Thursday, 29. September 2011
Should eye tests be mandatory for drivers? A major insurer thinks so linking eye tests to licence renewals making them mandatory every 10 years. RSA’s ‘Fit to Drive’ campaign examines the link between drivers’ eyesight and road safety and has also asked that new drivers should have an eyesight test when applying for their provisional licence. At the Read more »
Monday, 29. August 2011
The Department for Transport has started to issue statistics on their website relating to individual speed cameras with a mixed response. The overall pictures suggests that road accidents and speed at camera locations is no less than the national average which has dropped over the last 10 years. Mike Penning, Road Safety Minister said that the statistics Read more »
Friday, 29. July 2011
20mph speed limits could be coming to a road near you as the government announces new rules that make it easier for councils to impose them, even though a survey carried out by the RAC revealed that 13 million of the 34 million drivers ignored 20mph speed limits. Currently the councils are obliged to use speed humps and signposts to control Read more »
Sunday, 24. July 2011
Image via Wikipedia
I have reported in the past the progress being made to introduce accurate drug testing with the ability of traffic officers to carry out roadside drug tests. I understood that equipment was now available but awaiting legislation to be passed that would enable police to carry out the tests after stopping suspicious motorists. This move was supported by a poll Read more »
Tuesday, 3. May 2011
Image via Wikipedia
Evidence shows that drivers are not attentive 66% of the time. This was revealed by Dr Nick Reed, senior researcher into human behaviour at the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), at a seminar into driver distraction organised by road safety charity, Brake. If it wasn’t such a serious subject I could reveal a few distractions that could easily lead to Read more »
Tuesday, 22. March 2011
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
If you were a visitor to this country driving on our motorways you could be excused for believing that the limit was 80 miles per hour and not, as I believe it is, 70 miles per hour. It seems that Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond supports the idea of lifting the speed limit as our limit is one of the slowest in Europe. However the anti car brigade are Read more »
Monday, 25. October 2010
What are the two most dangerous things that a motorist can do that could result in injury or death? Most people would assume this to be the two things that the government, media and safety organisations obsess over. Speeding and drink driving. We are about to be hit with a campaign regarding drink driving as we run up to Christmas and there seems to be a year round campaign to demonise those that speed. Read more »
Sunday, 3. October 2010
It would seem that magistrates have gone soft, as a result of the recession, if you have accidentally reached the automatic driving ban of 12 points on your licence. Some say this is wrong and that the ban should be automatically imposed, especially in extreme cases like the driver who was allowed to keep his licence even after he amassed 54 Read more »
Wednesday, 22. September 2010
If you are a regular reader of my newsletter and blog you will recall that I announced that the Government was considering moving out the first MOT to 2 years and the annual MOT tests thereafter to be moved from annual to bi-annual as a result of pressure to do so by the EU. This has sparked some strong resistance from road safety groups. RoadSafe has said that the Government shouldn’t change the current Read more »
Thursday, 26. August 2010
Leading road safety charity BRAKE has warned companies about the dangers of sleep apnoea which can cause drivers to fall asleep at the wheel. Research has shown that as many as 700,000 people may suffer this condition. Brake is calling on the Government to provide funds to enable them to publicise the dangers and how to identify the condition. Brake said that they want to see screening introduced before Read more »