This year’s Road Safety Week kicks off today (18th November). The initiative, led by road safety charity Brake, is the biggest road safety event in the UK, and Russell Worth solicitors is pledging our support for the campaign to help raise awareness of road traffic accidents that can so easily be avoided. The focus of this year’s campaign is ‘Tune In’ – urging drivers to limit distractions whilst on the road. Driving is the most risky activity that most of us do daily and speaking on a mobile phone, eating, drinking, smoking or listening to loud music whilst at the wheel can all distract drivers, which could cost you or somebody else their life.
Brake’s campaign gives particular prominence to combating mobile phone use – both hand-held and hands-free. Despite it now being illegal, figures released by Brake today (18th November) suggest that over half a million UK drivers have penalty points on their license for mobile phone and other distraction offences.
Throughout this week, Brake will be asking everyone to tune in to road safety, which means promising to do your best to stay focused on the task in hand. Brake will particularly be appealing to drivers to turn off mobile phones and refrain from taking calls from those who are driving.
Gavin Moat, Director of Russell Worth solicitors, said of the campaign: “We are fully behind Brake’s Road Safety Week and think it is a fantastic initiative which should really make people think about their actions on the road.
“The theme this year, which asks drivers and pedestrians to “tune in” to road safety, is an important one and it’s plain to see from the figures released by Brake today just how big of a problem this is. We are approached by hundreds of victims of accidents on the road every year and many of these accidents can be so easily avoided if drivers and pedestrians were to pledge their support to avoid distractions and keep themselves and others safe”.
To find out more about Road Safety Week, please click here. You can also follow @BrakeCharity on Twitter.