June 2011 Newsletter

HGV DVD

South Lanarkshire Council Road Safety in partnership with Strathclyde Police, Norbert Dentressangle and Argos has produced a dvd on HGV road safety which applies to all road users. In the DVD, the driver of an HGV speaks about the challenges they face with regard to the width and length of the vehicle, side winds, stopping distances, weather conditions, reversing sounds, manoeuvres, 'blind spots' and tail lifts.

It gives a 'driver's eye view' of life behind the wheel of an HGV, giving a sense of the visibility problems the driver can encounter due to the design of the vehicles.

There is a survey opportunity on the website for viewers to help evaluate the DVD.

Request for Information: HGV Stopping Distances

Do you know of any up-to-date research on the HGV Stopping distances? One of our ScORSA members would like to have this information. If you are aware of any recent research we would like to hear from you. Please contact: info@scorsa.org.uk

DfT Road Safety Strategy

The Westminster government published its "Strategic Framework for Road Safety" on 11th May. Among the features included in the new framework are plans for issuing fixed penalty notices to careless drivers and for requiring disqualified drivers to undergo retraining and retesting before their licences are reinstated. The framework includes a Road Safety Action Plan and a Road Safety Outcomes Framework, which sets "indicators" against which progress will be measured. The Framework does not set targets for casualty reduction, but it does include casualty reduction forecasts. The central forecast (if all the measures in the framework are successfully implemented) is a 37% reduction in deaths, from a baseline of 2005 – 09, which would mean deaths falling to 1,770 by 2020, 1,720 by 20225 and 1,670 by 2030.

RoSPA's Young Drivers at Work Project is cited within the Road Safety Strategic Framework as an example of good practice. The Framework also highlights the website, www.roadsafetyevaluation.com and the E-valu-it toolkit that the DfT and RoSPA developed to help practitioners to evaluate their road safety ETP interventions.

More information

Northern Ireland's Road Safety Strategy to 2020

Northern Ireland's Road Safety Strategy to 2020 has been published, and outlines the key road safety challenges to be addressed over the next ten years. It contains 199 Measures for improving the safety of all road users which are presented under 'Safer Roads', 'Safer Vehicles' and 'Safer Road Users'.

The Strategy sets a vision for road safety, which is "to make a journey on Northern Ireland's roads as safe for all road users as anywhere in the world".

The casualty reduction targets contained in the Strategy seek to make this vision a reality and are supported by a number of key performance indicators.

Northern Ireland's Road Safety Strategy to 2020

Young Drivers @ Work Scottish Training Seminar

Young drivers are one of the priority commitments mentioned within the Scottish Government Road Safety Framework to 2020.

To support the Scottish Government commitment, RoSPA Scotland has organised two free training seminars in the use and delivery of RoSPA's Young Driver at Work workshop resource.

We know that the two highest risk driver groups on our roads are young drivers and at-work drivers. Young drivers who drive for work fall into both groups and consequently face the combined risks of their relative inexperience and the pressures of driving for work.

These training seminars will take place in Edinburgh on 7th September and Glasgow on 8th September. The seminars are open to anyone involved in working with young drivers and will be of particular interest to road safety professionals, businesses, educationalists, occupational health and safety personnel The Young Driver at Work Workshops are designed to provide an understanding of the risks young drivers face and the skills they need when driving for work. The training aims to assist delegates in identifying new ways of helping young drivers.

TRL Report

The Transport Research Laboratory has undertaken an interesting project into the effects of vehicle defects on road accidents. This TRL report estimates that vehicle defects are likely to be a contributory factor in perhaps 3% of accidents in Great Britain. Read the project Full Report.

Driving Risks @ Work film on ScORSA Website

The DR@W DVD can now be viewed on the ScORSA website, www.scorsa.org.uk. This DVD is split into short sections and is designed to assist companies in identifying occupational road risk and in putting in place suitable policies and procedures. This DVD is also included in the ScORSA Driving Risks @ Work Toolkit.

ScORSA Driving Risks @ Work Toolkit: Launch and Seminars

The ScORSA Driving Risks @ Work Toolkit was launched on 11th May to commemorate the launch of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

The Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives in partnership with RoSPA Scotland has sponsored a series of seminars to help provide guidance and support to small and medium sized businesses coping with the risks presented from driving for work.

Seminars so far include:

Fife (Glenrothes Halls) 16th June 2011
Aberdeen (Douglas Hotel) 14th September 2011
Hamilton (Banqueting Hall ) 15th September 2011
Glasgow (venue tbc) 30th November 2011.

What can I expect at the events?

Attendees will look at the business benefits in managing occupational road risk and find out about a new ScORSA Driving Risks at Work toolkit for employers. This free training tool for managers is designed to help businesses present messages about safe driving and workplace policies on driving to staff. It includes a film drama which contains real-life scenarios, a Driving Risks@Work DVD covering employers' and employees' responsibilities and Situation Cards to help generate discussion regarding company policy.

Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) update

The ACPOS Country Road Campaign in April detected 651 speeders in Scotland over one weekend with a further 24 of these being charged with careless driving and 20 with dangerous driving. Alarmingly, around 20% were in the 17-25 year old age bracket.

A one day campaign on 11th May also led to 264 drivers speeding and 454 vehicle occupants not wearing a seatbelt.

Click here for more detailed information.

Monday 6th June sees the start of the two week drink drug driving campaign.

Driver Tiredness Leaflet

Driver tiredness is responsible for over 20% of fatal accidents on major roads. South Lanarkshire has produced a leaflet to remind us of the dangers of driver tiredness and provides information on preventing this from occurring.

Download the leaflet (PDF 764kb)

Driving for work: Safer Journey Planner

RoSPA has updated "Driving for Work: Safer Journey Planner", which was first produced in 2004. The main updates are:

Links to the main travel planning websites
Advice about employees wanting to avoid overnight stays
Specific links to our other "Driving for Work" guides
More advice on the need for clear policy on driving in adverse weather
Advice about young at work drivers not feeling able to raise concerns about schedule or tiredness.

The updated version is available to be downloaded free from RoSPA's website at www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/worksafejourney.pdf. It is available as a pdf only; no printed copies.

Review of the motorcycle test

A number of minor changes have been made to Module 1 (off-road manoeuvres) of the practical motorcycling test (mainly the order in which the manoeuvres are conducted) were introduced on 16 May 2011. To find out more, visit the motorcycle news area of DSA's corporate website.

Child Seat Safety Research

Researchers at Loughborough University are involved in a European Commission funded project called CASPER - Child Advanced Safety Project for European Roads - and involves 15 organisations across Europe. The project has launched an online survey for parents, grandparents and carers which asks about experiences with child seats. The results will enable the research to target specific areas that will give the most safety benefit. The survey can be found online here.

Further information on the CASPER project can be found at www.casper-project.eu