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The latest in a string of breath- taking adverts desperately trying to promote safe and sensible driving, features a car crash at 30mph where the driver has neglected to wear his seat belt.
It is shame such a graphic advert is required to bring home to people such a simple message- wear your seat belt. This message must be taken on board by not only drivers, but passengers too- as a previous advert highlighted the dangers of a back seat passenger not wearing their seatbelt, mainly that they can crush those in the front seat.
In a further attempt to encourage people to “clunk, click every trip” the Government is considering doubling the fine for not wearing a seat belt from £30 to £60.
1 in 6 road deaths could be avoided if seat belts are worn.
The RAC Foundation urges motorists and passengers to wear their seat belts for all journeys, which includes a 2 minute trip to the local shops as well as a 2 hour motorway journey. As seat belt wearing advocate Sir Jimmy Savile says:
“It takes 2 seconds to be thrown through a window, but 2 years to put your face back together.”
Harsh but true.
Source: The Scotsman, Shocking TV ad scares us into belting up in the car, 4/11/08
Two big green announcements this week shows that the Government is taking environmental concerns seriously.
Firstly, the Government has caved in to public pressure and the more green- inclined MPs and decided to include shipping and aviation sources in emission targets. This amendment to the Climate Change Bill, due to become law next month, will outline Britain’s commitment to curb its carbon footprint by 80% by 2050. Tackling shipping and aviation emissions is therefore a step in the right direction, as they account for 7.5% of all emissions.
Second up, the Government has announced that millions of pounds of public money is to spent be on environmentally friendly vehicles. This investment, which will encompass both the research and manufacture of electric cars, will lead to some hands on trials for local authorities and the public.
1. Some local authorities and other public bodies will be given money to purchase and run electric vans;
2. 100 electric cars will be distributed across the UK for people to try out and charging points will put in place.
This is certainly a step in the right direction – but there is the argument that being less technologically prescriptive and leaving the industry to come up with the right solutions might have been a more suitable way forwards. Time will tell…
With the Government seeking public sector spending programmes to be initiated ahead of schedule as recession looms, Lord Jones backs calls for short term rather than long-term measures, and said the focus should be on infrastructure and not employment.
Lord Jones suggested ” productive spending on infrastructure programmes” which will enable enhanced productivity of airports, ports, railways, roads and public sector workers whom the country relies on like nurses and teachers.
However, he also advises caution on channelling too much money into big projects, which could end up damaging the economy further. The Foundation would certainly agree that transport infrastructure has an important role in keeping the economy moving and mobility a possibility. We await the pre-budget announcement with interest…
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the UK to reduce its dependency on oil, feeling the industry to be a “dictatorship” that we’re better off clear from.
This comment comes amidst discussions within OPEC who are considering cutting oil production as a way to justify increased prices at the pump- where we have only just witnessed a much welcomed drop to below £1.
Brown said there needs to be a focus on nuclear and renewables, as well as increased investment in the development of technology such as hybrid cars – a welcome call, but it should be recognised that oil usage will remain important for many years to come.
Source: www.number10.gov.uk 17th October 2008
This week, Transport Minister Paul Clark announced both a crackdown on misuse of Blue Badges and plans to extend the scheme to other people with mobility difficulties who currently do not qualify. These new measures are believed to cost up to £55 million.
The Government is considering giving councils the authority to confiscate stolen or forged Blue Badges on the spot. This power would help to reduce vehicle crime, as well ensuring parking spaces close to vital ammenities are available for those who need it most.
Around 1 in every 200 Badges in circulation is reported as stolen each year.
Two measures have been suggested for helping councils to carry out this task:
1. A £10m national data sharing system to ensure stolen or forged Badges from outside a council’s local area can be easily identified for the first time.
2. The DfT is also looking at new technologies to make Badges harder to forge, including barcodes that can be read through windscreens.
The second action point in the strategy is to extend the Blue Badge scheme to include seriously disabled Armed Forces personnel and veterans, people with temporary but serious mobility problems, young children with specific disabilities and individuals with severe mental impairments; thereby helping more people to retain their mobility and independence in the face of physical and/or mental illness.
Finally, in a bid to standardise assessment for Blue Badges across the country, a new system of assessing eligibility for the Blue Badge is also being developed. This will mean dedicated independent medical assessors, who will ensure that only those who really need a Badge receive one.
The latest research on household transport trends in Scotland has revealed some interesting results:
The School Run: A fall in the proportion of Scots walking to school (3.4% drop) although a decrease was also recorded for the proportion of kids taken to school by car (3.2%). However, fear not for the fitness of these wee youngsters, because the majority of journeys to school are still being made on foot- 53%. In addition, public transport was not a hugely popular choice for the school run being described as “inconvenient” by 38%.
The Commute to Work: Fewer commuters in Scotland are walking to work- just 12%, which is a 2% fall since 2006, whilst the percentage driving to work increased by 5.5% between 1999 and 2006. Household income was found to affect travel mode, with 45% of commuters from households with incomes up to £10k/annum taking the car and double the proportion of households (80%) with at least 4 times the annual income (up to £40k) driving to work.
Home Working: As with the rest of the UK, the number of adults working from home has been gradually increasing as more and more people strive for a better life- work balance and with less time being spent on the often stressful and time consuming commute. Across the UK as a whole, the National Travel Survey (2007) highlighted an income based barrier to this home set up, with people living in the highest income households being far more likely to be able to work from home (33%) than those living in the lowest income households (10%).
Lost? When asked about journey planning for the previous month, the most popular method of finding directions was the good old-fashioned road map method (19%) followed by 11% having used route planning software or an Internet journey planner and just 8% asking a friend.
Journey type: Having a car was seen as paramount to 90% of the drivers who did their shopping at supermarkets, as they couldn’t conceive of the idea of using another means of transport for this household chore.
Last week the Department for Transport published their latest consultation on the future of biofuels standing by Professor Gallagher’s recommendations to carry out more research into the sustainability of their production.
The consultation comes about in response to widely held concerns about the indirect impacts of their production namely:
· Environmental: Unsustainable land use change and even net increases in greenhouse gas emissions.
· Social: Rising food prices due to increased rent for land as a result of competition from people wishing to use land to grow crops for fuel. This leads to lower production of food crops and farmers have to increase the price of their output to make any money.
The consultation recommended the following steps be implemented to ensure a sustainable future of biofuel production:
1. The rate of increase of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation be slowed to reach 5% by 2013/14 as opposed to the earlier suggested date of 2010/11. This will require the rate of increase to be reduced to 0.5% per annum.
2. The EU target of 10% renewable transport fuels by 2020 should continue to be supported but closely monitored, and if evidence showing unsustainable production or adverse impacts on food prices arises, support should be withdrawn.
3. Sustainability criteria must address the indirect as well as the direct effects on land use.
4. The Government will work to establish international standards and controls, which reflect the international nature of the biofuels industry.
The RAC Foundation agrees with the Government’s decision to “amend but not abandon its biofuel policy” as the sustainability of fuel production is crucial for the future of transport. According to the latest evidence in the Gallagher review by 2020 ” Biofuels have the potential to deliver annual global greenhouse gas savings of approximately 338-371 million tonnes of carbon dioxide”, making biofuels an issue worth persuing – if somewhat more cautiously than before.
Road Pricing, could be part of the solution to the nation’s transport problems according to the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) ‘The state of the nation: Transport’ report, launched yesterday.
A poll commissioned by the ICE found that 60% of the UK population think that road user charging is fairer than car tax, when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions and improving transport.
The Foundation has long supported a national system of road pricing, to help elievate congestion, provide a better transport network and refocus the cost of motoring onto use, rather than the ownership of cars. Since the infamous No. 10 petition in early 2007, which attracted over 1.8 million signatures against the concept of road pricing, there has been little political or public support for the idea, but this new research signifies that opinion is changing once again.
Source: ICE – http://www.ice.org.uk/state_of_the_nation/index.asp
The appointment of leading transport expert Professor Stephen Glaister CBE as the new Director of the Royal Automobile Club Foundation has been announced today (25 April).
Professor Glaister will lead the development of the Foundation’s policy and research programmes and be the Foundation’s principal spokesman. He will ensure that realism about transport, and the interests of the responsible road user, are properly represented to the Government and media.
Glaister is currently Professor of Transport and Infrastructure at Imperial College, London. He has written on a wide range of transport subjects, including roads, railways and the London Underground, and is a member of a number of high-level transport boards and committees. He has been an adviser to Government, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport, the Rail Regulator and other organisations.
Professor Glaister was also one of the authors of Motoring Towards 2050: Roads and Reality; the RAC Foundation’s study on road investment and pricing strategy for the next 35 years, published in November 2007.
He said: “It is a privilege to be taking over the leadership of the Foundation, especially at such a critical time for transport policy.
“Roads are by far the most important physical infrastructure for meeting the day-to-day needs of the individual and the economy, but successive Governments have not given them nearly enough care and attention.
“We have collectively yet to find acceptable and balanced policies to combat ever worsening congestion. And we all must explore the contribution road users need to make to solve the issue of climate change.
“The Foundation is an independent body, and I aim to build on its considerable achievements in developing fact-based, objective arguments on all issues relating to the responsible road user. Part of that is the important role public transport plays and how all forms of transport work well together.”
Commenting on the appointment, RAC Foundation Chairman David Holmes said: “We are delighted that we have secured someone of Stephen Glaister’s recognised distinction to be our new Director. This appointment will strengthen our reputation as an authoritative and independent contributor to the transport debate. Besides being one of the leading transport economists in the country, Stephen is an accomplished communicator on radio, TV and the press.
At the same time, we will continue to speak up for the responsible motorist on the many issues that affect us all day to day, and campaign to make the roads safer.”
David was also delighted to announce the Foundation’s current Acting Director and Head of Campaigns Sheila Rainger would be promoted to the role of Deputy Director when Stephen takes up his appointment.
He said “Sheila has teken on the Acting Director role with great energy, expertise and enthusiasm, and the role of Deputy Director is well deserved.”
The Department for Transport’s figures from their Road Traffic in Great Britain for the third quarter of 2007, show that while cars are slowly disappearing, vans are multiplying.
In the last year, traffic levels rose by 1.1%- the catalyst?- a huge growth in vans! The presence of vans increased by 12% in the last year, while 1% of car drivers bowed out of taking to the road- or indeed- swapped their cars for vans!
The overall increase in traffic, combined with short term factors such as road works and adverse weather conditions, led to the average vehicle delay on the slowest 10% of journeys increasing 0.38 minutes per 10 miles.
When looking at motorways and urban A roads however, there was a reduction in traffic of 1% and 3% respectively.
