Road users are being urged to look out for each other during this year’s Road Safety Week to make the roads safer to use for everyone.
The event, run by the charity Brake, takes place between 17th and 23rd November and aims to make motorists, cyclists and users of public transport to show more consideration to fellow road users to cut the number of accidents on the roads. Brake is asking motorists to reduce their speed to 20mph in community areas and to slow down near corners and giving pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers more room.
This year’s theme is ‘look out for each other’ as research has shown one of the primary causes of road accidents is drivers not being careful enough, and driving in excess of the speed limit. It also wants to stop the often aggressive and antagonistic atmosphere between different groups of road users.
Road Safety Week was started in 1997 by Brake and the charity is urging schools, organisations and communities to get involved by putting up posters in their areas, running workshops for local people and raise awareness of the Brake pledge. This asks drivers to drive slow, stay sober, be secure, don’t use mobile phones, wear glasses if they need to and drive only when necessary.
A number of towns and cities have put initiatives in place to support the week, with young drivers in Northern Ireland being urged to take extra-care during the week, while in Weymouth over 300 students are expected to attend a Safe Drive, Stay Alive presentation on the 17th November. Elsewhere, a driver training centre in the North East is offering free driver simulator sessions throughout the week, and Motorbike Times magazine and website has published a list of tips for riders to help them stay safe on their bikes.
Several branches of Specsavers opticians have also launched poster competitions for Road Safety Week offering local children prizes for designing the best one, which will be put up in store throughout the week. Police forces around the UK will also be going into schools to talk about the initiative to children.
In previous years, the themes for Road Safety Week were ‘Tune In’ in 2013 which looked to stop drivers becoming distracted by everything around them, and 2012’s theme was ‘slower speeds = happy children’.
Road accidents have been on a downward trend over the last few years, with a total of 183,670 reported in 2013 which is the lowest recorded. Fatalities numbered 1,713 which is half the figure of the year 2000 and is again the lowest on record.
Brake is a national road safety charity dedicated to stopping needless deaths on the roads and to making the streets and communities people live in safer places to. It also offers support to individuals and families who have suffered bereavement through road accidents.
Anyone interested in getting involved in Road Safety Week can visit the website – www.roadsafetyweek.org – and download a free email action pack.