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Police crackdown on summer drink and drug driving

The Scottish police annual summer crackdown on drink and drug driving will take place from 4th to 18th June and will involve all eight of Scotland's police forces.

Chief Superintendent Derek Robertson of Lothian and Borders Police, road casualty reduction lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), said: “During last summer’s campaign we detected 245 people for drink driving and 21 who were unfit through drugs in Scotland. That is totally unacceptable and it is worth remembering that many of those people will still be serving a driving ban today.”

He added: “There is a clear link between driving impairment through drink or drugs and road crashes in which people, many of them unconnected with the driver, are killed or seriously injured. We must all work together to reduce the risk and I would ask anyone with information about a drink or drug driver to contact the police or the independent charity Crimestoppers.”

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Roads fit for a Queen

In the run up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has taken a look back over how roads and road safety have changed since the Queen came to the throne sixty years ago.

Key developments include:

  • Since 1952, over 313,000 people have died on UK roads.
  • The good news is that the number of road victims is on the decrease. In 1952, 13 people a day died on our roads, compared to five a day now. When increased vehicle numbers are taken into account, roads are actually six times safer.
  • Today’s roads would be beyond recognition to drivers in 1952. Vehicle numbers have steadily increased from four million to 34 million in the last 60 years.
  • Many important road safety laws have been brought in during the Queen’s reign, including the MOT test, drink drive limit, and compulsory seatbelt and motorcycle helmet wearing.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Road safety gets better by the year, and the technology of roads and cars improves all the time.

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Charities launch fight-back against 80mph limits

A coalition of road safety and environmental organisations have launched a campaign protesting the government's plans to increase speed limits on motorways to 80mph.

The No to 80 coalition is highlighting the huge costs to society of the proposal, which it predicts will exceed £1 billion annually in economic terms, mean more families needlessly suffering from motorway crashes and casualties, millions of tonnes more carbon pumped into the atmosphere each year and further damage to tranquillity in the countryside.

80mph limits are predicted by experts to result in more violent road deaths and serious injuries, causing unnecessary trauma and suffering. One academic estimated it would lead to 25 extra deaths and 100 more serious injuries each year.

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Irish Injuries Board annual review 2011

InjuriesBoard.ie has published its review of 2011, which shows that compensation totalling €210 million was awarded in 2011 in respect of 9,833 personal injury claims. The average award in the period was €21,339. During the year the Board made an award of €829,444, its highest to date.

Award values via the Injuries Board remained consistent with awards through the Courts. The average award in 2011 was €21,339, down 3.8% on 2010. This reduction is largely due to a reduction in the proportion of work related claims – typically of higher value – and reduced loss of earnings, given lower salaries across the economy.

The total value of awards in the period increased by 23% but this was largely driven by an increase in the number of awards assessed in the period. Underlying claims volumes remained stable, increasing by 3% in the period and suggesting that the often mooted increase in claims during recessionary times has not occurred.

Over three quarters of awards (76.5%) were for injuries from road traffic accidents, while the remainder were split between workplace (8.4%) and public place (15.1%) accidents.

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Drivers regularly risking lives on motorways

More than half of drivers (53%) are risking deadly pile-ups on motorways by driving too close to the vehicle in front, according to research by Brake and Direct Line. More drivers are taking this deadly risk compared to seven years ago (49%), and men are far more likely to do it than women, with a horrifying three in ten male drivers (30%) doing so at least weekly.

In Great Britain in 2010, 263 people were killed and 1,445 seriously injured in road crashes on motorways and 70mph roads.

While there are fewer crashes per mile travelled on motorways, crashes on these roads have an increased risk of death or serious injury because of the speeds involved. Crashes on 70mph roads are more than twice as likely to result in death than crashes on roads with lower speed limits.

Almost one in five fatal crashes on motorways involve four or more vehicles. These kinds of crashes often cause multiple deaths and injuries, and the resulting congestion and tailbacks can cause further crashes.

 

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