Nov 15, 2017
Road safety professionals have flagged that a lack of investment into the UK’s roads is causing a failure to tackle road safety. Limited funding is one of the main reasons that the UK is missing out on road safety innovation, which experts believe is linked to an increase in road deaths last year for the first time in 10 years.
Making our roads safer
At the Premier Highway Event, 60.3% of 2,000 road safety professionals said that new innovation and technology are integral in improving both road safety and driver behaviour. However, 42% stated that the lack of budget available is creating a barrier preventing them from implementing new ideas.
32% of the professionals surveyed also felt that unwillingness to change and aversion to risk are getting in the way of the UK trying out new techniques to make our roads safer to drive on.
(Credit – Darren Moloney)
Pothole season
One of the biggest safety issues facing road users is potholes. They caused 96 crashes in 2016, an increase of 12% compared to the previous year. In addition to this, 467 cyclists were in accidents caused by poor quality, defective roads. Meanwhile, one in three motorists claim to have suffered vehicle damage due to a pothole. This includes damage to tyres and suspensions, which are both costly to replace.
Over a million potholes were reported to highway authorities and councils last year. They cost £3.1 million to repair. The local authority who made the most pothole-related pay outs was Wiltshire Council, which ended up with a £505,000 bill. Westminster City Council paid out the most per pot hole, at a staggering £2,400 each.
Despite all of the money that has already been spent on repairing potholes and paying out for damage caused to vehicles, 70% of drivers think that more should be done. This shows just how dangerous and worrying these road defects are. The situation is made worse by the fact that some local authorities judge certain potholes to be too shallow to fix – one North Yorkshire cyclist suffered a concussion after hitting a pothole, but the local authority argued that the road had passed a recent inspection.
New technology
Prevent potholes from occurring would mean that the money spent repairing them could be invested into trying out new road safety technology and innovations.
Nottingham University Lecturer Dr Alvaro Garcia may have the answer. He was inspired by a surprising source: a contestant on the Spanish version of MasterChef. The contestant gave Dr Garcia the idea to use spherification to create small, solid balls of sunflower oil. These can be mixed in with road asphalt and help to prevent cracks from becoming worse.
The balls work by sensing when cracks appear in the asphalt and breaking to release the oil to help to stick the road back together. Tests have shown that within just two days, the damaged road has been restored. This is fantastic news for local authorities who are spending so much of their budget on repairing potholes.
It has been said that this innovative solution could extend a road’s lifespan from around 12 to approximately 16 years.
This self-healing road research at Nottingham University is being funded by Highways England. It demonstrates the impact that investment in new technology can have on road safety. The innovation is particularly exciting due to its sustainability and environmentally friendly nature.
The price of innovation
Cuts are being made across the board in the UK. However, it seems that not providing enough funding to keep drivers safe on the road is a dangerous move by the government. Road deaths in the UK increased by 4% last year, reversing a decade of improving safety figures. Investing in improving road safety would be more cost effective than responding reactively to issues and could also help to save lives.
With this in mind, surely the government should find further funding to invest in new technology and innovations to keep our roads safer. Doing so could help to keep motorists safe, as well as reducing the need for future expenditure on repairing our decaying road network.
Have you noticed a decline in the quality of the roads in your local area? Has your council been quick to act or have things simply been left to deteriorate? Share your experiences below.
Nov 8, 2017
The Press Association recently asked 45 UK police forces for data on how many fixed speed cameras they have, and how many of them are switched on. The results make for interesting reading – it seems that differing approaches to managing speed cameras mean that drivers in some areas have a much better chance of dodging speeding fines than those in other regions. Furthermore, only around half of the fixed speed cameras in the UK are active, which means that there are hundreds across the country that are not catching speeding motorists.
Regional results
From the 36 forces who responded, it was discovered that 13 regions have fewer than half of their fixed speed cameras switched on. Meanwhile, four areas admitted to having none of theirs on at all. The four regions with no active speed cameras are Durham, Cleveland, North Yorkshire and Northamptonshire. The cameras in Northamptonshire have actually all been switched off since April 2011. While the authorities there do have other devices in place to catch those who are driving over the speed limit, drivers whizzing past fixed cameras faster than the speed limit are unlikely to suffer financially as a result.
Of the 2,838 fixed speed cameras dotted around the country, only 1,486 are active, based on the figures from the 36 forces who responded to the information request. However, this does not include the mobile speed devices that many forces declared that they regularly use. All forces also stated that there are frequent reviews about which of their region’s fixed speed cameras should be switched on.
(Credit – David Dixon)
Worrying figures
Brake, a road safety charity, has said that these figures are concerning and that all fixed speed cameras should be switched on. Such a move would certainly help to tackle speed in the UK. Meanwhile, AA president Edmund King believes that the reason so many cameras are inactive is because of limited budgets.
This is supported by the fact that all money received from those paying speeding fines goes straight to the Treasury. It is not automatically put back into running fixed speed cameras. Thus it costs local police forces to run their speed cameras. Many people think that the resulting fines should go to those police forces operating the cameras, thus further incentivising them to deter motorists from speeding.
The great speed camera lottery
Do you feel it’s fair that the speed camera lottery means some drivers are more at risk of being caught than others? The answer probably depends on where you live!
For example, in Staffordshire there are 272 fixed speed cameras, with only 14 switched on. Derbyshire has 122 cameras, but only 10 are active. In addition, there is a whole range of regions that use less than a quarter of their fixed speed cameras to catch speeding drivers. These include Kent (25%), West Yorkshire (25%), South Yorkshire (24%), Greater Manchester (24%) and Cheshire (17%).
In comparison, London, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk and Northern Ireland have all of their fixed speed cameras switched on. As such, people speeding in these regions are far more likely to be caught than those driving elsewhere in the UK.
In the West Midlands, all of the cameras had been switched off. However, eight newly implemented cameras are now active, and there is one particular hotspot in Birmingham that saw 500 speeding tickets being issued within a single month!
Even though you now know your odds of being caught by a fixed speed camera, based on where you drive, it is strongly advised that you do not gamble on whether they are switched on or not. Not only could you end up with a hefty fine and points on your licence, speed limits exist for the safety of all road users. Sticking to them means those in your car and others around you are at less risk of injury.
Although some organisations feel that the roads would be safer with more police patrolling them, fixed speed cameras do tend to work as a deterrent, meaning that most motorists are driving safely. It is hoped that the revelations of these figures won’t change that situation.
Finally, remember that no matter which region you are driving in, all police forces use mobile speed cameras. These could be active at any point during your journey, and are much more difficult to spot than the fixed yellow boxes that may or may not be active at the time.
Will knowing about regional differences in speed camera use affect the way you drive? Should police forces be using these resources more in order to keep us within the speed limit? Let us know your views by leaving a comment below.
Nov 1, 2017
According to the latest study from the RAC Foundation, a driver receives a penalty notice every 2.5 seconds somewhere in the UK. This adds up to a whopping 12 million penalty notices having been handed out each year and means that 1 in 3 drivers has received one of these penalty notices in a year.
The number of penalties is because of the increased use of cameras to catch offenders which has also led to greater mistrust in the system amid motorists. They see a lack of discretion and common sense when issuing the penalty notices, which causes people to distrust it.
Dr Adam Snow, criminologist lecturing at Liverpool Hope University compiled the statistics for the RAC Foundation that showed each year there are:
• 8 million parking penalties from local authorities
• 2.5 million penalties for bus lane and box jurisdiction
• 500,000 late licensing and insurance penalties
• 1 million red light and speeding penalties
These figures don’t include the additional 5 million parking penalties for drivers who are on private land or the 1.2 million drivers who use a speed awareness course to avoid the penalty.
Changing face of policing
The figures show that as police budgets are cut, they look to rely on the extra income generated from these fines. Reductions in police budgets are ‘perhaps the main driver’ behind the reliance on cameras, according to Dr Snow. Between 2010 and 2014, the number of police officers also fell by nearly one quarter, so less police on the streets combined with more cameras is why motoring penalties are on the increase.
Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation said that in order for the system to maintain legitimacy, the public needs to be able to see these automatic enforcements as proportionate. This means that while wrongdoing should receive punishment, a decline in front line policing shouldn’t lead to a reliance on these penalties to make up the shortfall.
Currently, millions are caught on camera for minor misdemeanors, such as not paying on toll roads or jumping a red light, while more serious crimes are seen as going unpunished because there aren’t enough police to deal with them, or the police that they have are not trained or do not wish to engage with the criminals, such as the recent spate of thefts on mopeds in London.
(Credit – Highways England/Flickr)
Is the income being spent wisely?
On the other side of the argument is Martin Tett, the spokesman for the Local Government Association’s transport department, who says that effective parking control is one of the most frequently demanded services from residents and this is why parking companies that enforce action are both a deterrent and way to generate much needed income for underfunded councils.
In addition, income raised from offences such as on-street parking fines, is then used to help run parking services, with any surplus then being used for essential transport projects. This includes the £12 billion road repair backlog as well as creating new parking spaces in towns and cities. However, this year the Government has cancelled 22 road projects that were intended to ease road congestion and there is a general perception that traffic congestion is worse than ever.
If the income generated from these fines was used to pay for the police and projects to improve the road network to ease congestion then most drivers would agree to this. It seems that the income is not being spent on this, rather on measures to monitor drivers and penalise them further.
Motorway speeding fines reach new low
Drivers are facing even higher penalties with the latest change to speeding fines, which were introduced earlier this year. In some situations, motorists could face a possible £2500 fine and a ban if they exceed a permanent 40mph speed limit on a motorway. Currently, the motorway speed limit is 70mph but there is a stretch of the M32 in Bristol where it is currently set to 40mph.
The measure was put in to place following a set of temporary speed cameras due to roadworks that started in July. During this time, some 10,000 motorists were caught speeding over a two-month period. Luckily, at that time, the speeding fines weren’t enforced.
However, at the end of October, the speed limit became permanent and speed cameras were set at 40mph. The maximum speeding fine is £100 but if you are deemed to have exceeded it severely, then the fine can be as much as £2500.
What do you think of the scale of motoring penalties? Is it too much or is it about time people are penalised for these offences? Have we reached a situation where surveillance has gone too far? Let us know in the comments below.
Oct 25, 2017
Rising insurance costs and the price of fuel mean that driving is becoming increasingly expensive. Now, it seems that making a mistake when driving is becoming more expensive too. New figures from the Press Association show that the contribution that constabularies get from each person attending a speed awareness course jumped from £35 to £45 last month, as course costs rise. Attending the course means that drivers can avoid getting penalty points on their licence for speeding.
Expensive business
This means that police forces around the UK will collect some £54 million from the 1.2 million drivers who attend a speed awareness course in the UK this year. The staggering figure doesn’t include the millions of pounds that they receive from courses such as the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS), which is conducted by private companies on behalf of the police.
Courses are offered on a discretionary basis. Offenders can attend a course and avoid both the points on their licence and a fine. However, the actual cost of the course can vary greatly depending on where you live.
Regional variations
Motorists speeding in Northamptonshire, for example, have to fork out £75 for the speed awareness course, while Essex drivers pay £99, a difference of 32%. There are also some big regional differences in prices for the Ride courses, which are part of the NDORS. Drivers in Lancashire pay £80, while those in Norfolk and Suffolk pay £185 – a difference of £105 for the same course.
According to the RAC Foundation, people are attending speed awareness courses with no idea that people in the next county could be paying significantly less for the same service. There is no system in place to explain why speeding course costs vary by as much as a third, just depending on where you live.
(Credit – Albert Bridge)
Worth the cost?
With rising costs for the speed awareness course, and regional price differences, the question then becomes – is it still worth doing the course?
One way of deciding this is by looking at the cost of insurance, which rises when you have points on your licence. Drivers who have 10-11 points see the biggest increase, of up to 82% on the average policy price. London, Glasgow and Birmingham see the highest costs for these drivers.
Even at the lower end of the scale, drivers with 1-3 points on their licence can expect to pay up to £25 per year more for their car insurance. Altogether, drivers in this category are paying an additional £49.5 million in insurance costs around the country. Again, London, Glasgow and Birmingham see the steepest insurance rises for drivers with points on their licence.
Changes to speeding fines
The cost of speeding fines also needs to be considered. Under new rules brought into force in April 2017, the maximum fine for a speeding offence on a normal road is £1,000. However, if yor’re caught speeding on the motorway, the fine can be up to £2,500. The standard fine is £100 and three points on your licence, with the option of the speed awareness course being offered in some cases. Suddenly that course cost doesn’t seem so bad!
The new speeding fine system considers your income and places you in one of three bands. If you’re caught speeding in a highly populated area, at a high speed and with a certain level of income, you could see a much higher fine. Therefore, even accounting for regional variations, the speed awareness course can be the cheaper option.
Have you taken a speed awareness course in order to avoid penalty points? What were you charged for the privilege? Leave a comment to share your views.
Oct 18, 2017
If you go on a long car journey, a service station is likely to feature as part of the trip – whether it’s to use the toilet, stop for a coffee or grab a bite to eat. There’s nothing glamorous or luxurious about the service stations around the UK. However, some are certainly better than others. So, what makes a good service station? And which are the best and worst of the bunch around the UK?
Customer survey
Transport Focus, the travel watchdog, recently conducted a survey of some 8,700 customers. It looked at key areas around their visits to service stations, including the food, staffing and those all-important toilet facilities. The results revealed that some of the service stations were rather impressive, while others left a lot to be desired.
Based on the survey’s results, the top five service stations in the UK are:
• Reading Westbound M4 (Berkshire)
• Rivington Northbound M61 (Bolton, Lancashire)
• Corley Northbound M6 (Warwickshire)
• Gloucester Southbound M5 (Gloucestershire)
• Gloucester Northbound M5 (Gloucestershire)
At the other end of the scale, the worst five stations are:
• Heston Eastbound M4 (Middlesex)
• Stafford Southbound M6 (Staffordshire)
• Rownhams Southbound M27 (Hampshire)
• Rownhams Northbound M27 (Hampshire)
• Toddington Southbound M1 (Bedfordshire)
(Credit – Ian S)
What makes best and worst
Heston was rated as the worst in the country. The company that runs it, Moto, pointed out that the survey was done while there were building works going on. That may explain why some people complained about the “very smelly toilets.” Heston is also one of the smallest service stations in the entire Moto network and could therefore not provide many of the facilities of larger sites.
At the top of the chart, Reading scored an impressive 100% on its satisfaction survey, ironically also operated by Moto. According to the Transport Minister, John Hayes, service stations should be places for drivers to enjoy, rather than endure. This certainly seems to be the case with Reading’s westbound M4 offering, which was praised by reviewers for cleanliness, friendliness of staff and value for money.
Aiming for high standards
The survey asked drivers what they look for in a service station. Obviously, the basics are at the heart of the service – cleanliness, a range of relevant services and facilities and a decent selection of food options. Many service stations now have a number of food outlets under one roof, ranging from coffee shops to fast food joints. Many also offer a supermarket presence, such as Marks & Spencer or Waitrose, for drivers to stock up on essentials for the rest of the journey, conference facilities or hotels. One site (Beaconsfield on the M40) even offers a pub as part of its motorway service station. There’s also a trend towards drive through coffee shops in some locations.
Gloucester is one location that ranks in the top five (twice). It sets an example of the way forward for service stations. Instead of the typical fast food outlets, this service station is home to a café and a farm shop. In fact, the food there is so good that it received a nomination for the Best Food Retailer from the BBC Food and Farming Awards. It sources most of its foods from within 30 miles of the station and even provides an on-site butcher.
Sometimes it’s the additional features that make the difference for drivers. A lake to sit beside while eating your McDonald’s is one example, while a safe playground for the kids to let off some steam is another popular option.
Increasingly, service stations are offering more than just a place to have a burger and a toilet break. No doubt service stations up and down the country will now be considering how they can improve their performance before next year’s rankings.
Have you had a particularly good (or particularly bad) experience at a service station? We would love to hear about it – leave a comment below to share your experiences!
Oct 11, 2017
The Department for Transport has released its annual report on the number of accidents and deaths on the UK’s roads. The number of people killed has gradually declined over the last ten years. However, the number of deaths on our roads between 2015 and 2016 has suddenly increased by 4%. Are our roads becoming more dangerous?
Road deaths rise by 4%
According to the report, 1,792 people were killed in accidents during 2016. That’s, an increase of 4% on the previous year (though still a 6% decrease on 2011’s figures). In addition, 24,101 people were seriously injured, an increase of 9% on the previous year and 4% on 2011.
Thankfully, there was at least some good news, in that the number of people slightly injured decreased by 4% year on year, to 155,491. That figure is 13% lower than the number of those slightly injured in 2011.
Annual Report – number of accidents and deaths on UK roads
Overall, the figures showed an increase of 62 fatalities on the roads in 2016 when compared with 2015. However, the authors noted that some police forces have changed how they record statistics. This could perhaps account for some of the changes in the statistics.
(Credit – Highways England CC by 2.0)
What affects the figures?
The report states that there is no single underlying factor that leads to road casualties. Instead, there are a number of influences. These include:
- The distance that people travel – this can be affected by economic factors, such as having to travel further to work or to go shopping
- The blend of transport modes in use
- The behaviour of drivers – along with that of riders and pedestrians
- The mixture of people using the roads – the balance of older drivers and younger drivers, for example
- External factors – the weather, for example, can change the number of driving people and also the road conditions, with rain making the road slippery and encouraging people to use their cars rather than walking
Road user type
Another element examined in the report is the type of road user. The data looked at how many road users of each type were included in the casualty figures.
In 2016, there were 816 fatalities in cars. These accounted for 46% of the total figure – an increase of 8% over the previous year. Meanwhile, 25% (448) of people killed were pedestrians, a 10% increase on 2015. The number of people on motorcycles decreased by 13%, to 319, while 102 cyclists were killed – an increase of 2% on last year. The remainder of the number were counted as ‘other’ and had increased by 4%.
Dealing with an accident
Car users are the most likely group to be involved in an accident. This is hardly surprising, given that they make up the majority of road users. Motoring organisations have long issued guidance on how to try and avoid accidents. Now, they’re adding in advice about what to do if you are involved in one.
A long-standing idea has been not to apologise, as this amounts to admitting fault legally. While this is generally the case, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t offer help, make sure everyone is okay and wait for the authorities to arrive, if they are coming.
Likewise, for pedestrians, there is clear advice available to try and reduce the risk of becoming a statistic. This includes steps such as using pedestrian crossings wherever possible and to ensuring you’re visible to motorists so they can avoid you. Also, don’t be tempted to read that text message while walking – you could walk into the road and cause an accident due to a lack of concentration. Wait until you’ve reached your destination instead. The same goes for drivers, of course.
Do you feel any less safe on our roads of late? Are we becoming increasingly distracted by technology as we drive or could another factor be behind the rising number of road deaths? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
