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OTHER
NEWS IN BRIEF - W/C 3 MAY 2004
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HAs urged
to remove white lines in 30mph zones
Highway authorities are to be urged to remove white lines on the
centre of roads subject to 30mph limits as a way of cutting casualties
and speeds (Surveyor, 29 April).
The latest evidence that carriageways without markings have a
beneficial effect on driver behaviour comes from Wiltshire, where
road safety officers report a 35 per cent reduction in injury
accidents at 12 sites where road markings had been removed. This
compares with a two per cent overall decrease countywide in 2003.
Speed readings also show a general reduction at the same sites
over the last 12 months.
Guidance on good practice for signing and lining commissioned
by the English Towns Forum is expected to commend Wiltshire’s
approach to other authorities.
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Details
of working time legislation for UK drivers unveiled
Details of how the new Road Transport (Working Time) Directive
will be implemented in the UK were announced last week by DfT.
"These regulations will provide drivers with clear guidance
on working conditions and the level of protection enjoyed by employees
in other sectors, without imposing an unfair burden upon employers,"
said road safety minister David Jamieson. "Drivers
will benefit from lower work related stress levels and we expect
to see road safety benefits for both drivers and other road users."
In summary, the new UK regulations will:-
- allow
a four-month reference period for calculating the average 48-hour
week, which can be extended to six months.
- allow
night workers to work more than 10 hours work for every 24 hour
period.
- define
‘night time’ as a period between midnight and 04.00
for drivers and crew of goods vehicles, and 01.00-05.00 for
drivers and crew of passenger vehicles.
- permit
VOSA (DVTA - NI) to enforce the new regulations, primarily in
response to complaints it receives. VOSA’s approach will
be to educate employers and workers rather than look to prosecute.
- In
addition, ministers have confirmed that self-employed drivers
will not be covered by UK regulations until March 2009.
More
@ http://www.dft.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2004_0052
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Captain
Safety wows kids and teachers in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire’s Captain Safety roadshow is proving a
great success, according to Bill Brady, who heads up the County’s
road safety team.
"The lively interactive magic and ventriloquist show, which
is designed for the 5-6 year age group, is proving extremely popular
with children," Bill Brady says. "What’s
more, teachers are impressed that it is giving the right message
to the right age group."
The show features Dave Allen, who doubles as Captain
Safety. Dave Allen recently beat off 400 other professionals to
win the coveted title of UK Children’s Entertainer of the Year
at Blackpool on 22 February 2004.
For details about the show, and how to book Captain Safety, telephone
Ruth Lyddiard on 01582.478680. |
New
EU members play road safety ‘catch up’
Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1989, some 150,000 people have
been killed on the roads of the 10 countries that joined the EU
on 1 May, according to the European Commission statistics agency
Eurostat.
The situation has improved slightly in the last five years, the
report shows, but more than 10,000 people are still killed in road
accidents each year in the eight former communist eastern European
states. The two other candidate states are Malta and Cyprus.
The eight states - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia - have a combined population
of 75 million and some 20.5 million cars, according to the report.
Together they recorded 11,373 road deaths in 2000, while Germany
- with a population of 82 million and 43.5 million cars - recorded
only 7,503.
And Germany is not the safest country for road travel among the
15 current EU members. That accolade belongs to Britain, with its
5.6 annual road deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2000 - compared
with 24.7 in Latvia, 17.3 in Lithuania, 16.3 in Poland and 15.7
in Slovenia.
More @ http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/040423034112.3icsx0sg |
Brake
issues warning about the safety of over-the-counter medication
As the hay fever season gets underway, research by Brake,
the road safety charity and Green Flag Motoring Assistance
shows drivers on UK roads may be driving impaired through taking
medication that is widely available over-the-counter or on prescription.
Research by the Human Psychopharmacology Unit at Surrey University
has found that some prescription medication can increase the risk
of a crash occurring almost six-fold.
"Research shows that there are many medicines available over
the counter that have a significant effect on an individual’s
ability to drive," says Professor Ian Hindmarch, head
of the medical research centre at Surrey University. "In most
types of anti-allergy medicines, anti-anxiety medicines and antidepressants,
there are products that can potentially impair driving ability to
a greater extent than alcohol at the legal limit."
Brake is using the report to call on the Government to change existing
legislation on impaired driving. It wants to see compulsory labelling
of medication that may affect driving, health warnings (as on cigarette
packets) on medication, a requirement for prescribing doctors/pharmacists
to advise patients not to drive, and Government funding for year-round
campaigns on the dangers of driving after taking these medicines. |
Driving
'myths' prove costly for motorists
Misconceptions and naivety could cost car drivers money and points
on their licence, according to a report in The Guardian last
week.
As many as 46 per cent of drivers surveyed said they thought a police
officer had to be wearing their hat to book you for a traffic offence,
rising to 55 per cent among older drivers. While this was once the
case, it's no longer true - an officer just has to be recognisable.
The poll, carried out for Tesco Personal Finance, also showed
that one in five drivers believed they could drive fast enough to
beat a speed camera. In fact, you would have to be speeding along
at 171mph in order to escape the camera's flash.
An
estimated 13 million motorists thought they only had to tell their
insurer if they had six or more points on their licence.
Other potentially costly myths uncovered by the survey included:
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You can't be booked for speeding in a hire car.
- You
can't get into trouble for driving too slowly.
- Speed
cameras only catch people in the left-hand lane.
- Reflective
number plates make it impossible for speed cameras to take photos.
More
@ http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story
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BUSK
unveils details of Ladies Driving Challenge 2004
The 2004 Ladies Driving Challenge will be held 3-4 July at
Caerwent Army Training Base, South Wales. The event is organised
by BUSK, a national school transport safety charity.
Any lady holding a current car driving licence can participate and
drive a variety of vehicles (under instruction) - from a 40 ton
supermarket juggernaut to a double decker bus, bin lorry, fuel tanker
and others. The Challenge costs £10 per person to register
and each entrant must produce £80 sponsorship funding.
For further information contact BUSK on 01633 274944 or
busk.beltupschoolkids@btopenworld.com. |
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