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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 »

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Auto Express has reminded us that when the Tory led coalition came to power they were going to stop Labour’s war on the motorist but has that war ended? They analyse the key areas:

Speed Cameras: We already know that many of the UK’s cameras have been switched off but we also know that many local people are being trained up to use speed Read more »

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 »

Whilst all fatalities on UK roads dropped last year the figures are still too high. 2,222 people died on the roads of Britain last year, down 12% on 2008. Car occupant deaths fell 16%, pedestrians 13%, cyclists 10% and motorcyclists 4%. Whilst speed awareness courses are often not taken seriously by drivers who have been caught speeding and prefer to attend a course rather than suffer a conviction, the courses have been known to improve drivers’ attitudes towards speeding. This is particularly Read more »

And so the debate goes on regarding speed cameras. I first of all reported that many local authorities were switching them off as they could no longer afford to keep them operating. Then the public stepped in and complained that they were necessary if we are not to see a rise in deaths on the road, supported by safety bodies. So now it seems that some local authorities are willing to rent a Gatso for £5,000 per annum if local people want to keep particular cameras operating. When Oxfordshire Read more »

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 »

Aren’t statistics fantastic? It would seem that statistics show that children brought up in wealthy neighbourhoods are less likely to die or get badly injured on UK roads. The statistics, prepared by Road Safety Analysis, compared accidents linking 0 – 15 year olds to the victims’ postcodes. The UK’s most dangerous area is Preston, Lancs. Here, children are twice as likely to be killed or injured than the National average or five times more likely than the safest area, Kensington and Chelsea in Read more »

After reporting that many councils were planning to shut down their speed cameras, after the government announced its £38 million cut in road safety grants across the country, Mick Giannasi, head of road policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers, threw a spanner in the works by claiming that speed cameras were a big reason why deaths and serious injuries had been halved from 8 years ago. He went on to say Read more »

Before I explain how UK roads are the safest in Europe I read a piece by Graham Hope, deputy editor of Auto Express, referring to the same report, in which he referred to a famous joke making the point that the further south you go the worse the driving: ‘What do traffic lights mean in Italy? In Milan they’re instructions. In Rome they’re suggestions. And in Naples? They’re Christmas decorations!’ Hilarious or what? Read more »

Have you seen one of the new CCTV Smart cars in your travels? If you have then they have probably been spying on you. It’s the latest idea to catch motorists doing illegal things like parking. Known as ‘Drive by spies’ these cars have raised £8 million in fines over the last 12 months from 188,000 motorists. There are 54 CCTV equipped Smart ForTwo cars operating in different towns and cities. In Essex the units Read more »