Tag: Road Safety Week

Road Safety Week: Edinburgh has some of the worst roads in the UK 

This Road Safety Week it’s revealed Edinburgh has some of the worst roads in the UK 

This Road Safety Week, data from consumer law company, Slater and Gordon, highlights the most damaged roads in the UK.  

Slater and Gordon surveyed 1,444 road users across the UK and asked them to rate how damaged the roads were in their local area.  

Cardiff has been revealed as the city with the worst roads in the UK with 65.4% of people saying their roads are “bad” or “terrible” with Plymouth coming out as having the best roads in the UK. The full list of cities ranked on how many people described their roads as “bad” or “awful” is: 

·       Cardiff 65.4% 

·       Sheffield, 62.2% 

·       Bristol, 54.2% 

·       Glasgow, 52.2% 

·       Edinburgh, 50.9% 

·       Norwich, 50% 

·       Manchester, 49.6% 

·       Belfast, 47.9% 

·       Liverpool, 47.7% 

·       London, 47.3% 

·       Brighton, 47.1% 

·       Birmingham, 45.3% 

·       Nottingham, 43.2% 

·       Southampton, 42.6% 

·       Leeds, 39.3% 

·       Newcastle, 37.1% 

·       Plymouth, 30.3% 

In fact, only 3.6% of people in Edinburgh would describe the condition of their roads as “excellent”. 47% of people in the city said they felt more could be done to ensure that any damage to the road that isn’t immediately fixed is communicated to road users and 33% admit that they feel roads in Edinburgh are more dangerous due to problems being ignored by local authorities. 

35% of road users in Edinburgh have sustained damage to their car due to potholes whilst only 68% reported the damage so it wouldn’t happen to anyone else.  

Nicholas Hagi-Savva, senior associate at Slater and Gordon, said: “Even if you follow all the rules of the road, there may be external factors, such as ice or potholes which can both increase your chances of having a collision. This is of increasing importance as road conditions worsen approaching winter. 

“This Road Safety Week, we want to instil in people how important it is to protect not only themselves, but other and potentially more vulnerable road users. Accidents will, of course, always happen but by raising awareness of the data this Road Safety Week, we really hope that people are more aware of their surroundings and our roads are made as safe as possible.” 

For more information on Slater and Gordon, visit www.slatergordon.co.uk. 

Scotland’s first Road Safety Week launched with safer roads pledge

Scotland’s first Road Safety Week (21st – 27th March 2022) – a new initiative from The Scottish Government and Transport Scotland – was launched today to encourage road users to take greater personal responsibility and work together to make Scotland’s roads safer.

In its inaugural year, Scotland’s Road Safety Week will urge organisations throughout Scotland to pledge their support on social media by posting the message – Working together to make Scotland’s roads safer. #ScotRoadSafetyWeek.

Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth said: “The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to making Scotland’s roads safer for everyone, and our Road Safety Framework sets out a long-term goal where no-one is killed or seriously-injured on our roads by 2050.

“The launch of Scotland’s first Road Safety Week provides a platform for organisations to work together to improve safety on our roads and help achieve this ambitious goal.”

Organisations across Scotland – including Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, CoSLA and Good Egg Safety will mark the week by hosting a series of road safety events, from child car seat checks to community action campaigns.

Chief Superintendent Louise Blakelock, Head of Road Policing, said: “This week will serve as an important reminder that safety on our roads is a shared responsibility. Police Scotland divisions across the country are getting behind this important new initiative by hosting road safety events with a focus on drink and drug driving, vulnerable road users and older drivers.”

Scotland’s Road Safety Week forms part of the Road Safety Framework to 2030, which sets out a vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030, and an ambitious long-term goal where no-one is killed or seriously-injured on our roads by 2050.

Michael McDonnell, Road Safety Scotland Director, said: “Scotland’s Road Safety Week is a great opportunity for organisations to work together and spark a national conversation about making our roads safer.

“Every road user has a part to play by keeping themselves and others safe on the roads. We’d like to encourage organisations across Scotland to get involved this week and join us in pledging their commitment to help make Scotland’s roads safer.”

The Framework has adopted the Safe System approach to road safety, with five pillars interacting to create this: Safe Road Use; Safe Vehicles; Safe Speeds; Safe Roads and Roadsides; and Post-crash Response.

For more details about Scotland’s Road Safety Week, visit:

 https://roadsafety.scot/topics/road-safety-week/

Paws for traffic: five ways to protect your pets as nights draw in

This Road Safety Week (15-21 November 2021) a national vet charity is urging pet owners to be aware of the dangers that roads and traffic can pose to our four-legged friends.

Here, PDSA Vet Lynne James offers her top tips on how to keep your beloved pets away from dangers on the roads:

“Before you do anything else, make sure you have pet insurance in place. If the worst happens and your furry family member is involved in a road accident, pet insurance will help to cover the cost of veterinary treatment for their injures.   

Reflective collars

“With shorter daylight hours, cats may be more likely to be out and about in the dark. Reflective collars can make it easier for drivers to spot your pet when they’re exploring near roads, just make sure it’s a ‘quick release’ type so they can’t get caught up anywhere. It’s a good idea to help keep your cat safe by keeping them indoors at night and only letting them out during daylight hours. In this instance, try feeding your cat as it begins to get dark — they should get used to the schedule and return home for food before nightfall.

Leads

“The best way you can make sure your pooch is safe is to keep them on a short, strong lead attached to a well-fitting collar when around roads. If you’re going to take them off the lead to have a run-around, check that the area is safely secured with fences or railings so they can’t run onto any nearby roads.  

Commands

“While you won’t be able to teach your canine companion to look left and right, you can use simple commands to help keep them safe by busy roads. When approaching a road with your dog on a lead, ask them to ‘sit’ and ‘wait’. Once your dog has sat calmly and you’re happy it’s clear, give the command to ‘walk’ and cross the road together carefully.

Visibility

“While it’s always better to walk dogs in daylight, at this time of year it isn’t always possible, so when walking your four-legged friend during darker hours, you should make sure drivers can see both of you. You could wear bright coloured clothing or even a high visibility jacket to help them spot you. For your furry friend, you can use a high visibility dog coat or an LED collar or tag to help them stand out along roads.”

To find LED collars and other pet accessories visit PDSA’s online store at pdsapetstore.org.uk – every purchase helps PDSA to help more pets in need.

Vet charity PDSA provides free and low cost vet care for those who struggle to pay treatment costs for their sick and injured pets. For many vulnerable pets, PDSA is there to help when there is nowhere else for their owners to turn. 

Since the first UK lockdown began, PDSA’s dedicated vet teams carried out more than one million phone consultations.

With 388,000 pets treated in 2020, by keeping their 48 Pet Hospitals open, PDSA can support the thousands of pets that need help across the UK every day. Every pet deserves a fighting chance.

Please donate today and help save pets’ lives – www.pdsa.org.uk/pdsa-chance.

Four in five motorists support crackdown on speeding outside schools

During Road Safety Week the UK’s largest independent road safety charity, IAM RoadSmart, is highlighting findings from its annual Safety Culture Study.

This has found that 82 per cent of the British driving public are in favour of using speed cameras to automatically fine drivers travelling more than ten miles per hour over the limit near schools.

However, the survey of 2,000 motorists went on to highlight that attitudes towards speeding on motorways were significantly different, with only 63 per cent of drivers supporting the use of cameras to detect those driving ten miles per hour above the limit on motorways.

Worryingly, it also identified that just under half of all motorists (46 per cent) think it is acceptable to drive at 80 miles per hour on the motorway, while as many as one in four believe it is acceptable to do so at speeds greater than 80 miles per hour.

And while acceptance of motorway speeding remained broadly consistent among drivers aged 17 to 69, there was a noticeable increase among those who travel longer distances. A staggering 56 per cent of those who cover more than 10,000 miles on the road each year believed it acceptable to reach speeds of 80 miles per hour or more on the motorway.

Neil Greig, Policy and Research Director at IAM RoadSmart, said: “It is reassuring to see that the majority of motorists we surveyed are in favour of using speed cameras to improve road safety outside schools. Speeding in towns may be universally disliked, but it is clear that we still have a long way to go before the same message gets through on motorways.

“Speeding causes more than 4,000 casualties each year on UK roads – that’s an average of 11 people a day killed or seriously injured. So it is extremely disappointing to see such apparent acceptance of speeding on motorways, and we need to do more to create a fundamental shift in attitude and behaviour here.”

National Road Safety Banner Design Competition deadline extended

The deadline for entries for this year’s schools  design a road safety banner competition has been extended until 18 October to give children aged four to 11 longer to get creative.

For the twelfth year running, Recognition Express has teamed up with road safety charity BRAKE to run  the ‘design a road safety banner’ competition. Winning designs based around this year’s theme of ‘No need to speed’ will be reproduced onto high quality, full size banners for display the child’s school during Road Safety Week (16 – 22 November). 

In addition, the budding designer will also receive a special personalised trophy to mark their achievement. Recognition Express has a network of branches across the UK and there will be several regional winners. 

New for 2020 is the option to email or  upload entries online in addition to entering by post.

For full details and to download the entry form visit https://reschools.co.uk/uk/roadsafetyweek/. 

Keeping people safe continues to be a priority – but it’s not just Covid that poses a threat to human safety. Someone is injured on a UK road every four minutes and vehicle speed plays a part on every occasion.

In a crash, 1mph can mean the difference between life and death, but people still regularly break speed limits or travel too fast for the conditions of the road.

Chris Masters, managing director of Recognition Express, said:  “The Covid pandemic has turned everything on its head this year and school children are one of the groups most affected. 

“Our design a road safety banner competition has become a fixture in the calendar of many local schools and we have been hoping against hope that schools would be allowed to go back for the autumn term and take part.

“Whilst our cashflow is tight as a result of the lockdown, we believe road safety is very important, and are committed to keeping people safe. Our relationship with BRAKE is long standing and we didn’t want to let them down this year. 

“Road Safety Week aims to inspire thousands of schools, organisations and communities to take action and promote road safety awareness during the week and beyond and it is a privilege to be involved.

“Our competition is a fantastic opportunity to engage primary school children and help establish good road safety sense for years to come.

“We are always impressed by the creativity and quality of the designs sent in each year. I hope that our competition will help restore a sense of normality for the children this term and look forward to seeing more entries than ever before.”