The number of MoT failures has soared as cash-strapped motorists cut back on servicing and maintenance, figures showed. Soaring petrol prices and the recession has seen the number of cars and small vans failing the test rise form 8.4 million in 2006 to 10.5 million last year, according to the Retail Motor Industry. This is equivalent to just over 37 per cent of the total subject to testing and, according to the AA, the figure would have been higher but for the previous “cash for bangers” scheme which saw around 300,000 old cars taken off the road. An AA spokesman said a poll of more than 17,000 members earlier this year showed that one driver in five was cutting back on servicing. “That is a huge amount. The cost of fuel is taking a huge amount out of motorists pockets and they are looking to save money where they can. “These failures could be the tip of the iceberg hiding a motoring underclass who are driving cars with crumbling tyres and brakes which won’t stop a car in time.” “It is clear the recession has been having an impact,” said John Ball, the Retail Motor Industry’s MoT chairman. “People are running to a strict budget and getting pressures everywhere with the price of fuel rising as it has, you are having to absorb that extra cost More
(AD Remarks ~ In the current climate money is always tight, but its pays to make the small repairs when needed. Leaving major problems, may cost more in the long run, and could compromise safety on the road.)
There are now more accidents involving deer than ever before – and the problem is getting worse. Gary Ennes had only one thing on his mind as he drove his Ford Fiesta home one evening along the A1060 in Essex, with his workmates following 100 yards behind. It was early December and after a long day at work Gary was thinking ahead to a family party planned for Christmas Day. Sadly, he never made it. “The next thing I remember was waking up; I thought it was the day after,” says the 60-year-old electrician, “except that I was in a strange bed…” In fact he was in intensive care and just regaining consciousness after hovering on the brink of death for five weeks. “I woke up in a different year,” Gary says. To the horror of his workmates, a deer bounded across the road and cannoned through Gary’s windscreen before crashing straight out again through the rear window. He was left fighting for his life with nine skull fractures, a smashed jawbone, a brain haemorrhage, a broken wrist and thumb. It took three years of painful operations and rehabilitation before he returned to work. A freak, one-off accident? Sadly not. Gary’s experience is far from unusual and, as figures obtained by Telegraph Motoring show, it’s becoming an increasingly common scenario. Experts we consulted estimate that accidents involving deer on British roads are on the rise by up to six per cent a year. We shouldn’t be surprised; traffic levels are rising and there are more deer than at any time in the past 1,000 years thanks to mild winters and more woodland cover. An average of 15 to 20 motorists die each year after encounters similar to Gary’s. A further 1,100 are seriously injured and some 700 sustain less serious injuries. More
(AD Remarks ~ A much under-estimated problem on the roads. For the drivers there is not much that can be done to avoid the animals, given so little reaction time. Perhaps roads can be protected more from this risk in know areas.)
Londoners have paid £7.3m in fines in one year after being caught out by CCTV cars which “compromise road safety”, a privacy campaign group has claimed. Currently 24 councils use cars mounted with cameras on masts to spot traffic offences, Big Brother Watch said. The group said these patrol cars were being used by councils to “make money, with road safety only an afterthought”. Lambeth Council, which earned the most at £1.68m, in fines, said its income went towards road safety schemes. Big Brother Watch said it obtained these figures from councils under a Freedom of Information request. Councils issued the fines to 161,000 London motorists between April 2009 and March 2010. Across Britain, 31 councils use the patrol cars and 25 of these issued fines worth £8m using these vehicles, the campaign group said. More
(AD Remarks ~ Another hefty income from the motorists. Its good to hear some councils using the money for road safety schemes, rather than the funds just being swallowed up by the government.)
Many sports fans could be putting their lives at risk during the summer of sporting events by listening to important matches and races on the radio while driving. A new research study released today by Direct Line, commissioned with Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), reveals that motorists’ reaction times are 20 per cent slower when they are emotionally and mentally engaged in listening to sports commentary on the radio while behind the wheel. If travelling at a speed of 70mph, this distraction would add six metres to a motorist’s stopping distance. To put this into context, this increase in distance travelled is 10 per cent further than the additional stopping distance when driving with a blood alcohol level at the UK legal limit (80mg/100ml). During the testing, there were nearly 50 per cent more incidents of hard braking while motorists were listening to sports commentary on the radio, in comparison with driving without any distracting factors. This suggests that the motorists were not paying enough attention to the road and had to make late decisions to respond to the conditions and drivers on the road around them. Worryingly, motorists do not perceive. More
(AD Remarks ~ Anything that takes our attention from the roads is a big problem. If anyone has got a big wager on a race, they would be advised to drive slower while listening, or even stop for a few minutes.)
Twisting through a rolling landscape of green and vivid yellow fields, the road swoops down into a tight bend then straightens again, allowing the driver to accelerate up through the gears. It is the English highway of car ads and films, the perfect spot to luxuriate in the exhilarating fun of the open road. This stretch of the A18 cuts through picture-postcard Lincolnshire countryside, skirting the edge of the Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a magnet for walkers, birdwatchers and devotees of wildflowers. Well away from the thunder of the motorways – there are none in Lincolnshire – everything, including the smell of freshly cut grass, combines to give a sense of tranquillity, rural isolation and, not least, safety. This could not be more deceptive. The Road Safety Foundation (RSF) has just published its detailed annual study, funded by the Department for Transport, into the safety of Britain’s roads. The report, the only one of its kind, collates the number of fatal and serious-injury collisions on 2,741 sections of road, and grades each section according to its level of risk. This short, 10-mile stretch of the A18 topped the list as the most dangerous length of road for car drivers anywhere in the country, when collisions involving motorcycles are excluded. More
(AD Remarks ~ A pretty looking road, but deadly in its own way. These roads need to be treated with respect, as lack of vision, can lead to problems happening very quickly, with not just oncoming vehicles, but drivers going off the road as well.)
The report lists the UK’s 10 persistently higher risk roads which have shown little or no change since the earlier report covering 2003-2005. Top of this year’s persistently higher risk roads is the A537 between Macclesfield and Buxton, known nationally as the Cat and Fiddle. A 50mph single carriageway, running through the Peak District National Park, the route has severe bends, steep falls from the carriageway and is edged by dry-stone walls or rock face for almost all of its length. It is popular with tourists, heavy goods vehicles and high-powered leisure motorcyclists. Fatal and serious collisions on this section have risen by 127% in the last 3 years rising from 15 in 2003-2005 to 34 in 2006-2008, with most crashes at weekends during the summer in dry, daylight conditions. Police records show that the vast majority of casualties were motorcyclists, from outside the local area, male, and with an average age of 35. More
(AD Comments ~ If you have to travel that stretch of road – take care!)
NEARLY 40 vehicles have been crushed as part of a crackdown on persistent drink-drivers. Officers believe the “outstanding success” of the six-month-old scheme could see it extended to first-time drink-drive offenders caught several times over the limit or who refuse to provide a breath test or drive while banned. Under the pioneering Scottish crackdown, prosecutors can seek the destruction of the vehicle of anyone caught twice for drink-driving. Prosecutors have the power to seek to forfeit the vehicle of any driver charged with an imprisonable offence, so the scheme could eventually cover those convicted of dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving. The 39 vehicles seized so far include a £20,000 Audi TT by Grampian Police and a Land Rover Freelander in Edinburgh. The more valuable ones are sold while the rest are crushed. More See also Previous post for punishments around the world
(AD Comments ~ Should make a good deterent. Everyone know drink driving is wrong and illegal, this may ram home the message!)
Motorists in Scotland who misuse railway level crossings will have their actions recorded by two new vehicles with state-of-the-art cameras. The van and car are the first to be used and introduced by British Transport Police (BTP) in Scotland to monitor safety at level crossings. The car will monitor the central area of Scotland while the van will be based in Inverness and watch the level crossings in the north of Scotland. The vehicles will be manned by two officers each. The vehicles, which can record crossing misuse anywhere in the country, went on show on Tuesday to mark International Level Crossing Awareness Day. Footage can be downloaded and shown to drivers to educate them on the proper procedures at a crossing. It can also be used as evidence following an offence. More
(AD Comments ~ Surely the thought that a fast moving train will crash into you and likely kill you should lead you to be more alert at level crossing, than a camera taking a picture of you taking a risk and sending you a fine. But not for some it would seem!)
Ministers have been urged to cut the drink-drive limit by nearly half in a government-commissioned report. Sir Peter North’s review said reducing the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg would save hundreds of lives. He also recommends that the current mandatory 12-month driving ban should be maintained for the new 50mg limit. The review was commissioned by Labour and it is not certain that the new government will adopt its findings. Sir Peter, a leading academic and legal expert, makes a total of 51 recommendations in his report. These include making it easier for police to identify and prosecute drug-drivers by allowing nurses, as well as doctors, to authorise blood tests of suspects. Based on new research by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Sir Peter said that as many as 168 lives – about 7% of UK road deaths – could be saved by a reduced drink-drive limit in the first year. This could rise to as many as 303 lives by the sixth year, he said. Sir Peter said: “Research conclusively shows the much higher risk posed by drink-driving. “With a blood alcohol level between my proposed new limit of 50mg per 100ml and the current 80mg per 100ml limit, a driver has a six times greater risk of road death than a non-drinking driver. More
(AD Comments ~ Will lowing the limit have such a great effect? as many who are caught are well over the current limit anyway. But it may make people think more about their actions, before getting behind the wheel, which can only make the roads safer.)
A trial of New York-style “countdown” traffic lights will begin in London in late June, BBC London has learned. A Transport for London study found many pedestrians are unsure of how much time they have on zebra crossings after the green man light goes out. Now leaked documents show eight crossings with illuminated countdown signs will be installed, including in Balham, Blackfriars and Holborn. In the US lights with timers are common. The study authors said: “Research showed many pedestrians assume the only safe time to cross is when the green man is displayed at junctions. “In fact, the green man only signals the invitation to start crossing the road, and the blackout period that follows continues to give people the right of way. “This means even if a pedestrian steps off the kerb as the green man signal goes out and the blackout period begins, they still have enough time to cross the road before traffic starts to move.” The behaviour of pedestrians at the new crossings will be monitored closely. More
(AD Comments ~ Will only be successfull if pedestrians use the information wisely. Perhaps a similar countdown for drivers would help pedestrian crossing become safer as well!)
Police have launched an offensive against motorists who operate the music device, saying it is as dangerous as using a mobile phone. Officers are concerned that the “iPod generation” is putting other road users at risk when changing tunes on iPods and other MP3 players while behind the wheel. Forces across the country are interpreting existing road safety rules, which state that drivers must not be distracted, to include the most up-to-date music players despite many new cars coming with a docking station installed. Police can issue cautions to people caught eating or drinking if they feel the driver has been suitably distracted by it. More
(AD Comments ~ Just another impairment to driving, and even minor distractions from the road while selecting tunes, can have drastic consequences.)
52 per cent cannot see a red stop light coming when signals at junctions and pedestrian crossings are on amber. A survey of 1,000 motorists reveals that 39 per cent incorrectly expect a green light to be next in sequence after amber. A further seven per cent think that green and amber lights will appear simultaneously – a combination that never occurs – and six per cent suppose it will be the red and amber signal. Road safety experts are concerned that only 48 per cent of the UK’s 36 million drivers know the answer to a question routinely asked in driving theory tests and suggest that this could explain high accident rates at pedestrian crossings. Government statistics indicate that 19 per cent of pedestrians knocked down whilst crossing the road were on a crossing and a further 12 per cent were within 50 metres of one. The Department for Transport figures for 2008 – the latest available – say drivers failing to look properly were to blame for 21 per cent of all pedestrian accidents and seven per cent were caused by careless or reckless motorists or those in a hurry. Living Streets – formerly the Pedestrian Association – called for a clampdown on drivers running red lights along with a Government campaign on pedestrian road safety. It is also demanding a guarantee that the time allowed for pedestrians to cross will not be reduced by up to six seconds as proposed last year in London to improve traffic flow and cut congestion. “We are concerned at the poor level of knowledge of drivers,” said chief executive Tony Armstrong. More
(AD Suggests ~ An area where all road users need to be clear, so that traffic lights can be safe for all. Perhaps a simple change, so that the green light flashes 5 seconds before it goes out, would alert motorists earlier to changing lights!)
UK motorists have been reminded to be more disciplined about adhering to speed limits in order to ensure they are driving safely. A survey conducted by road safety charity Brake has revealed that 72 per cent of drivers admit to travelling at 35 mph or faster in 30 mph zones, with a large proportion saying they do this regularly. However, the organisation stated that seemingly minor increases in speed will make it harder to stop for pedestrians, as well as increasing the risk of serious injury should a collision occur. Brake chief executive Mary Williams therefore called on British drivers to end their “widespread complacency” about going over the speed limit. More
(AD Suggests ~ Everyone needs to remember to keep responsible safe speeds, in 30 mph zones, as by their nature are built-up areas, where children are more likely to wander into the road.)
Undercover officers have been loaned a lorry to help them catch coach and lorry drivers flouting the law. Avon and Somerset Police will have a better view of other motorists from their lorry cab and will be looking out for drivers who are not concentrating. Sgt Mike Olding said one driver had even been caught cooking his dinner while driving. Anyone caught not in control of their vehicle could be fined, arrested or lose their license. Sgt Olding said: “Operation Tramline will be targeting all motorists, but the police lorry will be a great help to see if heavy goods drivers are using a mobile phone, laptop or even cooking their dinner – anything that affects their control of the vehicle they are driving.” The police are working in partnership with the Highways Agency and Vosa (Vehicle Operator Services Agency). More
(AD Suggests ~ Strange thought of someone cooking as they drive down the road. This is exactly what we need, more of a Police presence to promote safe driving, rather than more cash cow speed camera, that just make money for the government)
The Mayor of London has challenged the Government to protect cyclists, by adding an element to the driving test which forces learners to pay more attention to bicycles. Boris Johnson wrote to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis after the death of the seventh cyclist to be killed in the capital so far this year, London’s Evening Standard reports. Thirty-one-year-old Zoe Sheldrake was killed on Monday morning on the A41 Edgeware Way. Her father told the paper that “she had been so safety-conscious” since he had recently bought her a cycling helmet, adding that his daughter had been spending a lot of time cycling in a bid to get fit and become a fitness instructor. Johnson’s letter said: “We feel that there is merit in examining whether the standard driving test for car drivers should be tightened further to ensure the needs of vulnerable road users are fully understood by new drivers.” It comes a day after the Institute of Advanced Motorists released its guide book, How to be a better cyclist, urging riders to “claim their lane”. According to the organisation, cyclists should “stay nearer, but not close to the kerb on long, even stretches”, but should take the initiative and assert themselves – where safe – when approaching a side road, moving further out to make drivers more aware of their presence. More
(AD Thoughts ~ The driving tests, both practical and theory, already examines candidates on how they handle cycles they encounter. Perhaps more education for drivers, inproved road layouts for cycles and education for cyclists themselves, would boost road safety further.)
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