Should we scrap daylight savings to improve road safety?
There is a long-running campaign in the UK to scrap daylight savings to save energy and improve road safety. The idea is that we stick with British Summer Time – ie when the clocks go forward – for the whole year. It would mean an end to Greenwich Mean Time. Major campaigners Brake, the road safety…
Tougher sentences for drivers who kill or injure
Earlier this month, (October 2017), the Ministry of Justice announced long-awaited plans to increase maximum sentences for drivers who cause death by speeding, racing or using a mobile phone. Offenders who cause death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs will also face life sentences, and a new offence of causing…
Is it illegal to use your phone as a sat nav?
Since March 2017, drivers caught using their phones by hand whilst driving have faced stiffer penalties – six points and a £200 fine. Drivers who passed within the past two years can expect to lose their licence. But does that apply to using your phone as a sat nav? The short answer is yes – even if…
Hit film Baby Driver shines spotlight on tinnitus
Baby Driver is one of the hottest films of the summer, and offers a timely reminder of the impact that tinnitus can have on people’s lives. Baby Driver, starring Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx, is about a young getaway driver who suffers from Tinnitus. In order to ‘drown out’ the noise he hears, he plays music…
Still too many people die on UK roads
The latest figures show that there are almost 2,000 people killed on UK roads each year, with over 25,000 either killed or seriously injured. It’s a shocking number and represents a two per cent increase on the previous year (in line with a 1.4 per cent increase in the amount of traffic on our roads). The new…
Why your car insurance premium could be set to rocket
Your car insurance could be set to increase because of a change in the law that affects the way compensation payments are made. It’s a very complicated issue, but it is based around something called the ‘discount rate’ which is applied to compensation payments. When someone who has been seriously injured in a crash is awarded their compensation,…
Cycling safety – should cyclists wear headphones?
Cycling safety has been making national headlines again after a Coroner ruled a woman caused her own death when the music she was listening to prevented her from hearing an oncoming lorry. She swerved to avoid the vehicle after entering a roundabout without looking right – she fell and fractured her skull and spinal cord,…
Road Safety Week 2016 – make a pledge to help save lives
Drivers could save five lives a day if they change their habits and pledge to drive more safely, according to Brake, the organisation behind this year’s Road Safety Week, running from the 21st-27th November. The theme of this year’s awareness-raiser is ‘Make the Brake Pledge’, in which drivers are urged to adhere to six key promises. Slow – sticking…
Peak season for serious road injuries – stay safe
We have now entered peak season for serious road injuries. Every autumn, when the hour goes back and we revert to Greenwich Mean Time, there is a spike in the number of pedestrians injured on our roads, especially children. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has long been campaigning for the way we use British…
Motorists facing prosecution for ‘close passing’ cyclists
The relationship between cyclists and motorists is strained at the best of times – and now a police force is taking action to protect cyclists even further. Motorists in the Midlands are facing prosecution for failing to give cyclists enough room as they pass them. West Midlands Police is prosecuting 38 drivers after filming them leaving less than 1.5m between their…