..presenting road safety across the UK


ROAD SAFETY NEWS - WEEK COMMENCING 8 DECEMBER

PM proposes speed limit review
A national review of speed limits - based on evidence of the risks posed by different types of road - was proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair last week (Surveyor, 4 December).

The proposal is being seen as an attempt to garner public support for the long-promised new hierarchy of limits.
HA admits speed cut pollution benefits
Calls for lower speed limits on motorways have been boosted by the Highway Agency’s (HA) acknowledgement that emissions rise sharply when traffic increases in speed from 55mph to 65mph (Surveyor, 27 November).

HA has acknowledged that particulates increase by 29 per cent and nitrogen dioxide emissions rise by 10 per cent for an average vehicle travelling at 65mph instead of 55mph.

The admission in a document on the HA’s role in local air quality management follows calls from highways authorities for 55mph limits to be introduced on motorways running through air quality management areas.

Rotherham and Sheffield councillors have both called for a 55mph on the M1 through their areas as the only viable answer to reducing pollution in their AQMAs to the acceptable levels the Government has specified.

The Role of the Highways Agency in Local Air Quality management is available at: www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/airqual/index/htm
Road safety group calls for new laws on driver error
A campaign group last week repeated its demand for new laws to crack down on driver error. Carole Whittingham, founder member of Support and Care After Road Deaths and Injury, said the result of a court case in Carlisle, against a lorry driver involved in a double-death crash, demonstrated the need for action.

Lorry driver John Thomas Dunbar, of Gateshead, was fined £500 but not given a driving ban after pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention. The charge followed a pile-up that claimed the lives of two other people.

"The law is difficult and that is why we have long campaigned for a change," Carole Whittingham said. "The difference between a Section 1 charge, such as dangerous driving or causing death by dangerous driving, and a Section 3 charge, like driving without due care and attention, can literally be only a matter of interpretation.

"If the lawyers believe a person has driven below the required level, they will go for due care and attention; if it is far below the required level, then it can be dangerous driving. There needs to be some middle ground, some charge of causing death by careless driving. Then at least the victims' relatives can see that their loved ones are acknowledged in court actions, that their lives are being taken into account," Mrs Whittingham concluded.

More @ http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news
Brake slams ABD cameras statement
Brake, the road safety charity, has hit back at a release issued recently by the Association of British Drivers (ABD).

In the release the ABD says that cameras should be re-deployed to sites where ‘excessive speed above the limit has been a primary cause of more than four fatal accidents’.

But Brake’s chief executive Mary Williams OBE disagrees. "This is an appalling statement suggesting that four people’s lives must be sacrificed to law-breaking speeding drivers before a speed camera is justifiable," she said. "It demonstrates a flagrant disregard for life and decency.

"It has shocked and offended Brake, and should shock and offend anyone with any sense of what is right. Imagine living in a community that has lost a child to a speeding driver and being told that three more people must die before a speed camera can be positioned," Mary Williams adds. "Brake is confident that such extreme comments from fringe groups are not representative of public opinion and they must be treated with the disregard they deserve."

Brake argues that speed cameras should be placed to ensure drivers comply with speed limits - particularly in built up areas and on narrow, dangerous rural roads - and that all speed limits should be reviewed using criteria relating to danger posed to communities, not numbers of deaths on particular stretches.

For further information contact Simon Collister on 01484 559909..
Consultants publish drink drive ‘myths’
In the hope of keeping people on the straight and narrow over the festive period, a Shropshire drink drive training company has published the ‘12 myths of Christmas’, which are based on what some people think or say before they get caught.

According to Telford Training Consultants (TTC) each year around 100,000 people across the UK are caught drink driving over the Christmas and New Year period - when one for the road often turns into three or four.

While some people may think one or two glasses is OK, TTC 2000’s motto is ‘None for the Road’ - as even one drink affects the ability to drive.

Here are TTC’s 12 myths, and their response:-

1. Alcohol doesn’t affect me. I drive better after a couple of pints.
You may think you drive better but alcohol makes you less alert and gives you a false sense of confidence. Even one drink affects your judgement and makes it difficult to judge speed and distance. You tend to take more risks overtaking and driving too fast.

2. I’ve only had a couple. Of course I’m OK to drive.
Just one drink affects your driving. Twice the legal limit and you are 50 times more likely to have a fatal accident.

3. I’ve just had a big meal. I’m fine to drive.
Food only delays the impact - it won’t stop it. You may only feel the effects when you get into your car.

4. I’ll drive. I don’t live very far and the roads are clear at this time of night.
70 per cent of all drink drive accidents happen within three miles of the start of a journey and nearly half of accidents in which people are killed or seriously injured happen between 11pm and 4am.

5. Of course I’m OK to drive. I know my limits.
Don’t kid yourself. Alcohol affects people in different ways depending on age, sex, build, whether you’ve eaten and what type of drink you have had. Fizzy drinks pass into the blood system quicker. It’s hard to work out your own limit. Don’t chance it.

6. Don’t worry. I’m being sensible. I’ll keep any eye on what I drink.
It’s very difficult to keep track on how much you drink at a friend’s house or at a party. Watch out for heavy-handed hosts who keep topping you up. Book a taxi, take a bus or train or have a nominated driver.

7. I’m a man aren’t I? And men can take their drink.
Men may be more able to cope with the effects of alcohol, and women are more likely to be more affected than a man of the same size as he has more body fluid. But don’t get carried away as more than 90 per cent of all convicted drink drivers are male.

8. I’ve drunk loads of times before and I’ve never been caught.
More than 600,000 breath tests are taken each year resulting in 100,000 prosecutions. Police can stop you if you commit a traffic offence, are involved in an accident or are driving erratically. You can still injure someone when you have had just one drink.

9. I can’t afford a taxi.
If convicted of drink driving you will be paying for a taxi for a long time. Added onto the automatic minimum 12 month ban is a hefty fine and the prospect of double or triple insurance once you get your licence back. If you use your car for work you may lose your job. If you kill someone you face up to ten years in prison.

10. I’m fine to drive. I’ve just had three strong coffees. They will have sobered me up.
Black coffee makes you feel more alert but it won’t sober you up. Nothing but time will reduce the amount of alcohol in your blood – and it could be a long time.

11. I haven’t had a drink for an hour or so. It will be OK.
It takes at least nine hours to get rid of alcohol after drinking four pints of normal strength beer (lager and guest beers take much longer). After a night’s drinking you can still be over the limit when you drive to work in the morning.

12. I only do this once a year – at Christmas.
Many people caught drink driving for the first time say it was a ‘one-off’ offence and they drank more than planned during the festivities. Christmas is full of temptations and people drink more now than ever before. Saying ‘yes’ is just not worth the risk.

For more information contact TTC 2000 by phone(01952) 292246 or train@ttc-uk.com, or visit the company’s website at www.ttc-uk.com.