Letting kids live

A month from now, thousands of children across the UK will be marching for safer roads, as part of Brake’s Giant Walking Bus. The event encourages primary schools to educate kids on road safety, through running creative and practical activities, but more importantly it sends out a message about adults’ responsibilities in protecting kids on foot.

Children are arguably our most vulnerable and most important road users. ‘Most vulnerable’ because, however well we educate children on road safety, they can’t be expected to always make the right decisions to protect themselves: they must be safeguarded. ‘Most important’ firstly on the basis that a death or serious injury of a child on roads is utterly devastating and unacceptable in civilised society. And secondly because children’s ability to get out and about is critical to their development and health. It’s important for all of us, but children are especially likely to be prevented from walking and cycling by road danger, and it’s well evidenced that a lack of physical activity in childhood can bring about long-term health problems.

Last week, to mark the UN’s Global Road Safety Week, which focused on the theme of pedestrian safety, Brake and Hampson Hughes Solicitors released a survey of 500 primary schools gauging their views on road safety in their area. Although we know that schools are switched on to the importance of road safety, we were surprised that more than three in four (77%) are actively campaigning on the issue. Schools are also well aware of the importance of slowing traffic to protect kids: eight in 10 (81%) say they want a 20mph limit in their area; only 12% say they already have one.

To launch the findings, we teamed up with London Fields Primary

London Fields Primary School help promote the GO 20 campaign

School in Hackney, and Hackney Council, in an area that is reaping the rewards of ‘GOing 20’, and safer streets for kids and adults. In recent years they have seen a range of road safety improvements, including a 20mph limit, crossings and cycle paths. Plus the Borough has made the switch to 20mph limits as the norm across most of its streets – so, critically, it’s not just a limited area immediately around the school that’s been improved. As I walked from the station to the school on the morning of the launch event, it was immediately apparent this is a place where people come first: it looked and felt pedestrian and cyclist friendly. And the school are clear about the great results it’s had: more kids walking and cycling.

We need more councils to follow the lead of Hackney and the many others around the country that are deciding to ‘GO 20′ across whole towns, boroughs, cities and villages, to help create safe havens for walking and cycling. We hope more will listen to the kids and schools marching for road safety next month in our Giant Walking Bus. It’s good for road safety, public health, the environment, and local economies. But perhaps most importantly it’s good for kids and the rest of us – enabling us to live active, happy lives.

Read more:
Brake and Hampson Hughes’ survey of schools and launch event
Evidence on the impact of switching to 20mph limits
About Brake’s Giant Walking Bus for primary schools
Support the GO 20 campaign

Vital steps to stamp out drug driving

Today the family of Lillian Groves, who was killed aged 14 by a driver on cannabis, presented a 22,000-signature strong petition to Downing Street, calling for deadly drug driving to be stamped out. The Groves have been campaigning alongside Brake, and other families who have experienced devastation at the hands of drugged drivers, to call for a long-overdue change in the law, and roadside drug screening equipment. And I’m pleased to say their efforts have yielded significant and unprecedented progress.

Although we don’t know how many lives are lost and destroyed due to drug driving each year (accurate statistics aren’t available), studies indicate this is a huge and possibly growing menace. A survey of young drivers by Brake and Direct Line last year found one in nine admitted driving after taking drugs at least once in the past 12 months [1]. An academic study found one in six drivers killed on UK roads have at least traces of illegal drugs in their bodies [2]. And research shows the effects of taking drugs on driving can be lethal. For example, taking cannabis doubles a driver’s chances of being in a crash that kills, and when combined with alcohol this risk increases 16-fold [3].

Following years of campaigning by Brake, and intensive lobbying by the Groves, last year the government committed to introducing a new offence of driving with drugs in your body and screening equipment for police – and now a drug driving bill is making its way through Parliament.  The government has been consulting experts on the technical aspects of the law, including where limits should be set for different substances, and trials of screening equipment have been taking place.

This change in the law is critical, because at the moment it is only an offence to drive while impaired through drugs, and the need to prove impairment makes prosecution difficult and therefore relatively rare. We may well ask (and indeed many are) why has it taken so long for this to happen when some other countries have had such a law and roadside screening for years. But it’s without doubt things are now moving along apace – we’re expecting the new legislation to be in place by summer 2014 – and the focus now needs to be on making sure these changes are effective.

We need the ‘limits’ to be set as low as possible, so potentially dangerous drug drivers are not allowed to slip through, and so there is a clear message that taking illegal drugs and driving won’t be tolerated. We need to raise public awareness about the changes – as the Groves are hoping to do through presenting their petition – and we need the government to ensure police are properly equipped with devices that detect a range of substances.

Alongside this, we are also calling for a wider government commitment to roads policing. Crucial though it is to bring in this law and screening devices to tackle drug driving, we must have sufficient numbers of police conducting checks and patrols, catching dangerous drivers before they wreak destruction, and posing a strong deterrent against taking deadly risks. Roads policing has been severely cut in the past few years: a trend that must be halted [4]. Investment in effective traffic enforcement is not only critical in protecting the public, it pays for itself many times over through preventing costly crashes [5].

So at the same time as commending the government for progress being made on drug driving – and the Groves for their determined campaigning to bring this about – we must also turn our attention to the delivery of roads enforcement, and urge much greater political priority to be given to this life-saving work. 

Read Brake’s media release on the Groves’ petition 
Read about Brake’s campaign on drink and drug driving

End notes:
[1] Brake and Direct Line Report on Safe Driving, PART SIX Young drivers, Brake and Direct Line, 2012
[2] The incidence of drugs and alcohol in road accident fatalities, Transport Research Laboratory, 2000
[3] Cannabis intoxication and fatal road crashes in France: population based case-control study, French National Institute for Transport and Safety Research, 2005
[4] Data on roads policing supplied to Brake through Freedom of Information requests from 52 UK police forces (of which 43 supplied complete information), Brake 2011
[5] Peden M, World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, World Health Organization, 2004

The vital role of employers in making roads safer

Nearly one in three journeys on our roads are made by someone who is at work at the time, travelling for business purposes [1]. These drivers are thought to be particularly at risk of crashing – 30-40% more likely than people driving in their own time [2]

A survey published today by Brake and Direct Line reveals some of the bad, potentially deadly, habits of many people who drive for work. It finds a huge proportion use their phone at the wheel – more than half to talk, and one in three to text – and three-quarters endanger pedestrians and cyclists by speeding at more than 35mph in built up areas. And shockingly, these drivers, whose livelihoods depend on them having a licence, are more likely to take these horrendous risks than not-at-work drivers [3].

There are numerous possible reasons. Firstly, many people who drive for work spend a lot of time at the wheel, and this regularity no doubt breeds complacency and a sense of being able to get away with risky behaviour. But it’s also likely that many people who drive for work feel under additional pressure – imposed by themselves or their manager – to attempt to multitask at the wheel, and get to their destination as quickly as possible at any expense. That’s why it’s crucial not only for people who drive for work to take greater responsibility for their own and others’ safety, but also for employers to do everything they can to ensure their staff are safe and not putting others in danger.

In fact, employers have a duty of care to take steps to manage and reduce risks faced and posed by staff driving on work time – whether it’s a commercial vehicle, company car, or the employee’s own vehicle being driven to work appointments. Many organisations work very hard to do this, by monitoring drivers, journeys and incidents, and ensuring vehicles are well-maintained, journeys are well planned, and staff are trained and briefed so they know to always put safety first and that risky behaviour won’t be tolerated. Brake’s annual Fleet Safety Awards,  and the guidance and seminars we provide year-round through our Fleet Safety Forum, recognise and promote good practice in this field, holding up examples of organisations that have made great strides in fleet safety.

But the statistics show there is more many employers could be doing to put in place comprehensive fleet safety practices and promote safe driving. Many of our Fleet Safety Award winners not only fly the flag for safe driving internally, but are passionate advocates for safe, responsible, compassionate road use, promoting road safety to customers, suppliers and the wider community. If more organisations were to follow this lead it could have a huge and remarkable affect on UK road safety, as well as delivering welcome cost-savings and other business benefits to these organisations.

Read more about Brake’s Fleet Safety Awards and Conference
Read more on Brake and Direct Line’s survey of at work drivers
Find out about Brake’s Fleet Safety Forum subscription and seminars

[1] National Travel Survey 2010, Department for Transport
[2] Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2010, Department for Transport
[3] Brake and Direct Line survey of at work drivers, January 2013

Why all our communities should GO 20

GO 20 goes live today, at the start of Road Safety Week, launched by Brake alongside a coalition of national charities: Living Streets, Sustrans, 20′s Plenty for Us, the National Heart Forum, Campaign to Protect Rural England and Ramblers. We are highlighting the vital importance of people being able to walk and cycle without being or feeling endangered, and that slower speeds in villages, towns and cities are critical to enabling people to enjoy active lifestyles.

Demand for safer streets for walking and cycling is sweeping across the UK, bolstered by the enthusiasm brought about by the Olympics. At the same time, more and more authorities are realising that to bring about more active, healthy, happy communities, reducing traffic speeds is critical. To name a few, Portsmouth, Islington, Warrington, Leicester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Wigan, York, Colchester, Bodmin, Lancashire, Brighton & Hove, Middlesbrough, Bristol and Oxford have made the switch to 20mph limits across most of their urban roads, or are in the process of doing so.

But while some cities, towns and villages are starting to reap the rewards of widespread 20mph limits – an estimated 8.4 million of us now live in these 20mph conurbations [1] – many more are still waiting, as politicians get up to speed. We’re calling for all our communities to GO 20, to help ensure everyone can walk and cycle – for their health and enjoyment, and for cheap and sustainable travel – without fear or threat.

20mph is much safer for people walking and cycling because drivers have far more chance to react in an emergency and avoid hitting someone: your stopping distance at 30 is nearly double than at 20 [2]. Where 20 limits have replaced 30 limits, it’s resulted in fewer devastating and costly casualties [3].

Lower speeds are particularly good for children. Research shows children struggle to judge speed when vehicles are doing more than 20mph [4], yet some drivers expect them to keep out of the way or pay the price. We think kids – and everyone else! – should be able to walk and cycle without their lives being endangered.

20mph encourages more walking and cycling as people feel safer. Few people like dicing with death on their way to work, and no parent wants their child to walk or cycle to school or the park if they fear they could be hurt on the way. Surveys show traffic danger is a major barrier to getting more people walking and cycling [5]. And where town- and city-wide 20mph limits have been introduced, walking and cycling has increased [6]. Aside from the obvious freedom and enjoyment this gives people, it’s also great for public health.

In short, GOing 20 is about happy, active communities: people who care about each other, get out and enjoy their local area, and say hello when they pass in the street. Lower traffic speeds improve the ‘sociability’ of streets: people get out more and are more likely to know their neighbours [7]. In 2012 the UK celebrated a royal wedding, jubilee and Olympic and Paralympic Games. People got together to celebrate and realised they liked it. GOing 20 can help us keep that community spirit ball rolling.

GO 20 calls for more local authorities to switch to 20mph, so more people can enjoy the benefits. But ultimately, we don’t think safe walking and cycling should be a postcode lottery. We want all our communities to GO 20, and that means the government lowering our default to 20mph, to make this the norm across all our communities.

GO 20 also appeals to drivers everywhere to make a difference now, by making a simple pledge: stay well within limits, and slow down to 20 around homes, schools and shops, even where the limit is still 30. You’ll be helping to protect people around you, and you’ll hardly notice the difference to your journey time. In fact, you may find journeys smoother, less stressful, and less costly. GOing 20 really is good for everyone.

Help achieve safer streets for walking and cycling in your area and across the UK by taking a few minutes to back the campaign at www.go20.org.

Read more on the case for GOing 20, why the GO 20 partners are on board, and how you can help your community GO 20: all at www.go20.org.

End notes:
[1] Estimated by 20′s Plenty for Us, www.20splentyforus.org.uk
[2] The Highway Code, Driving Standards Agency, 2007
[3] For example,  20mph speed reduction initiative, Scottish Executive Central Research Unit, 2001; 20mph Speed Limit Pilots Evaluation Report, Warrington Borough Council, 2010
[4] Reduced sensitivity to visual looming inflates the risk posed by speeding vehicles when children try to cross the road, University of London, 2011
[5] For example, Brake and Bolt Burdon Kemp surveys of commuters and parents on cycling, 2012 and Brake and Churchill survey of parents on walking, 2012
[6] Where widespread 20 limits have been introduced, walking and cycling levels increased by 20%, Citywide Rollout of 20mph speed limits, Bristol City Council Cabinet, 2012
[7] The contribution of good public spaces to social integration in urban neighbourhoods, Daniel Sauter & Marco Hüttenmoser, Swiss National Science Foundation, 2006; Driven to excess, Joshua Hart, University of the West of England, 2008

Ensuring more young people have a bright future ahead

A key focus at the party conferences over the past few weeks has been the difficulties facing the nation’s young people, including their access to employment and their ability to turn potential into bright futures. On the fringes of the party conferences, Brake has been working with the Association of British Insurers to draw attention to a closely related issue: young people’s safety on roads.

The ABI and Brake have been together calling for a safer start for young drivers through reform to the driver training and testing system. We believe a far more structured approach to learning to drive, in the form of graduated driver licensing, is needed to tackle the shocking number of casualties that involve young, inexperienced drivers.

Young drivers are involved in a disproportionately large number of serious crashes: one in four road deaths and serious injuries is in a crash with a young driver, despite this age group making up just one in eight licence holders [1]. Young people themselves are often the victims. 18 young people aged 15-25 are killed or seriously injured each week on Britain’s roads [2], and road crashes are the single biggest killer of this age group [3]. In other words, the thing that causes more young people to lose their lives than anything else, and causes daily devastation to families and communities, is something that is preventable.

The reasons young drivers are involved is so many catastrophic crashes are clearly evidenced: it’s a combination of youth, creating a tendency among many to take risks, and  inexperience, meaning reduced hazard awareness and ability to handle these risks. This is demonstrated clearly in the ABI’s report, which shows how crash risk decreases separately with age (so the older you are when you pass your test the less likely you are to crash) and experience. We also know a lot from research about the nature of young drivers crashes, and the circumstances in which young people are most likely to crash, such as at night and with young passengers in the car [4].

Graduated driver licensing is effective because it addresses the major risk factors: it includes a year-long learning period, to ensure drivers have a good level and range of experience before they get their licence. After the driving test, there is a novice period, where drivers can drive independently but with restrictions including a late night driving curfew and passenger restrictions.  This system has worked well in other countries, and is predicted to save 200 lives and prevent thousands of injuries if introduced in the UK [5].

Graduated driver licensing offers a balance between safety and mobility, because young people can still drive independently at the end of their learner period. It can also include exceptions to the restrictions so we’re not preventing young drivers from getting to work, or carrying dependents. However, Brake also believes that, alongside introducing GDL, the government should be improving alternative options for young people, so fewer feel there is no other option than to learn to drive in their teens. This should include improving affordability and access to public transport, and putting in place safe cycling and walking routes to colleges and workplaces in rural and built-up areas.

This important point about improving sustainable travel options for young people, so their mobility and safety are improved, was welcomed by a group of Young Labour members at the ABI’s Labour Party fringe event. They rightly pointed out that young people, particularly in rural areas, are often between a rock and a hard place, with many having to go to the expense and undergo the risks of starting to drive young if they are to get to work or college. We fully agree this situation needs rectifying, alongside bringing in a more robust licensing system, if we are to ensure that more young people can go on to fulfill their potential in the future, and fewer are prevented from having a future at all.

Back Brake’s campaign for action on young driver safety
Read Julie Townsend’s speech from the ABI’s fringe events
Read the ABI’s report on young driver safety

[1] Reported road accidents involving young car drivers: Great Britain 2009, Department for Transport, 2011
[2] Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2011, Department for Transport 2012
[3] Death registrations in England and Wales, ONS, 2010
[4] See range of research data cited in Improving the Safety of Young Drivers, ABI 2012
[5] Restricting young drivers, University of Cardiff, 2010

20mph limits work, and can help deliver an active-lifestyles legacy

As the Olympics drew to a close last weekend and attention turned to the need for a lasting legacy of improved access to sport and active lifestyles, some newspapers were at the same time reporting that 20mph limits are ‘not working’. These reports focused on the fact that casualties have gone up across all 20mph limit roads in 2010-11, strangely overlooking that 20mph limits have become significantly more widespread during this period.

We don’t know precisely how extensive 20mph limits now are, because unfortunately the government doesn’t monitor this, but we do know more and more city, county and borough councils are deciding to implement 20mph limits across most or many of their built-up streets,  including Portsmouth, Liverpool, Bristol, Oxford, Edinburgh, Brighton, Lancashire and Islington. Clearly, as we bring in 20mph limits across far more of our road network, it’s likely an increasing proportion of road casualties will occur on this type of road. In 2010-11 serious casualties among pedestrians and cyclists, which mainly happen in built up areas, went up overall. It does not follow that 20mph limits don’t work, although it does indicate that far more should be done to make walking and cycling safer.

In fact, the evidence is quite conclusive on the safety benefits of lower speeds in communities. There is a very well demonstrated link between traffic speed and safety: unsurprisingly, if you slow traffic it results in fewer and less severe casualties [1]. Numerous studies have shown that 20mph limits result in casualty reductions, especially among people on foot and bicycle [2].

The reason we believe 20mph is a more appropriate limit for built up areas is down to the huge difference in stopping distances (it’s almost double at 30mph compared to 20mph), and therefore drivers’ ability to react and avoid hitting someone. If a child suddenly steps out three car lengths ahead, at 20mph you should just be able to stop in time. But at 30mph you’ll hit them at almost full speed and have a significant chance of seriously injuring or even killing them [3]. 

The other critical component in the case for 20mph limits is the fact that danger from fast traffic is a major barrier in people choosing walking and cycling as a healthy and sustainable mode of travel, and in families and kids feeling able to get out and about for leisure and exercise. In surveys, a huge proportion of people say they’d walk and cycle more if it was safer [4]. At the same time, three-quarters of people (74%) support use of 20mph limits on residential streets [5]. In short, people are crying out for slower speeds and safer streets to enable them to walk, cycle, run, socialise and get about without being endangered.

Making our streets safer is fundamental in creating healthier, happier and more active communities - and 20mph limits across our towns, cities and villages are an effective way to help bring this about. After the inspirational Olympic performances of runners, cyclists, triathletes and many other sportspeople who use local streets as their training ground, this is surely a key part of the legacy we should all be getting behind.

Register for Road Safety Week 2012 for a free action pack on campaigning for safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists
Read more on Brake’s campaign for slower speeds in communities

End notes:
[1] For example Speed and Road Safety: Synthesis of Evidence from Evaluation Studies, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, 2006, and The effects of drivers’ speed on the frequency of road accidents, Transport Research Laboratory, 2000
[2] For example, 20mph speed reduction initiative, The Scottish Executive, 2001; 20mph Speed Limit Pilots Evaluation Report, Warrington Borough Council, 2010; Safety effects of speed reducing measures in Danish residential areas, Danish Council of Road Safety Research, 2002
[3] Typical stopping distances, The Highway Code, 2011
[4] Brake and Bolt Burdon Kemp surveys of commuters and parents on cycling, 2012 and Brake and Churchill survey of parents on walking, 2012
[5] British Social Attitudes Survey, 2011

Inspiring fitter, healthier, happier communities

As we gear up for two and a half weeks of sporting spectacular, an important question for many is how we convert this excitement into a lasting legacy, particularly in promoting active and healthy lifestyles.

Accessible and affordable sports facilities and programmes are clearly important in this, but for many sports men and women, and budding competitors of the future, the most important training facility is simply the streets, paths and green spaces around where they live. A significant number of Olympic events will take place on London’s streets, and it’s likely that a lot of the 500 Team GB members will have spent a fair part of their training pounding or peddling the streets.

Brake argues that critical in encouraging more active lifestyles, and helping to inspire more children and adults to take up sports such as cycling and running, is making our streets and communities safer and more pedestrian and cyclist friendly.

A survey out last week by Brake and Bolt Burdon Kemp reveals how parents’ fears for their children’s safety (which are by no means unfounded) is preventing many children from cycling. Just over half of parents said they won’t let their child cycle unsupervised when they reach age 12 because of danger from traffic. A huge 76% said they would be persuaded to cycle as a family or do so more if local roads were safer, while nine in 10 said they would support safe cycling measures like cycle paths and 20mph limits in their area. In another survey we carried out earlier this year, looking at commuting, one in three  workers said they would switch to cycling to work if the route was safer.

These results paint a worrying picture, if so many children and adults are being prevented from engaging in the healthy and enjoyable activity of cycling, and using it as a sustainable mode of transport, because of the risks.

More concerning still is a marked rise last year in deaths and serious injuries among pedestrians and cyclists. In 2011 we saw the first rise in road deaths and serious injuries for 17 years, and the biggest increases were among people on foot and bicycle. Brake is calling for these appalling figures to act as a wake up call for government – particularly on the vital need to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety. We need to see greater leadership, determination and investment in bringing casualties down, and delivering the many benefits associated with safer walking and cycling. Specifically, we need the government to encourage and enable more local authorities to implement widespread 20mph limits and safe walking and cycling routes, and to ensure progress in this area. There is much we can learn from many of our European neighbours where people on foot and bicycle are given far greater priority and greater protection from traffic.

If we are to use the coming weeks’ events as an inspiration and a catalyst for bringing about healthier, happier communities, let us not forget the vital importance of safer roads in this.

Read more and take action:
Register for Road Safety Week (19-25 Nov), this year focusing on protecting pedestrians and cyclists
Report road safety concerns in your community to get advice on local campaigning
Back Brake’s cycle for life campaign
Read more on Brake and Bolt Burdon Kemp’s surveys of parents and commuters