Category: IAM RoadSmart

1. Drive safely in severe rain

   Posted on 12:01am Wednesday 21st Nov 2012

   Road safety charity the IAM is offering driving advice in response to the current severe weather warnings for heavy rain and wind.  

   • Before you set off, set your heater controls – rain makes the windows mist up in seconds. You don’t want to be fiddling with controls when you should be concentrating on the road.
   • Slow down. In the rain your stopping distance should be at least doubled. Giving yourself more space helps you to avoid spray, especially when following a large vehicle.
   • Keep your eyes on the road ahead and plan your driving so that you can brake, accelerate and steer smoothly – harsh manoeuvres will unbalance the car.
   • Strong winds can also unsettle your car and even change your direction of travel. Grip your steering wheel firmly and be aware of the effects of the elements on other road users, particularly motorcyclists and flat-sided vehicles.
   • If you have cruise control, avoid using it on wet roads – it may create problems if you start to aquaplane.
   • See and be seen. Put your lights on – as a rule of thumb, whenever you need to use your wipers you should also turn your headlights on, and before overtaking put your wipers on their fastest setting.  

   In cases of severe flooding, you should reconsider making the journey at all. If it is unavoidable, and you have to drive through deep water, the IAM recommends drivers take the following precautions:  
   • Drive on the highest section of the road and don't set off if a vehicle is approaching you
   • Leave time and space to avoid swamping other cars and pedestrians
   • If you can’t see where you are going to come out of the water, such as when approaching flooding on a bend, think twice about starting to drive into it
   • In deep water never take your foot off the accelerator, as this could allow water to travel up the exhaust pipe
   • Once you're out of the water, dry the brakes before you need them. The best way is to lightly apply the brake as you drive along for a few seconds, after checking nothing is following you too closely.  

   Rodger said: "A suddenly very wet road surface increases the chances of slipping when braking or steering, which is a problem not just for motorists, but cyclists and motorcyclists too. When driving in wet conditions remember that stopping distances will increase, and visibility will be reduced. Drop your speed and give yourself more time to slow down."

2. Motorists dubious about driverless cars

   Posted on 8:40am Tuesday 20th Nov 2012

   Forty per cent of motorists would never consider using a driverless car, according to the IAM‘s latest poll. Furthermore, 65 per cent of people are sceptical as to whether or not driverless technology is actually a good idea.  

   Driverless cars rely on radars, GPS and satellites to drive and navigate without the need for a driver to take control. Google’s driverless vehicle has so far driven a total of 300,000 miles without an accident. However, only one third of respondents agreed that this provides a strong argument that the removal of the human element from driving would benefit road safety.  

   The majority of motorists (815 of 1,088 respondents) believe that focus should be redirected from making cars better to making drivers themselves safer. Although, around half of respondents (500 of 1,088) feel that driverless cars are a good initiative for the future.  

   One aspect of advanced car technology is that vehicles would be unable to exceed the speed limit. Half of respondents think this is an attractive quality in the driverless car, while the remaining 50 per cent consider it strictly a disadvantage.  

   Other results show: •Half of motorists don’t think that driverless cars will become popular. •56 per cent do not think there is a possibility that driverless cars will be the norm within the next ten years. •98 of 1,088 people think that driverless car technology is irresponsible. •22 per cent of respondents would use a driverless car. •Over half of motorists think that automated systems should take control to prevent a crash. •92 per cent of people like the fact that with driverless car technology, the car behind would not be allowed to drive too close to you.  

   IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “The presence of driverless technology in every car is still many years away. In the meantime, more should be done immediately to improve driver standards and deal with the most common human errors through better training, as well as incentives by the government and insurance companies.   Of course technology has a huge role to play in road safety, but as long as there are cars on the road people will want to drive them. What we need to aim for is first class drivers operating first class vehicles.”

   www.iam.org.uk

3. Prestigious road safety award goes to scheme that makes drivers relate to motorcyclists

   Posted on 12:01am Monday 19th Nov 2012

   Humanising motorcyclists is the key to making roads safer for them – a fact recognised by a prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award – sponsored by the MCI.

   The recipient of the award is ‘Someone’s Son’ - a campaign which aims to humanise and personalise the motorcyclist/driver relationship, run by the Safer Roads Partnerships of West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humber. Research has identified that drivers who are, or who know, a motorcyclist, are less likely to be involved in a collision with one.* 

   Statistically, the vast majority of rider casualties are male, who will by definition be someone’s son (or husband or dad...) – hence the name of the campaign, though women motorcyclists feature too. 

   32,000 riders have received information leaflets via a popular biking magazine and a thousand high visibility vests have been distributed, with slogans representing all manner of human relationships, chosen by the riders: ‘Someone’s Son’, ‘Someone’s Mother’, ‘Someone’s best mate’.   

   The campaign combines radio adverts with a ‘living’ reminder of on-road riders in their personalised hi-viz. vests. Urban junctions are the most common place for accidents between drivers and riders to occur, often in 30 mph zones. 

   It is sometimes difficult to work out who is to ‘blame’ in these types of crashes, so the ‘Someone’s Son’ campaign has been developed to raise awareness and encourage drivers and riders to look out for each other. 

   Drivers are encouraged to be especially careful at junctions and roundabouts and riders are urged to give drivers the chance to see them through good road positioning, appropriate speed and by wearing high visibility gear. The awards and MCI involvement The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards are the equivalent of the Oscars in road safety communities. 

   Each year outstanding examples of international road safety initiatives are given public recognition through the scheme. The MCI has been involved with the awards for a number of years.  Karen Cole, Safety and Training Director of the MCI is a member of the board that choose the winners and recommended ‘Someone’s Son’, which she explained is ‘A brilliant way of making sure drivers see motorcyclists’.  She explained further, ‘Personalising motorcyclists in this way is much more effective than issuing generic messages. The campaign is continually reinforced by the presence of those riders in the Yorkshire and Humber areas wearing their high- viz. vests with slogans’.

   This is a very cost efficient way of delivering an effective road safety message, according to David Glanville of Safer Roads West Yorkshire who explained, ‘We recognise that we all share a common problem and by pooling our resources we were able to deliver a bigger campaign across a wide area at the lowest possible cost’.

   www.someones-son.co.uk

   *Research comes from The Department for Transport’s Road Safety Research Report 85 Car Drivers’ Skills and Attitudes to Motorcycle Safety: A Review, 2008, (p38).

4. Government must act to save bikers' lives

   Posted on 12:01am Tuesday 13th Nov 2012

   The IAM is calling on the government to redesign crash barriers to make them more motorcycle-friendly, as new research from Sweden shows that modern crash barriers actually provide no safety benefits whatsoever to motorcyclists.  

   Modern crash barriers are designed to save the lives of drivers, but amongst motorcyclists, hitting a crash barrier is a factor in eight to sixteen per cent of fatal accidents, according to an IAM-sponsored study. Riders are fifteen times more likely to die after hitting a barrier than car occupants.  

   Britain’s current barriers protect car occupants by redirecting the car away from the barrier and slowing it down over a short distance. The car’s body, seat belts and air bags also help to minimise injury. For motorcyclists, there is no such protection, leaving the rider’s body to take the full impact, resulting in serious injury or death.   Two-thirds of all collisions between motorcyclists and crash barriers which result in death or serious injury include the rider either falling over or sliding under the crash barrier. Adding a shield to the barrier to prevent the rider from sliding underneath and colliding with support posts would reduce fatalities by up to a third. Crash barrier support posts can worsen the injuries of motorcyclists involved in an accident by five times.  

   IAM director of policy and research Neil Greig said: “Our crash barriers are designed with cars in mind, but they can cause more harm than good for motorcyclists. Modifications are happening across Europe as governments recognise exactly how dangerous they are. Last year deaths and injuries of motorcyclists increased in the UK4, so we must do more to protect them.  Adding extra protection the barrier so that the posts aren’t exposed is a simple and cost-effective way to save lives.”

   www.iam.org.uk

5. IAM comment on quarter two road casualty statistics

   Posted on 12:01am Friday 2nd Nov 2012

   The latest Department for Transport road casualty statistics released today show a decrease in casualties for vulnerable road users.  

   There has been in a fall in vulnerable road user casualties when April-June 2011 is compared to April-June 2012; however there has been a significant rise over the year.  

   • The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured rose 9 per cent from 2,950 in 2010/11 to 3,210 in 2011/12. This is 27 per cent more than the average between 2005-2009.
   • The number of motorcyclists killed or seriously injured rose 5 per cent from 5,207 in 2010/11 to 5,450 in 2011/12
   • The number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured rose 5 per cent from 5,701 in 2010/11  to 5,970 in 2011/12  

   IAM director of policy and research Neil Greig said: “In the six months before these results there were increases in the numbers killed and seriously injured.  This drop has not made up for that.  We need to do much more to turn this quarter’s figures into a trend. Upgrading roads, targeted safety campaigns and measures to improve road user awareness among new drivers are needed too. The drop in road casualties is really good news but the Department for Transport admits that it is likely to be linked to this year’s wet weather. We shouldn’t rely on a few months of dodgy weather to get cyclists and motorcyclists casualties down.”

   www.iam.org.uk