Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Northern Ireland Assembly has recently introduced a package of measures designed to change the way young people learn to drive.

Following this news, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has called on the UK Government to take similar action and implement a package of reforms that would include:

• Introducing a 12 month minimum learning period.
• Developing a more structured syllabus.
• Introducing a restricted phase where there is a limit of the number of passengers a new driver can carry, the time of the day they drive and a lowering of the blood alcohol limit.

These are all critical components of a Graduated Driver Licensing scheme, which are designed to provide new drivers with driving experience and skills over a longer period of time.

Just over ten years after hand-held mobiles were banned at the wheel, Brake is renewing its call to ban hands-free kits, as a Brake and Direct Line survey reveals that almost half (45%) of drivers admit to chatting when driving.

While the use of hand-held phones by drivers has dropped, hands-free use has risen, likely to be linked to the mistaken belief that it is a safe alternative.

For the past ten years, Brake believes that the lack of a total ban has left many drivers unaware that using a hands-free mobile at the wheel is just as risky as using a hand-held. According to the survey, three in ten (32%) don't know that any type of phone use while driving is dangerous.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is warning drivers about the dangers of distracted driving after research found that nearly one in ten (9%) of drivers admit to crashing their cars because they were distracted. Just under one in twenty drivers (4%) say that someone was injured in the crash.

The IAM/Vision Critical survey, which polled nearly 1500 regular UK drivers aged 18 years and over, also found that of the 500 divers who admitted to having a near miss, almost one in five (18%) then went on have a crash.  

The most common distractions are:

The latest Department for Transport road casualty statistics have shown a welcome decrease in the overall number of deaths and serious injuries in the year ending September 2013.

However, despite the decrease, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is concerned that two-wheeled road users are still a growing risk and must be given even greater priority for investment and education.

The figures show that:

European Road Safety Day took place on 6th May and its theme this year was "pedestrian road safety".

Of the 30,000 people killed on European roads per year (28,000 in 2012), on average 21% are pedestrians, 7% are cyclists and 18% are riders of motorcycles and mopeds. Around 70% of the pedestrians who die are killed within urban areas.

There is cause for concern because, during the past ten years, the number of pedestrians killed in road accidents has not decreased to the same extent as the total number of road deaths. Almost half of all road deaths in urban areas involve a pedestrian or a cyclist.