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LARSOA appoints PR specialist
Following a competitive tendering process, LARSOA has appointed DTW to deliver communications support and promote the Association's work and opinions.

Guisborough-based DTW is one of the UK's leading public sector PR specialists. Account director, Neil Schaefer, said: "We are delighted to be working with LARSOA, an organisation which is dedicated to making travelling on the UK's roads safer for all of us. We will work closely with LARSOA officers to co-ordinate and strengthen the promotion of the activities LARSOA undertakes to ensure the vital road safety messages are heard by the public."

Simon Ettinghausen, LARSOA chair, added: "It is vitally important that the voice of RSOs across the UK is heard. This will give us the opportunity to make sure our views are clearly understood, and that we contribute to the road safety debate."

For further information contact DTW's Neil Shaefer or Alison Ferst on 01287 610404.

Software company launches ORR website
Risk management and fleet software company Jaama has launched a new occupational road risk website, which it describes as a 'one-stop shop of advice relating to vehicles, drivers and business journeys'.

The click through menu on www.key2roadsafety.co.uk directs users to best practice information and provides a checklist of actions.

Jaama managing director, Jason Francis, said: "There has been a stream of press coverage on corporate road safety and the importance of businesses managing their occupational road risk.

"However, our research continues to show that many companies are unsure about exactly what measures they should put in place and how to implement those actions."

For further information contact Ashley Martin on 01733 390691, or ashley.martin32@btopenworld.com

Last orders for FirstCar

The deadline for orders for the September issue of FirstCar Magazine for young drivers is 18 August.

"The issue includes features on buying your first car, getting the best insurance deals, car modification, the driver improvement scheme, a day in the life of a traffic cop and tips for driving safely with passengers in your car," says James Evans, publisher. "We're also launching a new road safety poster created by a group of young driver media students."

The issue also includes a reader survey, which will provide road safety units using the magazine with feedback on how it is being received and interpreted. To encourage participation, respondents will have the chance of wining a free car and insurance for 12 months.

For prices and further information contact James Evans on 01235 537755 , or james@firstcar.co.uk.

Pupils enjoy benefits of Walk to School Week

Schoolchildren in Oakdale, Caerphilly, have walked their way to success in a competition organised as part of 2006 Walk to School Week.

The theme of this year's event was 'Independence' and over 7,000 pupils from 28 locals schools took part in the challenge. The pupils were given pedometers to record how far they walked to and from school each day.

Pupils from the winning school, Rhiw-Syr-Dafydd Junior in Oakdale, walked a massive 1,560,889 steps, which converted to 781 miles - equivalent to walking to the European Parliament in Brussels and back again.

For further information contact Susan Davies on 01495 235402.

RAC warns of driving abroad dangers
The RAC Foundation has warned British drivers to take care when driving abroad.

While British roads tie with Sweden's for the title of Europe's safest, with 54 fatalities per 100 million passenger km, some Mediterranean countries are far worse - with a figure of 153 for Spain, 156 for Portugal and 280 for Greece.

However, Britain does not score well for motorway safety - it is the only country apart from Belgium to have motorways that are worse than normal roads. Spain's well-engineered, largely empty motorways are twice as safe as our own.

For the full story go to: http://motoring.reuters.co.uk

DSA regains Charter Mark
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has regained its Charter Mark Award, which recognises and encourages customer service excellence in public organisations.

DSA voluntarily suspended its Charter Mark - first awarded in 1997 - in November 2003 following a surge in the demand for driving tests, which in turn resulted in long waiting times at a number of test centres, and difficulties in contacting its call centres.

A recruitment campaign for examiners, improvements in the telephone system and the rapid growth in booking tests on-line via the Agency's website have helped resolve the difficulties.

For further information contact DSA on 0115 901 2851/2.

Driver blew chance of beating camera ticket
What Craig Moore did not know when he blew up a roadside camera to destroy evidence of his speeding was that the blast triggered the mechanism and captured him on film.

Moore, a railway worker from Doncaster, had been flashed by the camera when he was speeding in Hyde, Greater Manchester. He returned with a quantity of explosive hoping to destroy the evidence, and caused £11,700 of damage to the camera top - but did not realise that his picture had been taken once again and that the image showing his vehicle's registration number was stored safely in the machine's base.

Moore, who admitted the offence last week at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, was remanded on conditional bail until 6 September, when he will be sentenced. The maximum penalty for destroying a speed camera is a 10 years custodial sentence.

None of the circumstances surrounding Moore's action were aired in open court, but sources close to the case said that after being caught by the camera the first time, he feared that an accumulation of points on his licence might lead to a driving ban, which could lose him his job.

Moore was said then to have acquired a quantity of Thermite, a powdered mixture of aluminium and iron oxide, which creates extremely high temperatures when ignited and is widely used on the railway for welding rails.

For the full story go to: http://www.timesonline.co.uk.