All related news
11-May-2012
An American study has revealed the dangers apparent when young drivers are behind the wheel with other teenagers in the car with them. The study, by the AAA Safety Foundation focused on those drivers aged 16 and 17 and found that the risk of death per mile driven increased by 44% when carrying a passenger aged below 21 and with no one older in the car with them. However, if there is a person over the age of 35 also in the vehicle, the risk decreases by 62%
In the USA state driving laws changed in the 1990s and “graduated licencing” laws are in place which often restrict...
12-Mar-2012
New figures, from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts) have revealed that there are far more elderly drivers on the roads nowadays, although accidents involving them haven’t fallen in line with other age groups.
While there were only 15% of those aged over 70 who held a driving licence in 1975, that had grown to almost 60% by 2010 and rises to 80% of those aged between 60 and 69. However, though the overall number of deaths and serious injuries between 2000 and 2010 had fallen by 41%, the drop amongst those aged 60 to 69 was 37% and for those aged over 80 it...
24-Jan-2012
Figures have just been published for the annual Christmas and New Year crackdown on drink and drug drivers and they reveal that over 7,100 drivers were arrested.
The campaign took place in the month between 1 December and 1 January and involved officers from 43 forces in England and Wales, with intelligence led testing being used for the first time. Almost 157,000 drivers were stopped and tested and more than 7,100 were found to be under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. There was a higher rate of offending among those under the age of 25, 5.7% compared to the 4% rate of those...
17-Jan-2012
Following on from the governments planned change to increase the motorway speed limit. New research published in the British Medical Journal has highlighted questions over the wisdom of the government’s proposed raising of the speed limit on motorways.
The Department for Transport is looking to increase the limit from 70 to 80mph on motorways from next year, claiming that, with Britain having one of the lowest rates of road deaths in the world, the move would provide economic benefits.
However the research, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says that economic...
03-Jan-2012
Transport bosses have called on the government to change regulations which require ministerial approval before safety mirrors for cyclists can be installed at dangerous road junctions.
Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly group, who is also chairman of the Transport Committee, said that in London alone action was urgently needed at the most dangerous junctions, pointing to figures showing the number of cycle deaths in the capital which have gone up from 10 last year to 16 in 2011.
She added that one particular way to achieve this could be through an end to...
28-Nov-2011
A cyclist is to make a claim against Halfords after being involved in a collision with a car.
Kath Percival, from Preston, suffered cuts and bruises in the collision which took place when she lost her balance when approaching a roundabout in Clitheroe as she was taking part in a weekend cycle ride to York. She claims that she has been in pain for several months since the accident and it has affected her confidence when cycling on roads.
The problems started when Mrs Percival took her specialised Roubaix bike to her local branch of Halfords for a service ahead of the cycle ride. She got...
03-Nov-2011
They have been present in Britain since 1951 and featured on perhaps the best known album cover in the world, but now it appears that zebra crossings are on the way out.
The distinctive black and white road markings, made famous in the Beatles Abbey Road album cover, are vanishing with an AA spokesman predicting that they will eventually become obsolete in towns and villages.
Already, over the last five years, their numbers have fallen by about 1,000, due largely to a rise in the number pedestrian accident deaths and injuries on crossing, which has been put down to drivers failing to stop as...
07-Sep-2011
Midlands driver has won £2,000 in compensation for damage caused to his car by potholes despite his local council warning that he faced losing thousands if he pursued his claim.
Hamilton Bland, from Coventry, who is a former BBC sports commentator, damaged his car in the winter of 2010 when his Mercedes vehicle hit potholes which damaged three of the wheels. He took his car to a garage who told him that the wheels could not be repaired and that it would cost £2,000 to replace them.
However Coventry Council refused to accept liability and lawyers representing the council sent letters...
02-Sep-2011
The car manufacturer Ford is to start fitting inflatable rear seat belts on all of its compatible cars.
Though there is as yet no date for when they will start to be fitted in Europe, they will shortly be added to the new Explorer model in the USA. Though rear seatbelts have been compulsory since 1991 they do not offer the same protection as the new technology which spreads the impact of a collision across five times the body area of a normal seatbelt, thus helping to reduce personal injury to passengers.
It works by sensors in the car working out how severe the crash has been which...
30-Aug-2011
A new report has emphasised the many advantages that more cyclists on the roads bring to the economy, though warnings concerning road safety could affect the numbers expected to take it up in the future.
The report, from the London School of Economics, which has been published by Sky and British Cycling, found that cycling raises almost £3bn for the British economy through the approximately 13 million cyclists in the UK, taking on average, one day less off work due to sickness compared to non-cyclists. This alone saves the economy £128m per year and the report says that a 20% increase...
05-Aug-2011
A new survey has revealed that many motorists, when driving in sunshine, concentrate on looking good rather than staying safe.
The survey of 1,000 drivers, commissioned by GetLenses, showed that under a third own prescription sunglasses while 53% admitted not owning a pair and using normal sunglasses to drive in, despite drivers, who wear glasses or corrective lenses being required to wear them when driving.
The poll also showed the damage that drivers can do to their eyes with 36% not knowing if the sunglasses they use have UV filters, while bright sunshine is recognised as being a...
18-Jul-2011
The AA along with drinks company Pernod Ricard UK is launching an anti drink-drive summer campaign, while drivers have said that the responsibility for ensuring that fewer accidents are caused on the nation's roads through drink-driving is down to the motorists themselves.
The AA asked 11,500 of its members who should be responsible for persuading motorists not to drink and drive and 63% answered that those getting behind the wheel should take responsibility for their own actions.
Launching the new campaign the AA said that police will be carrying out roadside checks at all times of...
18-Jul-2011
New figures suggest that more learner drivers are failing their driving test first time and more are being taught by instructors who are unqualified.
The Department of Transport (DfT) says that the overall pass rate has declined from 70% in 2005/6 to 64% last year while figures from some examination centres show that just a third of their learners pass first time. Just 152 out of 340 test centres in England, Scotland and Wales recorded pass rates of 50% or more.
In addition the AA suggests that the number of people who failed after being taught by trainee instructors has jumped to 27,...
06-Jul-2011
The Association of British Drivers (ABD) is leading calls for the government to pass the control of speed limits to the police rather than local councils.
The organisation has criticised the coalition's localism agenda which, it says has transferred most powers to local authorities with police "experts" being ignored. It says that this has led to drivers lacking respect for the limits and criminalising some drivers with artificially low limits.
Brian Gregory, ABD chairman said: "Speed limits are a vital road safety tool. Setting them incorrectly, ignoring expert advice and established...
22-Jun-2011
New laws which aim to tackle the problem of uninsured drivers have come into effect and could lead to offenders having their vehicle destroyed.
As from today the Continuous Insurance Enforcement Law means that it is an offence simply to keep an uninsured car as opposed to the previous law when it was illegal only to drive the vehicle. Those who flout the law will receive a £100 fine and face the possibility of having the vehicle clamped, seized or destroyed as well as possible court prosecution.
The government warns that those who receive a warning letter about their vehicle should...
20-May-2011
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has called the UK the 'whiplash capital of Europe' and has claimed that fraudulent claims are driving up the cost of insurance for honest motorists.
The ABI says that around 1,200 whiplash claims are made every day and it accounts for three-quarters of all personal injury claims made in the UK. The NHS spends around £8m a year on whiplash injuries and insurers pay out £2bn on claims annually. The ABI says that the average motor insurance premium is 20% higher as a result of whiplash claims.
A whiplash conference, held in Leeds, heard from the...
13-May-2011
The Transport Secretary has said that the government is to clamp down on dangerous drivers by introducing a new offence of careless driving.
The new offence would target those who tailgate or overtake on the inside and would come with a fixed penalty of between £80 and £100 along with points on the licence. Banned drivers would have to resit their driving test to get back behind the wheel and cars would be seized in the most extreme cases.
However, Philip Hammond has angered same road safety charities by axing specific targets to cut the number of deaths on British roads, which...
18-Apr-2011
New procedures being brought in by most police forces in England and Wales could lead to speeding drivers escaping having penalty points put onto their licence.
New rules state that where a driver is speeding at 10% above the speed limit, plus an additional 9mph, then they can pay for a speed awareness course as opposed to a fine or penalty points. This will mean drivers going at up to 86mph may be allowed to go onto the course. It reflects a change in the rules as the course was previously only open to those speeding at 10% above the speed limit plus 6mph.
The courses are now being...
12-Apr-2011
A Bill is to go before parliament with the intention of introducing a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling.
The Bill is presented by Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom and comes after she met the family of a teenage girl who was killed by a cyclist. Rhiannon Bennett, 17, was hit by the bike of John Howard in April 2007. He approached Rhiannon and her friends and yelled "Move. I'm not stopping" before hitting Rhiannon, causing her to fall and hit her head on the kerb. She was taken to hospital but died six days later from her injuries.
Howard was convicted of dangerous cycling...
31-Mar-2011
The RAC has expressed concern over the poor state of the nation's roads following the bad winter of 2009/10 and the cold snap at the end of last year.
It said that of 20 councils questioned, half said that they had still not carried out road repairs that dated back to the bad winter of 2009/10 with three-quarters reporting lifting and cracking of road surfaces over a large area.
A separate survey of almost 350 RAC patrol teams found a 25% increase in callouts resulting from potholes and poor road condition, with a large majority of the patrol teams criticising the state of both rural...
30-Mar-2011
Three stretches of motorway will have their lights turned off in a combined effort to save money, reduce light pollution and cut carbon emissions.
The stretches of motorway, on the M58, the M65 and the M66, will have their lights permanently switched off and is one of the first policies to come straight from voters as it was made when the coalition government asked people to come up with suggestions for how spending cuts could best be made.
The permanent switch-off at the three sites follows a similar initiative where motorway lights were turned off between midnight and five am on...
23-Mar-2011
The government has caused anger amongst road safety campaigners after it went against expert advice and decided not to lower the drink-drive limit.
The Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the number of deaths due to drink driving has fallen in the last 30 years and better enforcement of the current limit would have a greater impact than lowering it. However the decision is at odds with government-commissioned research, conducted by Sir Peter North, which recommended that the limit be cut to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood compared to the current limit of 80mg.
The former vice-...
23-Mar-2011
A new study has shown that children are unable to judge the speed of cars travelling at faster than 20mph and are therefore in greater danger of being knocked down by cars travelling at greater speeds.
The study, from academics at the Royal Holloway College in London, shows that children's perceptual limitations put them at a greater risk of stepping in front of cars which are travelling at speeds faster than 20mph and that at greater speeds they may even be unable to detect approaching cars.
The most recent figures from the Department for Transport showed that 1,655 pedestrians aged...
16-Mar-2011
A new report has highlighted the poor state of white lines on some of the country's most dangerous roads.
The report, by the Road Safety Marking Association, looked at 1,500 miles of motorways and A-roads and concluded that of the 1,000 miles of single carriage A-roads examined, just a third had white lines with decent visibility. This was despite rural A-roads accounting for two-thirds of all road fatalities and serious injuries in the UK.
The national director of the RSMA, George Lee said: "Two years ago, just 2% of our major road network had markings that rated virtually non-...
16-Mar-2011
Ministers are set to debate proposals which could lead to a rise in the motorway speed limit to 80mph.
If passed the new limit could be in place within months and move UK speed limits closer to those on Continental Europe. It is thought that the limit will increase to 80 on motorways such as the M4 and M5 to help drivers going on holiday though the 70mph limit may well stay in place on roads such as the M25.
Road Safety minister Mike Penning has said that the benefits to the economy of shorter journey times would have to be weighed against possible road safety implications. Those in...
