excessive or inappropriate speed, and strategies
to avoid exceeding the limits.
At
present the workshop option is only available to drivers who are
just over the 30mph limit, the so-called ‘low end’ speeders.
"The
sessions are designed to give drivers information about a range
of road safety issues and develop an understanding of the link
between excessive speed and the risk and severity of crashes,"
said Nisha Devani, the partnership's education development
officer. "We have been running the workshops for just over
two months and feedback from people attending has been very positive."
Drivers
are only allowed to attend one workshop, and failure to turn up
for the allocated session results in them being fined for the
original speeding offence and having their licence endorsed.
Further
information can be obtained from
LMCraig@somerset.gov.uk
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Scottish
bus growth dwarfed by traffic increase
Bus use has increased for the third year in a row in Scotland -
but the modest rise in the popularity of public transport is dwarfed
by rapid growth in road traffic (Surveyor 28 August).
The latest transport statistics show that traffic expanded by 4
per cent in 2003, while passenger journeys on local bus services
rose by just 1 per cent in 2201/02.
The Scottish Executive welcomed the statistics as encouraging for
public transport, but environmental campaigners criticised it for
failing to deliver a sustainable transport policy.
It is the first time that a rise in bus boardings has been sustained
over three years since current records began in 1975. However, the
figure of 441 million bus journeys is still only three quarters
of the level of a decade ago. |
TISPOL
extends invite to Berlin-based conference
TISPOL, Europe's Traffic Police Network, is extending an invitation
to road safety professionals in the UK to its 4th Annual Congress.
The
theme of the Congress is ‘Crossing Borders to Save Lives’,
and its objective is to emphasise police concern about the 45,000
people killed annually on Europe's roads – and how to reduce
this statistic.
The
Congress will take place 29-30 October 2003 at the Estrel Convention
Center, Berlin, Germany. The fee for the two-day event is €445
(€522.87 including VAT) or £304.32 (£357.57 including
VAT). This includes admission to the conference and the exhibition
on both days, two lunches, one dinner and refreshments during
the conference.
For full information and a booking form go to www.tispol.org
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Conference
sets out to answer key questions
Capita
Conferences is organising a one-day conference, Road Safety - Engineering,
Education and Enforcement, in central London on 28 October.
Speakers at the event will include Sandy Bishop, the
DfT’s Head of Road Safety, Rob Gifford, Executive
Director of PACTS and Steven Whitehouse, Chair, LARSOA.
As
road safety professionals will know, Government has set a goal
of a 40 per cent reduction in the number of people killed or injured
in road accidents by the year 2010.
The
conference will bring together key stakeholders – the educators,
the enforcers and the engineers – to discuss if this achievable,
how close we are to meeting the targets and what more can be done.
The
fee for delegates from the public sector is £350 and from
the private sector £450. The special rate for registered
charities is £150 per delegate. All prices are exclusive
of VAT. The fee includes refreshments and lunch.
To book or for more information call 0870 400 1020 or visit www.capitaconferences.co.uk
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