Lawford Kidd's Blog

As many as 86% of company car fleets have experienced an accident in the past 12 months, according to a recent report by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

The report was commissioned in autumn 2014, and produced a number of interesting findings, including:

• Only 14% of fleets confirmed they had not had any vehicle incidents in their fleet in the last 12 months.
• Every fleet had suffered on-road incidents that were caused by their driver, i.e. an ‘at fault’ incident.
• Only 33% of fleets said at-fault drivers faced some sort of punitive measure, i.e. fine, excess payments, etc.
• Over half said they didn’t offer any post-incident driver training as a means of reducing the risk of repeat incidents.

According to Government figures, between 2008 and 2013 3,493 people were killed in accidents involving a driver/rider driving for work, including 515 in 2013.

A teenager lost the ability to read and write following a road traffic accidentt after he suffered from whiplash. A report, published by the British Medical Journal, stated that the type of injuries sustained by the victim of the crash in 2004 are the only kind to ever be seen.

The 19-year-old believed he had escaped the accident unscathed despite hitting his head, however found that he was unable to understand words on the television following the incident, describing them as “alien symbols”.

“Extremely Rare”

Over the next few months, the victim lost the ability to read and write entirely, with a brain scan revealing that he had suffered from a cyst in his brain, causing him to lose his memory. The teen, now in his late 30s, has since taught himself to read and write once more, and completed university.

Edinburgh City Council have proposed bringing in a 20mph speed limit on over 80% of the citys’ roads in a bid to reduce road traffic accidents.

In a move that has been applauded by safety groups, the proposal looks to place a blanket ban on travelling over 20mph across the vast majority of the capital’s urban areas. There will be a small number of roads that drivers can go above 20mph. However, the vast majority will be outwith the city centre.

Scheme Delayed

The £2.2 million scheme was announced by the Edinburgh Council who have since delayed the implementation of the scheme by at least three months to grant those opposed to the changes to raise their objections above the policy. The changes, which have been met by some objections, will take two years to put in place if approved. The blanket speed limit will be rolled out by April 2016.

Motorists have been warned of reckless driving in dangerous winter weather following a multi-car pile up on the A92.

16 cars were involved in a pile up in merely half of mile of road, with reckless driving in the low winter sun being cited as the main reason for the accident which saw four people require hospital treatment.

Following the collision of two cars, 14 cars failed to stop in time, resulting in bumper-to-bumper collisions.

Road safety organisations have expressed disappointment at the latest road traffic casualty figures published by the Department of Transport, which show that deaths and serious injuries on UK roads increased by 4% in the year ending September 2014, with deaths up by 1%.

In response to the figures, road safety charity Brake has called on all political parties to commit to three vital road safety policies, especially to protect pedestrians, cyclists, children and young people.

In total, 1,730 people were killed and 22,630 seriously injured on UK roads in the year ending September 2014, up from 1,711 deaths and 21,728 serious injuries in the previous year. Casualties of all severities are also up by 5%, from 184,087 to 192,910.