Seminar tackles host of road safety issues

The fourth annual public road safety seminar organised by Carlow County Council, Gardai and the Health Board was held recently at the Institute of Technology in Northern Ireland.
 
Speakers included Siobhan Rafter, European information officer, Cathal McKeever, senior road safety officer at Armagh and superintendent Michael McKenna. Siobhan Rafter opened by telling delegates that there are 379.5 million people in the EU, of which 375 million are road users. She explained that 1.3 million accidents occur each year in Europe, resulting in 40,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries - and that in Ireland in 2003, there were 87 deaths per one million motorists. The EU aims to cut road deaths by 50 per cent by 2010.
 
Attendees heard about a range of road safety information and issues, including a presentation by Cathal McKeever who spoke of his involvement in the education sector and the local road safety voluntary movement in Northern Ireland. Superintendent McKenna gave details of detection rates at national and local levels for speeding, seat belt offences and drink driving. A lively question and answer session ended the seminar.
 
Further details can be obtained by emailing John McDarby: jmcdarby@carlowcoco.ie.

Baby seat checks prove vital

The Redcar and Cleveland road safety team have warned parents about the dangers of not fitting baby car seats correctly and therefore putting children's lives at risk.
 
The campaign was launched on 8 November at the local Asda store, with free car seat checks being offered to parents by road safety manager Mike Hall. "The last time we carried out these checks we tested over 300 car baby seats and there was an 85 per cent failure rate," he said.
 
During the week 45 car seats were checked using a special rig to demonstrate how a correctly fitted car seat should look. All of those tested failed due to buckle crunching or loose fitting.
 
Further information is available by emailing Mike Hall:
mike_hall@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk.

Motorcycling website success

The new www.handleitorloseit.com website has proved popular with the over 35 age group of sports motorbikes riders, according to the campaign's organisers. (Surveyor, 4 Nov).

The campaign has gained support from police forces, safety camera partnerships and local authorities, and the website features a collection of near-miss crash information on the types of unreported incidents that riders experience. This information can then be passed on to the Highways Agency and local authorities so that pre-emptive action can be taken to improve troublesome areas. Visitors to the site are said to enjoy its 'easy going' feel and are encouraged to report roads of safety concern.

PACTS calls for tougher road safety enforcement

PACTS has called on the Government to bring forward a new road safety Bill in the next Parliament and to include roads policing as a key priority in the National Policing Plan.

A recently published report on traffic law and its enforcement argues that road casualties are not taken seriously enough, and calls for more effective enforcement and an overhaul of legislation on negligent driving.

"Effective roads policing is essential to reducing road casualties but is not given sufficient governmental priority, as this report shows," explained Jonathan Gaventa, PACTS policy and campaigns officer. "This report underlines the need for new legislation to make road traffic enforcement efficient, effective and fair. We urge the Government to include a road safety Bill to deal with these issues in the next Parliament."

The House of Commons Transport Committee has rejected Government proposals to lower penalties for speeding but supports other proposals on speeding, drink driving and mobile phone use.

Further information is available at: www.pacts.org.uk.

Pavement removal plan revealed

A controversial Dutch traffic management concept that involves vehicles and pedestrians sharing a single-level surface street is being considered for a royal borough in London (Surveyor, 4 Nov).

The plan involves the removal of signals and footways from the street to create a one-level surface, removing pedestrians and motorists from a familiar environment and forcing them to behave responsibly. The concept has been trialled in the Netherlands and Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman claims it has reduced accidents and led to smoother traffic flows.

"We are very interested in the experiments carried out in the Netherlands for improving road safety by removing distinctions between spaces for different road users," said Kensington and Chelsea deputy lead councillor Daniel Moylan. "We are actively looking for a location in the royal borough where a new design, based on these principles, can be carried out."

Kensington and Chelsea's move would go further than its previous departure from government design guidance on Kensington High Street.

GEM offers advice for driving under medication

GEM Motoring Assist has updated its free question and answer leaflet 'Are you a driver taking medicine? '

The leaflet is presented in a 'frequently asked questions' format and is aimed at drivers who are being prescribed medicines. It will also be available in chemists for over-the-counter treatments that can cause drowsiness.

"The DfT THINK! campaign has been majoring on the road safety aspects of drowsiness and tiredness and our leaflet confronts this problem in a helpful and informative way," said David Williams, chief executive of GEM. "We have been campaigning for a simple traffic light warning label on medicines where red would advise no driving, and amber would suggest a GP or pharmacist should be consulted as drowsiness could occur. Green would be an all clear to drive signal."

For a supply of the free leaflets or for further information email: info@motoringassist.com.

Safety experts debate dangerous road

A problem road in Norfolk has been the focus of motoring professionals as they attempted to find new safety solutions (Eastern Daily Press, 8 Nov).

Representatives from the police, the camera surveillance team, road safety partnership, Institute of Advanced Motorists and the Motorcycling Federation met to discuss the eight-mile stretch of the A149 from Smallburgh to Potter Heigham.

The section of road has seen 27 accidents and 10 deaths in the last five years. A safety audit in 2003 recommended more warning signs at the roadside, repainting, and improved visibility on the approach to junctions.

This is the second meeting about the A149 in recent weeks. A series of improvements were made earlier this autumn, including erecting THINK! bike signs and painting existing hatch road markings red to highlight the danger of overtaking.

Further information is available at: www.edp24.co.uk.