'Share the road' wins Prince Michael commendation

A campaign that urges all road users to be courteous and have care and regard for everyone's safety has won a national award.

Share The Road was launched in April 2003 by Essex County Council and was endorsed by road safety minister David Jamieson.  

The campaign has subsequently been rolled out across the county, targeting different road users and providing information leaflets. The most requested leaflet covers parking thoughtfully to allow room for people with pushchairs or disabilities to pass.

Earlier this month the Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards announced that it was giving the County Council a commendation certificate, which was presented to the road safety team in Chelmsford.

For further information contact:
Hazel.Smith@essexCC.Gov.UK

DfT consults on guidance for local speed limits

The DfT last week invited comments on draft updated guidance for English local authorities about how they should set speed limits.

Local traffic authorities are responsible for setting local speed limits on roads where speeds are different to the national speed limit. To assist them, the Department issues guidance covering the setting of all local speed limits on single and dual carriageway roads in both urban and rural areas.

The consultation seeks views on the updated guidance that will replace the current advice, which was issued in 1993. The draft guidance takes account of road safety developments over the last 10 years, including speed limits in villages, 20mph speed limits and zones, and new signage.

The guidance is designed to promote greater clarity and consistency regarding the setting of local limits. Commenting on the draft guidance, transport minister David Jamieson said: "Local speed limits encourage drivers to adopt safe and appropriate speeds. They help drivers assess their surrounding road environment and adjust their driving accordingly.

"The department's guidance aims to help local authorities set the right limits for the right roads based on local evidence and considerations. While the current advice remains good and helpful, it is being updated to take account of the experience and road safety developments that have taken place since it was last published."

Road show promotes drink drive message

Hertfordshire County Council's Road Safety Unit continued to raise drink drive awareness with a road show across the county during 4 - 11 November. The road show was planned to coincide with BRAKE road safety week, whose theme this year was drink drive.

Road safety officers and the police visited various locations with an exhibition and offered people the chance to try a breathalyser test.

Watford FC goalkeeper, Richard Lee, took a breathalyser test (which was negative!) at the Costco Centre in Bushey to show fans his support for the campaign.

"The message was widely supported and the road show was a great success," said Stacey Clarke, Hertfordshire's campaign officer for drink drive. "Having a breathalyser test and a local footballer helped generate even more interest than was hoped."

For further information contact Stacey Clarke:
stacey.clarke@hertscc.gov.uk

Cameras work - but how well?

Researchers gathered in London recently to discuss the impact of speed cameras on road accident casualty figures (Local Transport Today, 18 Nov).

The seminar, Mantled in Mist: The importance of the evidence for the effectiveness of speed cameras, was organised by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS).

Academics discussed their work monitoring the link between vehicle speeds and road traffic accident rates and the effectiveness (or otherwise) of safety cameras in reducing vehicles speeds and hence reducing accident rates. What soon emerged from the debate was a clear picture that reducing vehicle speeds does reduce accident rates and that cameras, which indisputably reduce vehicle speeds when used, therefore perform an important road safety role.

What was far less clear, however, was exactly how effective cameras are. The meat of the seminar concerned the best statistical methods of accurately measuring the 'before' and 'after' accidents rates on a stretch of road where a camera has been installed while taking into account such phenomena as regression-to-the-mean (RTM). RTM theory suggests that in the aftermath of a cluster of road accidents there will almost inevitably be a reduction in accidents numbers, whether or not a camera is installed, as the long term accident rate is likely to be far lower that the rate during the short period in which the cluster of accidents took place.

The full seminar report can be found in Local Transport Today, 18 November, page 9.

Drug worker warns of cannabis dangers

An interesting letter by Max Cruickshank on the subject of drug driving appeared in Scottish newspaper The Herald on 22 November.

"A bus driver who recently caused carnage whilst driving with cannabis in his bloodstream highlights only too clearly the folly of David Blunkett's decision to downgrade cannabis from category B to C," said Mr Cruickshank. "Now that the government has downgraded it, this has reinforced mistaken belief that there are no ill effects of using it.

"In my work as a drugs education worker I have met thousands of cannabis users who mistakenly believe it is a relaxant and downer that will calm them down and so improve their driving. Many even use it to overcome the stress of undertaking a driving test.

"Politicians should also be aware that the use of other drugs amphetamines (speed), cocaine and now crack cocaine when driving is an ever-growing menace on our roads," Mr Cruickshank concluded.

GEM Warns of 'morning after' blues

With the season of celebration and over indulgence getting ever nearer, road safety organisation GEM (Guild of Experienced Motorists) is warning about the dangers of driving 'the morning after'.

"The generosity of hosts at dinner parties and stronger wine and spirits in larger measures being sold in pubs means that it could take a lot longer than you think to rid the system of the effects of alcohol," said GEM chief executive David Williams. "It takes about one hour for a single unit of alcohol to dissipate from the body.

"At GEM we are concerned with the safety of all road users and our advice is that driving is skilful and demanding especially in winter, and anyone 'feeling a bit rough' should think twice before getting behind the wheel."

GEM has revised and updated its free booklet of winter driving and advice.

To obtain a copy of the booklet or for further information visit: www.roadsafety.org.uk/information/publish/article_269.shtml