Skip to main content

Make traffic policing and casualty reduction a priority, says charity

A report released this week by road safety charity Brake and Direct Line has revealed that nearly half of UK drivers (49 per cent) admit to breaking traffic laws. Of those, half say they do so through inattention, while the other half admit to doing so deliberately, because they think they can get away with it or do not agree with the laws. When asked what unsafe driving behaviour they witnessed most, 71 per cent cited distraction such as from mobile phones, followed by tailgating speeding (67 per ce
April 29, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
RSSA report released this week by road safety charity 4235 Brake and 4236 Direct Line has revealed that nearly half of UK drivers (49 per cent) admit to breaking traffic laws.

Of those, half say they do so through inattention, while the other half admit to doing so deliberately, because they think they can get away with it or do not agree with the laws.

When asked what unsafe driving behaviour they witnessed most, 71 per cent cited distraction such as from mobile phones, followed by tailgating speeding (67 per cent) and risky overtaking (66 per cent) topped the list of UK drivers’ concerns.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said: “As these figures make clear, law breaking on our roads is not just down to a minority but endemic. For whatever reason, many seem to feel they are beyond the law or that traffic laws are somehow optional. This represents a failure by government to ensure traffic policing is receiving adequate priority and to make clear the importance and legitimacy of traffic laws.

“Whoever takes power after 7 May needs to make traffic policing a national policing priority, to ensure there is a strong deterrent against risky law-breaking on roads.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Smart LED traffic signals prevent snow and ice build-up
    February 9, 2017
    Canadian company Current powered by GE, has launched a smart LED traffic signal that can help prevent the build-up of snow and ice on the lamps. The new heated shell GTx low profile lamp is equipped with sensors that measure ambient conditions and automatically activate the heating elements on the front shell to help prevent ice and snow formation on the lamp. This feature also allows for reduced energy consumption as the element is not required to be on at all times.
  • Melbourne buses to get bus tracking system
    March 31, 2014
    Public Transport Victoria (PTV) in Australia has opted for Smartrak as the preferred supplier to operate the bus tracking system (BTS) for metropolitan buses. PTV chief executive officer Mark Wild said that the award of this contract is another step forward in providing better and real-time information, as well as improved bus services for our customers. It also paves the way for the provision of real time bus tracking information via smartphone apps, online and PTV’s customer contact centre. The new
  • New report addresses ITS dependence on M2M communications
    June 10, 2013
    A new report from Research and Markets, M2M Communications and Intelligent Transportation Systems - Markets, Standardisation, Technologies, addresses a relatively new trend in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) development - its dependence on the progress in machine to machine (M2M) communications. The report concentrates on specifics of M2M communications and the necessity to design communications technologies that agree with M2M specifics. The M2M industry, standardisation, specifics and markets
  • MaaS will be adopted quicker in Europe than in the US: here’s why
    December 5, 2018
    A new report suggests that MaaS will be implemented more quickly in Europe than in the US – but why should this be? Ben Spencer examines the arguments