Road Safety Awareness: How Safe Are You?
Whether you’re a driver or pedestrian, roads can be very dangerous, which is why road safety awareness is so important! We’ve all seen the ‘Think!’ road safety videos on the telly, but who likes watching adverts? We think (see what we did there?) it’s a great time to spread more awareness about road safety. Life is precious, and with hundreds of road casualties every year, we must try harder as a nation to get the numbers down.
The Basics To Road Safety Awareness For Pedestrians
Between 2012 and 2020, there was an average of 430 pedestrian deaths on British roads every year. The highest number of deaths was recorded in 2017, with 470 fatalities, and the lowest was in 2020 with 346.
The Green Cross Code is a procedure that helps people cross the road safely. You may think it’s just there for children to learn, but it helps adults too! It may have been a while since you went through the Green Cross Code, so let’s go through it together:
Some Extra Tips for Pedestrians
Now you know the Green Cross Code, we wanted to give you a few extra safety tips you should follow to ensure your safety! Lisen, lots of these things will be basic stuff, but they’re still useful to know. The best practice is to stop and stand by a drop curb or pedestrian crossing, and never stray into the road while walking.
Staying off your phone whilst walking also ensures you’re more aware of your surroundings (you can look at Fleet Evolution’s latest Instagram post later!).
Drink Driving: An Accident Waiting to Happen
You’re on the way home from a night out, maybe you had one too many so now you’re slightly tipsy. Then, you end up stumbling into the road; it’s easily done and hopefully, the roads would be a lot emptier at that time of night. Still, you should try to avoid busy roads, especially at night and definitely when under the influence, that goes for getting behind the wheel too! If in doubt, get an Uber. A couple of quid is definitely worth the expense over potentially your life.
In 2019, 13% of deaths on the road were related to drink-driving. This figure may not sound like much, but this figure makes up thousands of unnecessary deaths; for those friends and relatives, a tragedy never to be forgotten. With awareness, the rate of drink-driving related accidents has decreased by half since 1979. It’s great that people are making the smart and conscious decision to not drink if they’re going to drive. We’re hoping that with this article, we’re doing our part to prevent another life lost. We may be a green car scheme specialist, but we’re big on road safety too! Think about the implications you could be faced with for driving under the influence, you may be fined, banned from driving, or even chucked in the slammer! It’s really no joke, take a look at the repercussions.
If you are in charge of a vehicle while over the limit, you could face:
- 3 months imprisonment
- A fine up to £2500
- A possible driving ban
If you are driving or attempting to drive over the limit, you could face:
- 6 months in prison
- An unlimited fine
- A driving ban for at least 1 year, 3 years if convicted twice in 10 years
As you can see, drink-driving is a crime not taken lightly. It could lose your job! Most employers won’t tolerate such offences if it’s on your license, you may even have difficulties travelling to countries like America, where their rules are often stricter! Sure, this is a hindrance for travelling, but it’s also a loss of livelihood and a grave danger for yourself and other road users.
Road Safety Issues Surrounding Your Vehicle
Road safety includes your vehicle too; that’s why it’s important for you to ensure that your vehicle is in great shape and its safety features are working before driving! You should be conducting regular checks on things such as tires and oil to ensure any breakdown or hindrance can be avoided. You can find out how to carry out these necessary vehicle checks on our sister site here!
This is something we can all actively check without needing a mechanic. It is recommended before each journey you check your brakes, oil, tires, and windscreen water levels. In addition to these checks, regular services are recommended. Once a year is the norm, which can be carried out by your local garage or doing such yourself from YouTube tutorials. Car maintenance helps you avoid stress and allows your journey to be as relaxed and breakdown-free as possible, reducing any chances of crashes or road rage!
Are Electric Cars Safer Than Traditional Vehicles?
It’s a great question, and a tough one to answer. They’re definitely safer in terms of not polluting our air and saving your wallet a chunk of cash when it comes to filling up! But with general road safety, are they that much safer? We hope you enjoyed our blog on Road Safety Awareness, until next time.
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Tags : drink driving, electric cars, green cross code, pedestrians, road safety, road safety awareness