15.12.09 Many parents will be buying their children bikes for Christmas and are being asked to consider more than just the style, size and colour.

The road safety partnership ask that parents should take into account the following points:

• Choose your child’s  bike with care and get advice from a good dealer
• Buy them a cycle helmet that is the right size, that they like and they will wear
• Train them in basic cycle control away from the road
• Teach them good road sense by setting a good example
• Cycle along with your child in front of you, that way you can see them, talk to them and protect them from following traffic
• Ensure they take part in an organised Cyclist Training Scheme. Ask your school for details.
• Whatever the pressures, don’t let them out on their own until you are certain they can cope
• Make sure they are always easily seen and wear bright, high visibility clothing
• Enjoy cycling with your child – it’ll make all the difference

15.12.09 Gloucestershire County Council is undertaking a consultation exercise as part of the development of the next Local Transport Plan to ask what priorities people want to see the Council focus on in the years ahead. If you want to help define future priorities this is a way to put your views forward – via  a short questionnaire. Follow the link to the Council’s web page “Get Talking Transport”, and at the bottom of the page is a link called “How do I take part?”. The section most relevant to the Partnership is entitled, “Health and Road Safety”. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=95796

8.12.09- Kelly, 26 from Gloucester, crashed her car after misjudging a junction. She caused injury to herself, wrote off her car, and was convicted of drink driving. Kelly helped to launch our annual drink driving campaign today and said: “I’d had a few drinks but because I’d eaten and quite a bit of time had passed, I thought I would have been all right to drive home. I was wrong.”

“I have to rely on lifts to and from work and even had to move home because my house was to far from a bus stop. The gym, the cinema and the shops are all much harder to get to. I’ve lost friends over it. This campaign is important because it sends home the message that a drink drive conviction can affect your whole life.”

25.11.09 Gloucestershire’s new Road Safety Partnership was only launched in March, but already its reputation is spreading far and wide.  A film crew from Poland spent two days with members of the partnership filming a feature on good driving habits to show motorists back home some of the ideas used in other countries to improve safety on the roads. It’s one of a series of films sponsored by Polish car maker Skoda. Spokesman Tomasz Piasny said, “The idea is to go to other countries in Europe to meet experts, policemen, ordinary drivers who tell the story of road safety in their countries.

“We look for statistics and best practices in terms of teaching/instructing driving licence applicants, unique ideas that improve safety a lot and to show Polish viewers (drivers, authorities…etc.) that there are many ideas that improve safety that have been applied abroad for a long time now”.

The film covered SAGE; the older drivers’ assessment, the driver improvement course, the drink drive rehabilitation course, as well as Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Roads Policing Team and Fire and Rescue services.

23.11.09 During “Road Safety” week, the Road Safety Partnership will be undertaking a range of activities, including:

• Organising and delivering a major occupational road risk day for all staff at E-on, Gloucester. Partnership work involving the private sector, Police, Fire and Rescue and Road Safety.
• Organising and delivering a road risk workshop for drivers working for Young Gloucestershire. Three hour theory session followed by practical driver assessments.
• Running two drink drive rehabilitation courses – one on Monday, and another on Saturday. Both happen to be the last day of four day courses. Clients will have been with us for 20 hours.
• Concluding a driver improvement course that took place on Friday and Saturday 20/21^st.
• Assessing about 10 drivers on various themes could include assessing older drivers through our SAGE scheme, TAXI Drivers, company drivers, etc.
• Developing and consulting on a local scheme to advise drivers to change behaviour at a junction.
• Supporting a joint road safety operation in Gloucester, between the residents and police.
• Attending the first few days of the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at the NEC, discussing the “ride it right” routes in Gloucestershire and the training opportunities available to riders.
• Providing cycle training at Heywood and Bournside Secondary schools, as well at Calton Junior School in Gloucester.
• Visiting Berry Hill Primary school to talk to years 3 and 6 about pedestrian and cycle safety, and Whaddon Youth Club on the evening of the 24^th November.
• Road Safety Officers will also be visiting Wyedean School over two consecutive days to discuss road safety with year 10 students.

11.11.09 When ladies from Gloucester’s Muslim community decided they should “get on their bikes”, the Partnership had no idea it would prove so popular! Whether new to two wheels or more experienced cyclists, the ladies have been enjoying regular lessons from a team of women instructors have helped them become much safer and more confident road users.  Some could even become instructors themselves as they are getting additional training to help them get non-cyclists up and running.

Don Muir, the Partnership’s cycling coordinator said, “Women generally feel more intimidated by today’s traffic conditions, while minority groups can have more cultural barriers to taking up this type of training. That makes it a double challenge for these ladies and we are doing all we can to help them get the training they need to develop the skills to overcome those barriers”.

The scheme was launched in conjunction with Amina Kathrada at the Friendship Café in Barton Street; and Bren McInerney at the Barton and Tredworth Community Trust.

27.10.09 The Road Safety Partnership has joined the virtual world of Twitter! Follow our regular updates on www.twitter.com, where we’re busy tweeting about our staff, what we’re up to, where we’ll be, and any interesting facts and stats we want to share. We’re called GlosRoadSafety.

21.10.09 People in Gloucestershire are being urged to take extra care as the clocks go back this weekend (Sunday 25^th October). As the evenings get darker, it can be more difficult to spot people and hazards on the roads. 

Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership is advising drivers, riders and pedestrians to take simple precautions, such as: choose brighter, lighter routes; take extra care to check for people crossing the road; take extra care to cross the road if walking; make sure you have lights and reflectors on bicycles and wear hi-visibility clothing if walking or riding bikes or motorcycles.  The message is ‘be bright, be seen’ and stay safe.

07.10.09 Drivers in Gloucestershire are being warned to slow down as rain hits the county after weeks of dry weather. A long period of dry weather can result in a layer of traffic film on the roads, which then gets slippery when wet. This, coupled with drivers having had the added confidence of dry roads for so long, often ends in cars skidding off the roads.

The advice is: slow down – reduce your speed; avoid heavy braking; anticipate where oil and gravel may collect, at junctions for example, and could lead to wheel spinning; and turn and manoeuvre gently. For more information about winter driving, see our Facts Sheets.

07.09.09 You can’t concentrate on two things at once – that’s the advice being given to young drivers in a ‘driving while distracted’ campaign aimed at young and inexperienced motorists to stay focused on their driving.

Hard hitting advertising on buses, in the street and on the radio will ask young drivers to think about the consequences of driving while talking on their mobile phones, changing channels on their stereo or ipods, or just be talking to their passengers.

Of the 1412 injury accidents in Gloucestershire in 2008, 30% or 427 involved at least one driver aged between 17 and 24, and a further 107 passengers of young drivers were injured.