What would happen if all traffic lights were suddenly switched off? Would there be chaos and traffic gridlock or would the queues of frustrated drivers miraculously disappear?
Well, in a brave attempt to find out if removing traffic lights will ease congestion, Ealing Council are putting the theory to the test! For 6 months, traffic light signals at up to seven junctions in Ealing will be concealed by orange bags and drivers will be left to negotiate their way across by establishing eye contact with pedestrians and other motorists.
Council officials believe that instead of improving the flow of traffic, traffic lights lead to unnecessary delays and may even increase danger, with drivers racing towards green lights to make it through the junction before they turn back to red.
Today, the goverment launches it’s latest campaign against drivers texting whilst on the move. The Think! campaign is especially targetted at young drivers, 30% of whom admit to texting at the wheel.
The Department for Transport noted that using a mobile phone at the wheel is considered the second most unacceptable driving behaviour among motorists with 93% agreeing that texting while driving is dangerous. However, 12% of all motorists admit to texting while driving.
Whilst online this morning, I came across this unbelivable video from CNN, showing a bus driver, driving disabled passengers in Texas, crashing into stationary traffic whilst texting:
The new radio campaign features a driver’s voice spelling out a text message followed by the harrowing sound of a car crash. Click here to listen to it.
An online ‘driving challenge’ game is also available, which demonstrates how using a mobile at the wheel can completely distract the driver. Try it out for yourself!
According to a recent study of 1.7 million drivers by insurance company elephant.co.uk, drivers of black-coloured cars are the most likely to break speed limits.
The survey found that 25.4% of black-vehicle owners have speeding convictions, and they are also 9% more likely than the average driver to have speeding endorsements on their driving licences.
The next “speediest” colour was grey, with 25.1% of grey car owners having speeding convictions, followed by silver, blue and brown.
Owners of purple-coloured cars were least likely to have been caught exceeding speed limit, while owners of white, yellow and red cars have comparatively few convictions as well.
When was the last time you checked your licence properly? Have you applied for a replacement due to a change of name or address? Have you checked the back of your licence to check that the DVLA haven’t mistakenly added full motorcycle entitlement and removed your car entitlement? Or if you’re a motorcyclist, has your entitlement been removed for no apparent reason?
BBC’s Watchdog (which aired on 27th April 2009) broadcast a feature in which several members of the public pointed out that these things had actually happened to them. “The DVLA know where we live, when we got our licence and most importantly they know what we’re entitled to drive – or do they?”
Following the recent publication of the results of the DSA’s Learning to Drive Consultation comes the Government’s latest document seeking views on the vision, targets and measures for improving road safety in Great Britain beyond 2010.
“Making Britain’s Roads Safer” is the title of the consultation document, and we would urge you all to get involved and make your opinions known. The full document and related research articles can be found here. The closing date for this consultation is 14th July 2009.
The key challenges for the new strategy are as follows:
reducing the number of road deaths, which have fallen at a slower rate than serious injuries;
pedestrian and cyclist casualties in our towns and cities – particularly in deprived communities;
On 7th May 2008, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) issued a Consultation Paper setting out wide-ranged proposals intended to make Britain’s roads safer by getting newly qualified drivers to cope with the challenges of driving unsupervised in today’s modern driving conditions.The Government’s preferred approach to achieving this is through education and incentives, encouraging young people to participate in more effective and efficient learning.
The four key elements of the proposed programme were:
An improved learning process
Improved driving tests
Better information about driving instructors and improved driving instructor training
Further options for qualifications and learning
Today (21st April 2009), the DSA published its report on this consultation.Having read the document this evening, I have listed the main changes that will happen, changes that may happen and proposals that have been rejected or indefinitely postponed.
Following on from Friday’s blog entry about the dangers of hands-free mobile phone use, I came across an interesting article this evening by Faye Sunderland of contracthireandleasing.com.
“Seven out of ten drivers have driven dangerously because they were making phone calls, sending texts or fiddling with the radio – with some admitting to having actually caused an accident as a result, research by car insurance compant, Swiftcover reveals. Although mobile phones and in-car entertainment systems are big causes of dangerous driving, smoking, personal grooming and using a sat-nav system have all been cited as distractions – while 4 per cent of motorists admit they have driven while watching a movie!”
I see this every day… people driving whilst talking on mobile phones, or even worse – texting. But although the average driver may think that hands-free equipment is perfectly safe, this may make you think again.
In what is seen as a landmark case, a sales boss, Lynne-Marie Howden, who was using a legal hands-free phone when she crashed and killed another driver, was recently found guilty of causing death by careless driving. The prosecutor said: ‘She lost control because she was distracted by the call. The collision would not have happened if she had not been on the phone and had been paying attention.’
Her final call was to a work colleague at 8.23am which lasted five minutes before she lost control of her car. She later told officers: ‘It is entirely legal to use a mobile phone with a hands-free kit. I regularly make and receive calls while driving. My car is effectively my office.’
According to esure car insurance, users of the new social networking site Twitter are causing significant danger on the roads. The Association of British Drivers have hit back at the claims though, making it clear that many of the Tweets were not UK based.
Research by esure car insurance released last week finds that some motorists are putting themselves and others at risk by Tweeting behind the wheel. The insurers say nearly one in ten of motorists questioned are using mobile internet services and social networks whilst driving.
To prove the point, esure released the following list of driving Tweets:
“Driving with my knees and peeling an orange…Probably not the safest thing to be doing.”
Following the launch of a new government anti-speeding campaign featuring a male driver plagued by memories of the child he killed, research released today by Brake, the road safety charity and Direct Line Car Insurance has found men are more likely to speed compared with women.
The research finds one in 3 male drivers, compared with one in 7 female drivers, admit they drive 35mph or faster in 30mph zones every day or several times a week. At 35mph you are twice as likely to kill a child compared with driving at 30mph or slower.
What would happen if all traffic lights were suddenly switched off? Would there be chaos and traffic gridlock or would the queues of frustrated drivers miraculously disappear?
When was the last time you checked your licence properly? Have you applied for a replacement due to a change of name or address? Have you checked the back of your licence to check that the DVLA haven’t mistakenly added full motorcycle entitlement and removed your car entitlement? Or if you’re a motorcyclist, has your entitlement been removed for no apparent reason?
Following on from Friday’s blog entry about the dangers of hands-free mobile phone use, I came across an interesting article this evening by Faye Sunderland of contracthireandleasing.com.
I see this every day… people driving whilst talking on mobile phones, or even worse – texting. But although the average driver may think that hands-free equipment is perfectly safe, this may make you think again.
According to esure car insurance, users of the new social networking site Twitter are causing significant danger on the roads. The Association of British Drivers have hit back at the claims though, making it clear that many of the Tweets were not UK based.
Following the launch of a new government anti-speeding campaign featuring a male driver plagued by memories of the child he killed, research released today by Brake, the road safety charity and Direct Line Car Insurance has found men are more likely to speed compared with women.
