Motorists are being urged to look out for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, who are particularly vulnerable to traffic collisions, as Police Scotland launches a week-long national campaign today to raise awareness of vulnerable road users. Continue reading Motorists urged to look out for vulnerable road users
Police are urging motorcyclists to ride safely as bikers prepare to get back on the road for the summer season. Continue reading Motorcyclists urged to ride safely as biking season begins
Police Scotland is advising drivers to TRAVEL WITH CAUTION overnight tonight (Friday, February 1, 2019) and tomorrow morning, following a Met. Office Yellow Weather Warning for snow and ice covering the South East (East Lothian, Scottish Borders), Aberdeenshire, Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. Continue reading Motorists urged to drive with care after Met Office warning
REMEMBER: Alcohol stays in your system longer than you think. STAY SAFE
With thousands of us hitting the road before Christmas – and flood warnings being issued across the country – motoring experts have given advice on driving safely. Continue reading Safety tips: Driving in wind and rain
The makers of a revolutionary new invisible spray Albedo 100 claim it will help to save the lives of thousands of cyclists and pedestrians in Scotland. Continue reading The Invisible Spray That Could Save Lives
Despite a recent study by the University of London revealing that Millennials are shunning alcohol, and teetotalism has become more mainstream, drink driving casualties are at a four year high. In fact, data released by the Department of Transport showed that more than 24% of drink drivers were aged between 16 and 19 years old – inexperienced drivers who have recently passed their driving test. Continue reading More emphasis on hazards of drink and drug driving needed in driving lessons, warn campaigners
Recognition Express and BRAKE are making a last call to primary school children to enter their Road Safety Week design a road safety banner competition. Continue reading Last call for entries in schools road safety banner competition
Fledgling motorists from across Edinburgh received a hard-hitting introduction to the risks of driving at a popular road safety event this week.
Hundreds of sixth-year pupils once again tested out crash simulators, drunk goggles and even sit behind the wheel of an electric bus as part of the Streets Ahead Edinburgh Young Driver event, which returned to the Corn Exchange for an eighth year, hosted again by Forth 1 DJ Grant Thomson.
Continue reading Drive and Thrive: hard-hitting messages for young motorists
UK charity, Living Streets is calling for new measures to reduce the number of cars on the school run. This comes after research (YouGov 2018) released by the charity for the start of International Walk to School Month, reveals that too many cars are the things parents find most annoying on the school run – specifically too many cars around school gates (54%); cars parking on the pavements (50%); and too much traffic on the journey (45%).
Living Streets is calling for more local authorities to pilot school street closures – prohibiting cars from the school gates at drop off and pick up times, alongside a series of other measures, to encourage more families to walk to school.
Motor vehicles are the biggest source of air pollution and one in four cars on the road at peak times are on the school run[1]. As a result, over 2,000 primary schools in the UK are situated in pollution hotspots[2], putting pupils’ health at risk.
Figures released by DfT last week revealed that 14 per cent of children killed on Great Britain’s roads last year were between 7-9am and 23 per cent were between 3-5pm – school run hours.
The charity for everyday walking says that encouraging and enabling more families to walk to school will clean up toxic air and make our streets safer.
Tanya Braun, Head of Policy and Communications, Living Streets said: “Put simply – more children walking to school means fewer cars on our roads.
“Piloting closing streets to cars outside schools at the start and end of the school day is a great way to improve the safety of our children’s walk to school. It removes issues of unsafe parking, speeding traffic and helps to reduce the toxic air which stays around our children’s schools long after the cars have left.
“We want to see more local authorities working with schools to reduce the number of cars around the school gates, helping to improve air quality, reduce congestion and increase road safety during peak times.”
Currently just 53 per cent of children in England walk to school (National Travel Survey), 42 per cent in Wales (Walking and cycling in Wales: Active travel, 2016-17) and Scotland (Hands Up Scotland Survey, Scotland: 2016 (Sustrans). This is down significantly from a generation ago, when 70 per cent of children used to walk to school.
Living Streets currently works in over 2,000 schools across the UK to successfully increase the number of children walking to school through WOW – the year-round walk to school challenge. WOW schools walk to school rates increase by 23 per cent on average with a corresponding drop in cars around the school gates.
As well as cars, parents identified poor street design and crossings as annoying factors of the school run.
Top 10 reasons
1. Too many cars at the school gates (54%)
2. Cars parking on the pavements (50%)
3. Too much traffic on the roads (45%)
4. Bad weather (41%)
5. Feeling rushed (35%)
6. Dangerous crossing points in the road (33%)
7. Me and/ or child(ren) forgetting something (28%)
8. Poor street conditions (e.g. narrow pavements, litter, dog mess etc.) (28%)
9. My child(ren) squabbling (19%)
10. Having to travel a long distance to/ from the school (9%)
Braun continues: “We need to see many more measures which make it possible for families to walk to school: lower speed limits, better crossings and constraints on pavement parking.
“By creating safer school walking routes and investing in proven behaviour change initiatives, we can help reduce the number of cars on our roads – improving safety for everyone and making the experience a much more pleasurable one.”
For International Walk to School Month this year, Living Streets wants people to take part in an online action to write to their local councillor to urge them to prioritise creating safe walking routes to school. Visit www.livingstreets.org.uk/October for more information.
You can also download the Family Walk to School Kit with ideas of how to make the walk to school safer and more enjoyable for families.
www.livingstreets.org.uk/October
