Some good news...
Discussion
National News
Road deaths fall to all-time low
1:30pm today
The number of people killed on British roads last year fell to the lowest level since records began.
Child deaths, which were down 28% in 2007, were also at a record low, the Department for Transport statistics showed.
Total fatalities in 2007 were 2,943 - 7% lower than in 2006 - with deaths and serious injuries down in all categories of road user except motorcyclists.
There were also fewer road accidents involving personal injury last year in figures that will hearten road safety campaigners.
The figures for 2007 showed the number of people killed in road accidents fell by 7% - from 3,172 in 2006 to 2,943 in 2007
A total of 30,720 people were killed or seriously injured in 2007 - 4% fewer than in 2006. There were 247,780 road casualties in Great Britain in 2007 - 4% fewer than 2006
Child casualties fell 7% last year. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2007 was 3,090 - a 6% fall. Of those, 1,899 were pedestrians - 6% down on 2006.
A total of 121 children died on the roads last year - 28% fewer than in 2006. This is the lowest ever recorded figure.
In 2000, the Government announced a new road safety strategy and set new targets for reducing casualties by 2010.
Commenting on the 2007 statistics, Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: "These figures are extremely encouraging. They show that for the first time since records began in 1926 the number of people killed on our roads has fallen below 3,000. We've cut the number of people killed or seriously injured each year by more than a third since the mid-1990s. That means almost 17,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries on our roads last year."
From the Glasgow Herald website...posted without comment or opinion on Cameras, Trafpols, Speeding...just seems good to get under 3000 a year...though not for the families of the 2943 of course.
BOF.
Road deaths fall to all-time low
1:30pm today
The number of people killed on British roads last year fell to the lowest level since records began.
Child deaths, which were down 28% in 2007, were also at a record low, the Department for Transport statistics showed.
Total fatalities in 2007 were 2,943 - 7% lower than in 2006 - with deaths and serious injuries down in all categories of road user except motorcyclists.
There were also fewer road accidents involving personal injury last year in figures that will hearten road safety campaigners.
The figures for 2007 showed the number of people killed in road accidents fell by 7% - from 3,172 in 2006 to 2,943 in 2007
A total of 30,720 people were killed or seriously injured in 2007 - 4% fewer than in 2006. There were 247,780 road casualties in Great Britain in 2007 - 4% fewer than 2006
Child casualties fell 7% last year. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2007 was 3,090 - a 6% fall. Of those, 1,899 were pedestrians - 6% down on 2006.
A total of 121 children died on the roads last year - 28% fewer than in 2006. This is the lowest ever recorded figure.
In 2000, the Government announced a new road safety strategy and set new targets for reducing casualties by 2010.
Commenting on the 2007 statistics, Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: "These figures are extremely encouraging. They show that for the first time since records began in 1926 the number of people killed on our roads has fallen below 3,000. We've cut the number of people killed or seriously injured each year by more than a third since the mid-1990s. That means almost 17,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries on our roads last year."
From the Glasgow Herald website...posted without comment or opinion on Cameras, Trafpols, Speeding...just seems good to get under 3000 a year...though not for the families of the 2943 of course.
BOF.
CorsaScott said:
Now I'm just waiting for the scamera partnerships to put some spin on this and invent some statistic to say that "safety cameras" are the reason for this good news.
....and I'm waiting for road users to start getting some credit for this improved performance!!Best wishes all,
Dave.
I wonder if it is though. The article doesn't give enough information to actually know what's happening. But I tend to read "KSIs down in all categories except bikers" as "people are still crashing just as much but are getting hurt less due to improvements in passive safety which are of course not applicable to bikers".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article42...
Edmund King of the AA says it's partly due to speed cameras.
Edmund King of the AA says it's partly due to speed cameras.
WhoseGeneration said:
As most here know.
Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
Is it possible to drive safely while not being at IAM standard? My BIL seems to have managed that for the last 27 years or so.Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
I used to think that the answer was to improve everyones driving but with precious resources (time and money) we have to focus our attention on those that are being involved in collisions or having near-misses, IMHO.
ipsg.glf said:
WhoseGeneration said:
As most here know.
Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
Is it possible to drive safely while not being at IAM standard? My BIL seems to have managed that for the last 27 years or so.Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
I used to think that the answer was to improve everyones driving but with precious resources (time and money) we have to focus our attention on those that are being involved in collisions or having near-misses, IMHO.
Young me, fast and capable as regards riding and driving in terms of vehicle control, yet some RTCs, which would not have happened had I undergone training in Advanced Driving.
I had read AD books and Roadcraft too.
So the statistics haven't gone down because less are reported then. I've noticed a few cars hit others that have despite bad damage disappeared very fast, possibly to get away from police attention. Wonky wheels and missing bumpers and lights would gather attention i would imagine, tpgether with big skidmarks where the front wheels locked and the glass smashed all over the place.
Just get the feeling the figures are getting a very nice massage roundabout now.
Just get the feeling the figures are getting a very nice massage roundabout now.
WhoseGeneration said:
ipsg.glf said:
WhoseGeneration said:
As most here know.
Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
Is it possible to drive safely while not being at IAM standard? My BIL seems to have managed that for the last 27 years or so.Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
I used to think that the answer was to improve everyones driving but with precious resources (time and money) we have to focus our attention on those that are being involved in collisions or having near-misses, IMHO.
Young me, fast and capable as regards riding and driving in terms of vehicle control, yet some RTCs, which would not have happened had I undergone training in Advanced Driving.
I had read AD books and Roadcraft too.
Edited by ipsg.glf on Sunday 29th June 09:28
BlueMR2 said:
So the statistics haven't gone down because less are reported then. I've noticed a few cars hit others that have despite bad damage disappeared very fast, possibly to get away from police attention. Wonky wheels and missing bumpers and lights would gather attention i would imagine, tpgether with big skidmarks where the front wheels locked and the glass smashed all over the place.
Just get the feeling the figures are getting a very nice massage roundabout now.
What the number of deaths ?Just get the feeling the figures are getting a very nice massage roundabout now.
ipsg.glf said:
WhoseGeneration said:
ipsg.glf said:
WhoseGeneration said:
As most here know.
Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
Is it possible to drive safely while not being at IAM standard? My BIL seems to have managed that for the last 27 years or so.Train all to the IAM standard as the minimum, before they can be let loose.
Is the answer.
Since when was sense the arbiter of Government decisions?.
I used to think that the answer was to improve everyones driving but with precious resources (time and money) we have to focus our attention on those that are being involved in collisions or having near-misses, IMHO.
Young me, fast and capable as regards riding and driving in terms of vehicle control, yet some RTCs, which would not have happened had I undergone training in Advanced Driving.
I had read AD books and Roadcraft too.
Edited by ipsg.glf on Sunday 29th June 09:28
When your BIL started out, no one could have predicted his unblemished record.
Me, under twenty years of age, one motorcycle and two car RTCs.
None of which were considered to be me at blame.
Yet, although I had read AD books, as I said, I had never had training.
Because, then, I was reading them with the aim of going as fast as possible.
Such that I adopted the, then prevalent, "racing" steering technique.
I now know that, with the AD training, none of those RTCs would have happened.
Edited by WhoseGeneration on Sunday 29th June 20:43
WhoseGeneration said:
I now know that, with the AD training, none of those RTCs would have happened.
IMHO that's an "attitude" issue...which doesn't take an AD course to sort out, only (some) of the following:-- Interested instructor
- Interested parent
- Decent sense of self-preservation
Firstly I'm always a little sceptical about government statistics. Who conducts these surveys and secondly does the survey look a bit more in depth and attempt to uncover what the real cause of this drop in deaths/ accidents is? Reason I ask is because I was told the other day that the number of accidents had reduced greatly on a number of roads by me. The roads though have no speed cameras or lowered speed limits they have just been altered ie, curved approaches to roundabouts, better signs etc and I would be interested to see if these sort of measures have had more affect on road safety than cameras/lower speed limits.
havoc said:
WhoseGeneration said:
I now know that, with the AD training, none of those RTCs would have happened.
IMHO that's an "attitude" issue...which doesn't take an AD course to sort out, only (some) of the following:-- Interested instructor
- Interested parent
- Decent sense of self-preservation
I didn't want those RTCs.
A training issue.
With one able in that level.
Just accept, AD is about a different mindset to that in which most work.
I see it every time I drive.
Btw, I am very risk averse by nature.
My Mother paid for me to have an outing with an ex Trafpol, who had been her Instructor.
He was happy, apart from my not taking all overtaking opportunities.
Then, he asked me to slow my car quickly without using the brakes.
So long ago, pre split braking systems you see.
When no brakes was a possibility.
Not taught now, to most.
Another useful one "in the box".
I still needed the IAM training to fully realise how to approach Public road driving.
But, what do I know?.
BertBert said:
WhoseGeneration said:
No, not an "attitude" issue.
I didn't want those RTCs.
Part of what goes on that changes over time and can be changed with regard to attitude which is not specifically AD related is attitude to risk and consequences.I didn't want those RTCs.
Bert
You may consider yourself risk-averse, but you also say "young me, fast and capable..." - which I would read as likely (over?)-confidence / arrogance. My driving is STILL getting smoother, quicker, and more thought-out 16 years (actually, it's 16 years this Tues!) after I passed my test, but MY attitude (which half the time probably isn't that different to yours) is still my weak-point - knowing how to control a car is the easy bit, quite honestly.
So when I say "attitude", I mean it in a more subtle sense, and I've got personal experience (albeit not the RTAs, thankfully) to back-up what I mean. It's about what you want to get from driving, about how much conscious thought you put into driving (and not just the mechanical act, either).
...in which case, IAM probably would benefit you, from what others have been saying. 'Roadcraft', both in the generic sense and the principles outlined in the book of the same name (which IAM follow), is what will keep someone with good car-control out of an accident, and probably 50% of roadcraft is attitude...
havoc said:
...in which case, IAM probably would benefit you, from what others have been saying. 'Roadcraft', both in the generic sense and the principles outlined in the book of the same name (which IAM follow), is what will keep someone with good car-control out of an accident, and probably 50% of roadcraft is attitude...
I'd say the percentage is a lot higher than that. There are no magical techniques in the book and most of it can be distilled down to an attitude that says a) I'm going to plan for things rather than react to them and b) I'm going to work on the basis that everyone on the road (including me) is going to do something unexpected and plan things so that I'm not dependent on them doing or not doing something to remain safe.havoc said:
...in which case, IAM probably would benefit you, from what others have been saying. 'Roadcraft', both in the generic sense and the principles outlined in the book of the same name (which IAM follow), is what will keep someone with good car-control out of an accident, and probably 50% of roadcraft is attitude...
I think we're getting at cross purposes here.Perhaps a problem with this medium or, just my not explaining clearly enough.
I have reached IAM standard and have been an IAM Observer.
My point is, I would have been better served by having been taught the principles of AD way back.
Straight after passing my motorcycle test.
As would, I believe, all on our roads.
Eta, when an Observer, 100% success rate with the Associates I assisted.
Edited by WhoseGeneration on Sunday 6th July 20:32
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