Bracknell Forest’s RSO, Tina Housego, has received the BTEC Professional Development Diploma in Accident and Safety Management.
The two-year course for those involved in road traffic and safety issues is taught using a combination of distance learning and four residential sessions. Tina was also awarded a trophy and cheque for £250 as the ‘IRSO student of the year’ for delivering the best dissertation.
Tina said: ‘It was difficult juggling a full time job and all the studying that was required. Winning the award for the dissertation was wonderful and I’m proud of what I have achieved so late in life!’
For further information contact Tina Housego on 01344 351191.
Ambulance driver texts at the wheel - with patient sat behind
A London Ambulance Service driver has been spotted texting at the wheel while carrying a patient, according to a report in the Mirror.
The NHS worker spent three minutes sending text messages as he drove with his other hand on the wheel, occasionally glancing up ahead to look at traffic. He was also not wearing a seatbelt.
Chris Mashadi was a passenger in another car when he spotted the scene and took the picture. He said: “I could not believe my eyes. An ambulanceman in an official NHS fluorescent jacket was studying his phone and not the road. I could see clearly he was texting someone. We drove alongside him for three minutes and he didn’t stop staring at his phone.”
Irish RSO Noel Gibbons is warning of the dangers posed by vehicles with one failed headlight, which he has christened ‘Cyclopes’.
Mr Gibbons says: “Many motorists are not checking that both their vehicle’s headlights are working correctly. At the start of every journey, drivers should ensure that each headlight is working and adjusted correctly.
”Having a headlight out is dangerous in two ways: not only can the driver of the vehicle not see properly with only half the usual light available, but the defective headlight means that other road users will have difficulty spotting the vehicle properly.”
RideSafe BackSafe is urging recent converts to two wheels to take skills training as soon as they buy a motorcycle or scooter.
The biker-dedicated initiative is concerned that many road users are turning to a cheaper mode of transport to beat the credit crunch and assuming that their driving skills are adequate.
RideSafe BackSafe’s Shelby Williams explains: "Motorcycle dealerships across the northwest are telling us that sales of scooters and smaller motorcycles are surprisingly buoyant at the moment and this probably reflects the desire for many road users to find a cheaper way to travel.
“However, when dealers recommend that customers book a skills training course or rider assessment scheme the take up is poor."
A motorcyclist caught speeding at 122mph with his 14-year-old son riding pillion has been sentenced to six months in prison.
Robert Bennett, 47, from Barnstaple in Devon, had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at an earlier hearing. Exeter Crown Court heard his son was not wearing any protective clothing at the time of the offence.
Bennett was caught by a mobile camera on the North Devon Link Road, near South Molton. His son was holding onto the seat of the motorbike with his bare hands.
Judge Phillip Wassell told Bennett: "Had you lost control of your motorcycle it would have become a missile and caused a serious accident and probably death would have followed. The lack of responsibility is almost unbelievable.
Multi-lingual presentations help get message across
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South Yorkshire Police joins European crackdown
As part of a weeklong seatbelt awareness campaign, South Yorkshire Police recorded more than 430 motorists and passengers not wearing seatbelts.
The European-wide TISPOL (Traffic Information System Police) seatbelt initiative ran from 16 to 22 February and involved police forces from across Europe.
A Suffolk motorist has been forced to seek counselling for his extreme phobia of speed cameras.
Colin Gant, 41, is terrified of being incorrectly flashed by Gatsos - even though he has never had a speeding ticket, reports the Daily Telegraph.
He regularly takes huge detours to avoid camera sites and says that if he sees a speed camera he suffers a panic attack and has to pull over.
Mr Gant said: "Every time I drove past one I started worrying about what would happen if I was caught speeding: would I lose my job? How would it affect my family?
"The irony is I've never been caught speeding and actually hate it when people drive too fast and I fully support the principle behind speed cameras."
He first realised he had a problem four years ago yet was too embarrassed to tell his friends or work colleagues about it.
Mr Gant, who admits his phobia is ‘completely irrational’, found himself constantly anticipating the next box and often driving several miles on back streets to avoid camera sites.
He has been helped by Norfolk Safety Camera Partnership, which has attempted to prove how reliable the cameras are.
A spokesman for Anxiety UK said Mr Gant was not alone in suffering the speed camera phobia - and said their own chief executive has the same fear.
