Action on road safety

GuestBlogger
December 6, 2012

Guest post regarding Road Safety Week and new research from the ABI.

Road Safety Week has recently taken place in the UK, with a number of organisations using the event to highlight particular concerns over the safety of drivers on Britain’s roads.

Young driver safety

To mark Road Safety Week, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) published research on young drivers, which shows that:

The single biggest cause of accidental death of young people aged 15-24 is dying in a car;
In 2011, 5,419 people were killed or seriously injured as a result of accidents involving at least one young car driver;
Every day as many as 15 families are devastated by car crashes involving young drivers; and
40% of 17-year-old males have an accident in their first six months of driving.

Radical new proposals

In response to these alarming figures, the ABI has launched its ‘Campaign for Safe Young Drivers’, which proposes a number of radical new measures to change the way people learn to drive and, in turn, reduce the number of young people dying or being seriously injured on the road.

According to a recent survey by the ABI, these proposals are supported by the majority of people questioned.

Of those surveyed:

76% agreed that there should be restrictions on young drivers after passing their driving test;
71% supported restricting the number of young passengers that newly qualified young drivers are allowed to carry;
57% agreed with a minimum 12-month learning period before taking the driving test to enable young drivers to gain more supervised practice;
60% supported changes to the driving test and the way in which it is conducted;
60% thought that a combination of all four proposals would be effective in helping to make young drivers safer on the roads; and
58% supported a restriction on night-time driving (11pm-4am) for newly qualified young drivers.

According to the ABI, post-test restrictions have been implemented in all US states, New Zealand and regions of Canada and Australia, and have led to significant improvements in road safety for young drivers.

GO 20

Road safety charity Brake also launched a campaign at the start of Road Safety Week, appealing to drivers to slow down to 20mph or below in communities, and calling for widespread 20mph limits in built up areas, so children, families and adults can walk and cycle without their lives being endangered.

According to Brake, ten adults and three children (age 0-17) are mowed down and killed or seriously injured when on foot or cycling every week in Scotland.

For expert legal advice, contact CBC Solicitors personal injury lawyers in Glasgow and Rutherglen advising clients across Central Scotland and beyond on personal injury and road traffic claims.