78% of parents of new drivers are concerned their child will crash in the first year of driving. Nearly eight out of ten parents surveyed (78%) fear their son or daughter will be involved in a car crash according to new research by Good Egg Safety – the organisation behind a guide for parents of new drivers which Gloucestershire County Council is making available to parents in the county.

The survey of more than 1,000 parents has been carried out ahead of the launch of the new “Good Egg Guide for Parents of New Drivers”. With an average of one in five drivers actually being involved in a crash in their first six months of driving, 135,000 free copies of the guide are being made available to concerned parents throughout the UK in a bid to reduce casualties.

There are 900 free copies available in Gloucestershire, available from the Road Safety Partnership at Shire Hall or by emailing  roadsafety@gloucestershire.gov.uk

The Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership we be at the event with their stand showing ‘Motorcycling Through the Ages’. As well as a display showing how motorcycling casualties have reduced and the work the partnership has done with motorcyclists, we will also have a small display of bikes through the years.

We will be running a free prize draw to win a pair of tyres and fitting up to the value of £240 courtesy of Chris Mullins Tyres. Why not come along to the stand and enter yourself into the draw! For Terms and Conditions please click here.

The team will also be on hand at the stand to give out advice, crash cards and other freebies.

Our stand is in the ‘Orchard’ we look forward to seeing you there!

• Ask yourself whether the journey is necessary, if it is you must be prepared for it and make sure you allow plenty of time.
• Check that your vehicle is prepared – the lights are working, windows are free of ice and de-misted. It is also important that your lights are free from ice/snow too.
• Plan your journey carefully, leave in plenty of time and keep your speed down.
• It is essential that you keep enough distance between you and the vehicle in front.
• Remember – bad weather is a hazard and people should approach it like any other hazard.

In 2011, Gloucestershire Police issued 1,196 tickets for using a mobile phone whilst driving.

The advice from Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) is:

• Switch off your phone before you start your engine – no phone call can ever be worth putting your life or someone else at risk.
• Using a mobile phone when driving means you are four times more likely to crash. Your reaction times are affected, and even if you are hands-free, you are still distracted by the conversation.
• Never make or answer a phone call when driving, or attempt to send a text message.
• Callers have a role to play too, if you know someone is driving, do not attempt to call and distract them.
• However tempting, wait until you are parked safely before you read text messages or make calls on mobile phones
• The advice is simple – if you have a mobile phone, switch off before you drive off.

Pedestrians and cyclists:

• Choose brighter, lighter routes.
• Take extra care when crossing the road.
• Make sure you have lights and reflectors on bicycles.
• Wear hi-visibility, or light coloured clothing if walking or riding.

Drivers and motorcyclists:

• Drive sensibly according to the conditions.
• Take extra time to check for people crossing the road.
• Wear hi-visibility clothing if riding a motorcycle.
• Give the road your full attention;
• don’t drive under the influence of drink or drugs,
• keep within speed limits,
• never use a mobile phone while driving, and
• always wear a seatbelt.

If the weather gets worse and we experience snow and ice, the Partnership issues the following advice:

Driving in snow and ice – top five tips:

1. Select second gear when pulling away, easing your foot off the clutch gently to avoid wheel-spin.
2. When climbing a hill it’s important to avoid having to stop on the hill by waiting until it is clear of other cars or by leaving plenty of room between you and the car in front. Try to maintain a constant speed, choosing the most suitable gear well in advance to avoid having to change down on the hill.
3. When driving downhill, reduce your speed before the hill, use a low gear and try to avoid using the brakes. Leave as much room as possible between you and the car in front.
4. Always apply brakes gently. Release them and de-clutch (depress the clutch but keep in gear) if the car skids.
5. If you get stuck, straighten the steering and clear the snow from the wheels. Put a sack, reusable hessian shopping bag, or old rug in front of the driving wheels to give the tyres some grip. Once on the move again, try not to stop until you reach firmer ground.

For more information, see our Winter Driving fact sheet.

The Partnership distributed posters showing how difficult it is to spot someone who is dressed in dark or drab clothing, and to complement this, the Partnership is now giving all secondary schools and colleges in the county bright yellow, weather-proof posters to be located in bike sheds and other places where students are likely to congregate.

These large boards will carry the simple words, ‘Be Safe, Be Seen’ and will act as a reminder to students of the need to be seen in the darker evenings.

Andre Bovington for the Partnership said, “Walkers, cyclists and moped riders are at most risk of being injured in a collision with a motorist than the driver themselves, simply because they have little or no physical protection.

“In the dark, and even poor daylight, they can be difficult to see so we are asking all road users to take extra care; drivers should keep a special look-out for vulnerable road users and if you’re walking, cycling or riding a moped, make sure you are wearing something bright, ideally reflective, and always use lights.”

These are the words of one young woman convicted of a drink driving offence in January this year.

Jess, 21, from the Forest of Dean is helping the Road Safety Partnership to launch this year’s awareness campaign in conjunction with Gloucestershire Police.

Jess says, “It was a moment of madness but it’s had a massive effect on my life. Because of the court hearings and time off work, I lost my job and I am still unemployed. There isn’t much public transport where I live and because I can’t drive I’ve lost some of my friends. I am just so thankful that I didn’t hurt anyone.”

Jess is just one of the many drivers in Gloucestershire who have taken the risk of driving with alcohol in their system. In last year’s Christmas crackdown, police arrested 52 people for drink driving after conducting over 1,300 breath tests.

Garry Handley from the Partnership said, “Any amount of alcohol will impair a driver’s ability to drive safely, and our message in this year’s campaign is absolutely clear, and that is to avoid drinking alcohol completely if you are driving.”

It takes longer for the body to eliminate alcohol than most driver’s realise – at least one hour for every unit of alcohol that you drink. And units are difficult to measure; drinks vary in size and strength, and any amount of alcohol can affect a driver’s ability to judge speed and distance, and it makes reactions slower.

As part of the awareness raising activities this December, the Partnership has joined forces with other road safety organisations through the West Midlands, West Mercia and Warwickshire to roll out a campaign called ‘CRIMINAL?’.

The campaign features 5 characters, all of whom have been convicted for a drink driving offence albeit under different circumstances, but all suffer the same conclusion which is to be branded a CRIMINAL.

Posters and beer mats in pubs will drive traffic to the campaign website, where the characters tell their stories using film, blogs and discussion boards. The site also includes an interview with a woman whose daughter was killed by a drink driver. Meet the characters and join in the discussion at http://www.over-the-limit.co.uk/.

Don’t guess, don’t gamble – have none for the road this Christmas.

There are about 24 remembrance services happening across the UK on this day.

The Gloucestershire service will be at Gloucester Cathedral at 3pm, and is being hosted by Canon Celia Thompson.

The Road Safety Partnership will be represented, but everyone is welcome to attend.

For more information about the day, see: www.roadpeace.org or www.wdor.org

The signs have been placed at various points along the following roads:

·    A430 Bruton Way/Trier Way, Gloucester, and;
·    A46 St John’s Avenue junction with Fairview Road, Cheltenham

The A430 in Gloucester is part of the busy ring road around Gloucester City Centre and is used by a lot of vehicles and pedestrians every day. Altogether, 51 people have been injured on this road between 2008 and 2010. Ten signs have been placed along this route, aimed at both drivers and pedestrians and will stay in place for a trial period of three months.

The A46 junction, where a residential street meets the A46 Cheltenham Inner Ring Road, has had four accidents in three years, three of which involve a vehicle pulling out of the junction into the path of a cyclist. Signs have been placed at the junction to raise awareness of cyclists.

The signs will remain in place for a trial period of three months and if they prove successful could be used in other parts of the county.

Derek Cross, Head of the GRSP, said: “The GRSP is taking positive action to prevent further injury on these roads and the series of signs should make drivers and other road users aware of the casualty history and give brief facts and advice.”

As the evenings and ealy mornings get darker, it can be more difficult to spot people and hazards on the roads. The Partnership is advising drivers, riders, and pedestrians to take simple precautions, such as:

Pedestrians and cyclists:

• choose brighter, lighter routes
• take extra care when crossing the road
• make sure you have lights and reflectors on bicycles
• Wear hi-visibility, or light coloured clothing if walking or riding.

Drivers and motorcyclists:

• take extra time to check for people crossing the road
• wear hi-visibility clothing if riding a motorcycle
• give the road your full attention; don’t drive under the influence of drink or drugs, keep within speed limits, never use a mobile phone while driving, and always wear a seatbelt.

The Partnership has printed a striking poster, which demonstrates how hard it can be to see someone who’s dressed in dark or drab clothing. The posters, which have been made available for use by ‘Youth for Road Safety’ as part of the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety, have been distrubuted to all secondary schools and colleges, to Police Information Points and to Parish Councils for display on their noticeboards. They can also be downloaded for free on our Resource Centre pages.