IAM RoadSmart study finds that one-in-five drivers and riders are more anxious about being on the road since lockdown
More than four-in-five motorists felt they weren’t getting the mental health support they needed and admitted to ‘suffering in silence’
Almost two thirds of people are worried about giving someone a lift from the fear of catching COVID-19
Further periods off the road, such as a local lockdown or a second national lockdown, could have road safety implications, warns the road safety charity
One-in-five drivers and riders are more anxious about being on the road since the start of lockdown, a study by IAM RoadSmart has discovered.
With local lockdowns becoming increasingly common and the ever-present risk of a further national lockdown over the coming months, the UK’s largest independent road safety charity is concerned that increased anxiety, stress levels and diminished confidence levels in day-to-day driving could be triggered by a second prolonged period off the road, which could have road safety implications.
More than eight-in-10 motorists surveyed admitted to ‘suffering in silence’ after feeling they weren’t getting the support they needed to deal with feelings of anxiety brought on by the lockdown. This figure may rise in the event of further lockdowns, presenting an even greater road safety risk after a second spell of limited travelling.
Of the 1,000 people surveyed, 65 per cent felt worried about offering someone, like a friend or colleague, a lift in their car or on their motorcycle, from fear of catching COVID-19.
The anxiety findings reflect insight from a leading expert in driver and rider behaviour Professor Alex Stedmon, a cognitive psychologist who works as an independent transport consultant at Open Road Simulation Ltd. His expertise has highlighted how the skill of driving or riding is unlikely to have disappeared over lockdown, but that confidence and familiarity might.
Professor Stedmon said: “Simply put, the brain works on two levels. It has short-term or working memory, which has a small capacity and focusses on what you’re doing at that precise moment, and everything else is long-term memory, the place where we transfer the processes that make up our skills – such as driving.
“The mechanics of driving or riding aren’t going to evaporate over lockdown, but the confidence and familiarity of driving a car or riding a motorcycle might, which could lead to increased levels of anxiety.”
Richard Gladman, IAM RoadSmart’s Head of Driving and Riding Standards, said: “Confidence is a major factor in how we drive or ride, particularly for those who have been driving or riding less in recent months.
“A loss of confidence can increase anxiety which in turn puts us at greater risk of being involved in an incident on the road.
“The good news is there are some simple things we can all do to make sure we maintain our confidence and minimise the risk of anxiety creeping in when we are driving or riding. As the foundation to all safer driving and riding, these reflect a common-sense approach that is easy to make part of your everyday driving and riding.
“Through planning and preparation before your journey, staying focused on the road and avoiding distractions and by sharing the road considerately with all other road users, being mindful of our limits and taking time to get the basics right, we can all stay sharp and keep safe.”
Further findings from the survey also reveal the different attitudes towards stress and anxiety levels in the UK regions.
The increased number of cyclists on the road is causing motorists in Scotland the most stress, with almost half (46 per cent) of people admitting this, followed closely by 41 per cent of people in the South East.
While 39 per cent of people in Northern Ireland have found more pedestrians on the roads and pavements the greatest source of stress and increased anxiety levels since the start of lockdown.
In the West Midlands, 54 per cent of motorists were most concerned about the standards of other people’s driving following a long break off the roads throughout lockdown, followed closely by 44 per cent of motorists in the South West who also had the same concerns.
In Wales, 75 per cent of motorists, and in London 67 per cent of motorists, were most worried about catching COVID-19 from giving someone a lift in their car or on their bike.
IAM RoadSmart offers a range of driver and rider assessments and skills refreshers as well as Advanced Driver and Rider courses.
Richard added: “Anyone who feels they have lost confidence or feels more anxious about taking to the roads will find a refresher of the basics now could help reduce stress and prepare them for whatever the future holds in terms of driving and riding.
“It could also improve wellbeing and mental health, something that is more important than ever in these uncertain times. All in-car training adheres to government social distancing guidelines.”
LifeCare, the older person’s charity based in Stockbridge is pleased to announce September’s instalment of its very popular monthly History Talks which cover local history and are delivered by local people and organisations.
This month’s talk will be on Dean Village and will be given by Keith Walker. It will take place on Tuesday 29 September from 3pm – 4pm on Zoom.
Statement given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a media briefing in St Andrew’s House this afternoon (Friday 18 September):
I can report that the total number of positive cases that were reported yesterday was 203. This represents 4.4% of people newly tested and takes the total number of cases now to 23,776.
Let me remind you again that these are positive cases reported yesterday.
Because of the processing backlog we have been dealing with, which as I said yesterday is improving, more of these than normal may be from swabs taken over the past few days.
However, as I’ve also said before, when we look at whether case numbers are rising or not, we look at results by the date the sample was taken, not just the reporting date – so the backlog doesn’t distort our trend analysis.
The full regional breakdown will be published later as normal, but I can confirm now that 69 of the 203 cases are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 30 in Lothian, and 29 in Lanarkshire. The remaining 75 are across the other 8 mainland health board areas.
I can also confirm that 61 people are in hospital – which is an increase of 9 on yesterday. 5 people are in intensive care, which is the same as yesterday. And finally, I regret to say that in the past 24 hours, one additional death was registered of a patient who first tested positive over the previous 28 days.
That means that the total number of deaths, under this daily measurement, is now 2,502.
This is a reminder that we are again reporting deaths, albeit small numbers, on a regular basis again.
That’s an indication that in Scotland, as elsewhere, Covid is accelerating again, and I will say more about that shortly.
But I want once again to pass on my condolences to everybody who has lost a loved one to this illness – including of course, those grieving as a result of the death that was registered yesterday.
I’m joined today by our National Clinical Director Jason Leitch. After my remarks, Jason will say a few words about the news this morning that an Edinburgh Rugby Academy player has tested positive for Covid.
Before that, though, here are a few items I want to cover.
The first let me briefly highlight an announcement that was made by the Scottish Government last night.
We have added two additional places to the list of those that are subject to quarantine restrictions. Those are Slovenia and Guadeloupe.
That means that from tomorrow, people travelling to Scotland from these countries must self-isolate for 14 days, upon their return or arrival in Scotland. And it is very important that people comply with that.
By contrast, Singapore and Thailand were removed from the international list.
So anyone arriving from either of these countries, from tomorrow, no longer has to quarantine. However, if you have arrived from Singapore or Thailand in the past few days, you do need to complete your 14 days of isolation.
This is all a further reminder of how quickly levels of the virus – in any country or area – can change. So I’ll say again, please avoid non-essential overseas travel at the moment, if possible.
Indeed, please think carefully about non-essential travel at home, as well. In particular, avoid travelling to parts of the UK, that are under tougher restrictions right now because levels of Covid are rising fastest.
The main thing I want to do today is to take a moment to take stock of where the country stands right now in the pandemic.
We are seeing increasing numbers of places both here in Scotland and across the rest of the UK that are under local and regional restrictions. And, many will have woken up this morning to hear the news of the potential for new national restrictions.
The bottom line here is that the virus is on the rise again.
Our case numbers are not yet rising as fast as there were back in March. But they are rising again and they are rising quite rapidly. The percentage of tests coming back positive is also not anywhere near as high as it was back in March, but again it is rising.
And as I reported yesterday, the R number we believe is now above 1.
Across the UK, and this is particularly the case in England right now, hospital admissions are rising. ICU admissions are rising too. While this is particularly the case in England right now, this should sound a warning signal for us here in Scotland too.
And, while for the last few weeks, people might have taken comfort from the low levels of older, more vulnerable people contracting the virus, I have to say to you that picture is also beginning to change.
Recent data shows that the percentage of cases in the older population is now beginning to rise as well.
Looking more widely, we can observe that in broad terms we might now be, at an earlier stage, on a similar path to that which has been taken in recent weeks by France.
About four weeks ago, France stood broadly where we do today.
But now they face around 10,000 new cases per day and hundreds of people in ICU and deaths in France are already rising now as well.
So our task is to make sure – if we can – that we interrupt that, and we don’t end up where they are now.
What lies behind this is a simple reality: we are facing the risk again of exponential growth in Covid. And we all know from our experience earlier this year what that looks like, and why it is so important to seek to avoid it.
So, I want to talk briefly about what we need to do.
First and foremost, we need to act to interrupt that exponential growth. No one wants to see another full-scale lockdown.
And, above all, we want to keep schools and childcare open because we know how important that is to the education but also to the broader well-being of children and young people.
So right now, and I mean right now, today, over the weekend and into next week, that means following all of the rules and the advice currently in place.
Work from home if you can, that remains our advice. As I said a moment ago, avoid if you can non-essential travel. Don’t meet up with any more than six people from a maximum of two households, indoors and outdoors.
If you live in Glasgow, as I do, or in East or West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire or East Renfrewshire, North or South Lanarkshire, don’t visit other households at all, unless you have to visit to care for or deliver shopping to a vulnerable person.
The fact is we know, and this is one of the things we have learned about this virus, is that when it gets into a household, it is very likely to infect everyone in that household.
So to be blunt, we must do everything we can to keep it out of our households. When we do have to interact with others, the last piece of advice I want to remind you of right now, is to remember to follow FACTS: all of the basic things that help us reduce the risks of transmitting the virus.
These are the current rules and I am asking everybody to please abide by them strictly and rigorously. But it may well be that if we are to interrupt and break this growth, we will have to do more over the next few weeks. And this weekend will be critical in the assessment of how best to do that.
As widely reported, SAGE met yesterday. I have chaired a meeting of senior Scottish Government officials and advisors this morning to assess the current situation and discussions across the 4 nations of the UK will, I hope, take place in the coming days. I’ve this morning asked the Prime Minister to convene a COBRA meeting over this weekend.
So, I am today giving the nation advance notice, that the coming days are likely to see some hard but necessary decisions.
If we want to avoid another full-scale lockdown, which all of us do, doing nothing almost certainly isn’t an option.
Now I will of course, as I have sought to do throughout this pandemic, keep you regularly and fully updated. But for now, over this weekend, please rigorously follow all of the current rules and all of the current advice.
Now there is another issue that I want to update you on, another area where some of us may be able to help in the fight against this virus, and it involves Scotland’s involvement in the UK-wide COVID Infection Survey.
The survey is designed to track the spread and prevalence of the virus in the general population. It is conducted by the Office for National Statistics, and the University of Oxford. And following a successful pilot in England, it has been expanded to other parts of the UK.
In Scotland, it will ultimately see up to 15,000 people being tested, every fortnight. Households will be randomly selected for the survey. And over the coming period, these households will all be sent a letter, inviting them to participate.
Those letters will provide details on how to register. The first of them should be arriving today. And from Monday, survey teams will begin visiting households that agree to take part.
Those who do take part will be asked to administer swabs to their throats and noses, to test for the virus. People aged 12 years or older can take the swab themselves – but parents and carers should administer them for younger children. A subset of participants – over the age of 16 – will also be invited to provide blood samples, to test whether they have already have had Covid.
Participants will be asked to take further tests every week for the first 5 weeks, then every month for up to a year. Members of the survey team will visit households, to collect the tests.
These results will help us to see how many people are infected with the virus at a given point in time – whether ot not they have symptoms.
And they will give us a sense of how many people are ever likely to have had the infection. They should therefore provide us with really important new insights into the spread of Covid in Scotland.
The survey will also provide additional data on the characteristics of those who are testing positive and so it will help us to examine any difference in the impact of the virus, on different groups in society.
The initial survey results for Scotland should be available in November. But that is dependent, and that is why I am raising it today, on people’s willingness to sign up. So if you receive a letter, and you are able to do so, I encourage you to take part in this survey, it is really important and it will be a vital tool in our efforts to understand the virus and therefore equip ourselves better to know the things to keep it under control.
Now to close today, I want to really come back to emphasise my earlier point and really emphasise to you that we are at another really critical point. Covid-19 is on the rise. Not just here in Scotland, it is on the rise in the UK and across Europe.
Just yesterday, the World Health Organization warned that weekly cases across Europe, have now topped 300,000.
That’s higher than it was in March – when the virus first peaked.
As the WHO has said, that must serve as a wake-up call for all of us. The virus could get out of our grip again. That’s the news that should be the wake-up call.
The better news is that hasn’t happened yet: we do still have time to prevent it happening, and that is down to Government to take a lead and be very clear and decisive in what we have to do, but it also ultimately comes down to all of us. So before I hand over to Jason, I want remind all you watching, and to ask you to remind others, of what we need you to do.
If you live in Glasgow; East or West Dunbartonshire; Renfrewshire or East Renfrewshire; North or South Lanarkshire, please don’t visit any other households anywhere in Scotland.
In the rest of the country, please do not meet with more than 6 people, from a maximum of 2 households. Don’t give the virus an opportunity to spread between households, because if it spreads between households we know it quickly spreads within households.
Download the Protect Scotland app, if you haven’t already done so. A million people have done so, already. We know that will help make a difference
And finally – in everything you do – lets all follow the FACTS. These are the five golden rules that help all us of us minimise the risk of transmission:
Face coverings in enclosed spaces
Avoid crowded places.
Clean hands and clean all hard surfaces that you are touching regularly
keep two metres away from people other households.
and self isolate, and book a test, if you have symptoms.
We are at a critical point right now, but as I said in one of these briefings a couple of days ago, nothing is inevitable. We all have power to try and stop this virus running out of control again.
I know the responsibility that is on the shoulders of me and the government here to take the hard decisions that will determine whether we succeed or not.
But as I have said, so many times throughout, this is down to all of us. We are all in this together and it is only by acting together that we can stop it running out of control and ultimately save lives.
My thanks again to everybody who I know are making all sorts of sacrifices to help us do that. Keep spreading the word to everyone you know.
Pledge to recruit 433 more teachers in Edinburgh and the Lothians
Six yeas ago today Scotland voted to stay in the UK. We must spend the next six years rebuilding Scotland’s education system, say the Scottish Conservatives.
They say they will hire 3000 new teachers over the next parliament to restore local schools to where they were before the SNP came to power.
Today, the Scottish Conservatives unveiled proposals to recruit 3,000 more teachers over the next Parliament.
The plans which would cost £550 million, would end teacher shortages that have arisen since the SNP came into power in 2007.
The paper also calls for a dedicated STEM teacher to be available in every Primary school, increased opportunities for career switchers to move into teaching and a new campaign to encourage the best and brightest to take up teaching.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said:“Education has to be a top priority in Scotland to invest in the future, however under this SNP Government education standards have slipped.
“Recruiting more teachers would allow each pupils to have a larger choice of subjects, as well as increased one on one learning.
“It is well established that smaller class sizes are better for student learning, so having a smaller teacher to pupil ratio can only be a good thing.
“Edinburgh and the Lothians have the fastest growing population in Scotland so it is important more teachers are recruited in advance, rather than after there is a shortage.”
To celebrate Maths Week Scotland, 28th September to the 4th October , students across Scotland will be competing in the M-Fluencer Maths Week Quest learning challenge to boost engagement in maths, improve attainment and win prizes for their school.
Now open for entries for schools with students from any year group, ranging from Reception to S6. Participants will be tasked with completing a series of online maths challenges, with each challenge adding to the school’s total score. Amazon vouchers and digital certificates will be awarded to the top 10 schools.
All learning activities included in the competition are aligned to Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence and support the Government’s commitment to ‘making maths count’; an initiative that is becoming increasingly important to increase Scotland’s maths attainment.
The competition, run by maths mastery resource provider Mangahigh, is open to all schools across Scotland, both existing users and non-users. From 28th September all schools registered for the competition can access Mangahigh math’s resource free of charge.
Mohit Midha, CEO and co-founder of Mangahigh, said, “Each student from early years to upper secondary school age can take part free of charge. The maths activities on Mangahigh are designed in a fun ‘game’ format to really engage the students and encourage them to return for more while developing their conceptual knowledge of key maths topics.”
Leith resident Annette West has helped to raise £2,250 for sight loss charity RNIB Scotland after taking part in the Virtual Kiltwalk last Sunday.
Annette (above, left)was one of eight people who walked six miles along the Water of Leith, in two groups of four to maintain social distancing.
“I have experienced sight loss for over 30 years but have always been helped and supported by RNIB Scotland,” says Annette (60). “I just wanted to do the Virtual Kiltwalk to help give something back.
“I found the walk very easy and relaxing. I also found that pathway easy to get around as there was not too many steps. Socially distancing was only a problem when the path was narrow and when people in the opposite direction were trying to pass by. I think the route is very popular for walkers on Sundays.
“It was really good to meet up and spend quality time with friends before we all went back to our own lockdown homes. It gave me a sense of freedom by being out in the open. I also felt re-connected with nature and that it was great to meet other human beings.
“After the walk I felt that my spirits had been lifted and that going back home, I was mentally and physically in a good place.”
– Supermarket will introduce new cleaning schedule, equipment and staff in all stores –
– Investment in next 12 months will create 2,240 jobs –
Morrisons is investing even more to increase its hygiene standards – as part of a new programme that will see every one of its 494 stores receive a three-week deep-clean, brand new equipment, and additional cleaning staff.
The latest investment is to make customers feel even safer in store. It follows the supermarket already spending £25 million to implement store safety measures – such as Perspex screens, PPE for colleagues and floor markings and visible signage during lockdown.
2,240 brand new cleaning roles will be created, including a new Market StreetHygiene Assistant in all stores – to clean food preparation areas across Market Street.
This will ensure Morrisons foodmakers can concentrate on making fresh quality products for its butcher, baker, fishmonger, deli, greengrocer and florist departments. Morrisons is unique in preparing and making more than half of the fresh food sold in its stores.
Additionally, nearly 30,000 more hours each week will be put into Morrisons existing Housekeepers and Core Cleaning roles. This will see more areas across its stores – such as toilets, shelving and ‘high touch’ areas – being cleaned even more frequently to protect colleagues and customers.
New Welcome Cleaning Stations are also being fitted at all store entrances providing antibacterial wipes for baskets and trolleys, as well as hand sanitiser.
Jayne Wall, Operations Director at Morrisons said: “The hygiene within our stores has become more important than ever due to the impact of Covid-19. We want to make sure our customers feel as safe as possible when doing their grocery shopping with us. So we’ve made this multi-million-pound investment to introduce first class hygiene procedures.”
Early pay rise of at least £2,000 to every NHS worker is needed
Health staff across the UK – including nurses, paramedics, cleaners, domestics and porters – have embarked on two days of campaigning to urge the government to give an early, significant pay rise of at least £2,000 to every worker in the NHS.
Staff in UNISON branches based in NHS hospitals, ambulance stations and clinics will be using social media and taking part in socially distanced events to press home the message that health workers deserve much more than applause for their efforts during the pandemic.
Health workers know the public backs an early NHS pay rise, but now want to see the government show its appreciation for staff by bringing forward the pay rise due in April.
UNISON’s pay claim – delivered to Downing Street last month – would see every NHS employee receive an increase of at least £2,000 by the end of the year.
This early wage increase – equivalent to around £1 an hour extra for all staff – could give ailing local economies a much-needed boost as workers spend the extra money in their pockets on the high street, says UNISON.
With the arrival of autumn, and the increasing rates of infection, UNISON believes now is the perfect time for the government to show the high regard in which ministers say they hold NHS staff.
UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “Infection rates are rising in care homes and out in the wider community, and hospital admissions are on the up.
“The pressure on staff is beginning to build again, as the NHS tries to open services shut earlier in the year and deal with the backlog of cancelled appointments and operations.
“That’s why now would be the perfect time for the Prime Minister and Chancellor to show they can do more than clap for NHS staff, and demonstrate their appreciation in a much more practical way.
“Boris Johnson’s pie in the sky plans for any time, any place, anywhere ‘moonshot’ testing would cost a mindboggling £100bn. An early pay rise for NHS staff would be a tiny fraction of that and would make a huge difference to individuals and the services they help provide.
“Investing in the NHS and its incredible workforce is a must for the government. It would help the health service tackle the mounting staff shortages that were already causing huge problems even before the virus hit.
“An early pay rise would also be the country’s best way of saying a heartfelt thank you to every single member of the NHS team.”
Spartans Alternative School have won an international award for a social enterprise created by their students.
Bethany Marshall (below left, pictured with Ashey Telford) explained: “At the Spartans Community Football Academy’s Alternative School we created artwork using paint and footballs.
“We then learnt how to use photoshop and to create digital drawings that became designs for our mugs. The mugs where then sold to raise money for UEvolve. This was our chosen charity for our social enterprise ‘Creative Collaborstions’.
“We have been working on this since February 2020 to raise awareness of young male mental health. Despite Covid-19 we continued to develop the social enterprise.
“As a result we won a social enterprise award and featured in the schools edition of the Big Issue. We have since sold a total of 100 mugs 50 Big Issues and we have 30 mugs still to sell. We’re proud to announce we have just received the Social Enterprise World Forum award 2020 for Health and Wellbeing.”
Spartans Alternative School manager Emma Easton added: “We still have more mugs to sell as sales were hampered by timing of Covid lockdown. Profits are going towards U-Evolve to support young men’s mental health – this was the charity our students chose.”
Parts of the North East of England escalated to an area of intervention
New restrictions introduced across the region to curb rising infection rates, agreed in collaboration with local leaders
Regulations and guidance came into force at midnight
Following further discussions with local leaders, the Health and Social Care Secretary, NHS Test and Trace, the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), and the Chief Medical Officer for England have agreed to escalate parts of the North East – namely, Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham – to areas of national intervention.
From today – Friday 18 September – regulations have banned the following:
residents must not socialise with other people outside of their own households or support bubble in private homes and gardens
hospitality for food and drink will be restricted to table service only
late night restriction of operating hours will be introduced, with leisure and entertainment venues required to close between 10pm to 5am
Residents are also advised to adhere to the following guidance to further reduce rates of infection:
not to socialise with other people outside of their own households in all public venues.
only to use public transport for essential purposes, such as travelling to school or work
take holidays only within your own household or support bubble
avoid attending amateur and semi-professional sporting events as spectators
The changes come as cases in the North East have risen to the second highest in England, after the North West. The decision was made in close collaboration with local leaders.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock said: “After seeing cases in the North East rise to a concerning level, local authorities requested support for tighter restrictions and we have taken swift action to accept their recommendations.
“We do not take these decisions lightly but I know the people of the North East will work together and break the chains of transmission.
“I urge those from affected areas: please, get a test if you are symptomatic, stay at home if you are required to self-isolate, and think: hands, face, space. This is the only way for us to return to a more normal way of life and avoid further restrictions.”
These changes are in addition to the nationwide 6-person limit on social gatherings that came into force on Monday. This rule is in place across the country and will sit alongside additional restrictions in some local areas.
Public Health England, the JBC and NHS Test and Trace are constantly monitoring the levels of infection and other data on prevalence of the virus across the country. As has always been the case, measures are kept under constant review to reduce the spread of the virus and save lives.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the world has now surpassed 30 million, according to latest figures from USA’s Johns Hopkins University.
More than 940,000 have died with Covid-19 since the outbreak began in China late last year.
The worst hit nations are the US, India and Brazil – but the infection is on the rise again across Europe, with some spikes close to home (above).
