Scotland- Most dangerous part in UK to drive!
Always known to be in the good books, Scotland has now been known for its dangerously bad driving roads. According to charity Road Safety Foundation, Scotland is the most dangerous place to drive in Britain. With a higher proportion of killer roads north of the Border compared to other regions, Scotland was given the highest risk rating followed by north-west England and Yorkshire.
Five roads including a stretch of A86 south of Kingussie, the A97 near Huntly and the A6088 at Hawick due to its possibility for fatal or serious collision that is more than 15 times higher than the lowest risk roads have been Branded “high risk” for Scots. The reports that covered 28,000 miles detailed that almost one-third of all accidents and crashes occurred in Scotland junctions and it has highest risk highways.
Dr, Joanne Hill, the Road Safety Foundation director wants the council to spend more on the safety on most dangerous stretches of roads than paying for emergency services and hospitals. She had also said that when the road budget was getting tighter they need to give more emphasis on saving lives with less amounts- low cost, high-return counter measures.
Single carriageways were found to be six times more risky to motorists than motorways and also drivers were found seven times riskier on major roads than minor ones. A 5% reduction in the number of fatal accidents has been seen in the recent years.
- Improved road- A40 between Llandovery and Carmarthen
- Safest region- West Midlands
The Cat and Fiddle, A537, has met with fatal and serious collisions which rose from 15 within three years, 2005 and 34 between 2006 and 2008. Most crashes were seen to be happening during the summer in dry and daylight conditions.
Police drive to check safe driving
April, 21
To keep a check to the rising numbers of accidents in Scotland police have launched a crackdown on the divers who don’t use to wear seatbelts while driving. It is evident that road accidents has been a serious cause of worry for Scotland since a long time, which so far has claimed many lives.
To bring down the soaring incidents of road crashes a drive was initiated by the Scottish police to watch out for all driving parameters one has to flow on roads. In this drive police patrolling will be put in to action in all most all busy roads to crackdown rash drivers. In one of the survey carried out by the Scottish government it was found that over 11 per cent of the motorist don’t wear seatbelts and over 22 per cent back seat passengers also avoid putting their seatbelts.
It was also known that the over speed at which people use to drive is also a major cause for these road accidents. The study has clearly shown that huge number of accidents has occurred due to the high speed driving. The motorists are not at all following the prescribed speed limits and are not only risking their lives but also of others.
This drive by Scotland police will look into all these aspects and will make sure all road safety regulations are followed by the drivers.
Age limit for driving licence up to 18
December, 28
The licence structure will soon get a new look according to that the actual driving age will become 18 years though the provisional licences will be issued from 17 years of age. This would mean that the drivers have to be 18 in order to drive in roads. Also the new rule will make the practical test a bit harder. This new structure will help young drivers to improve the approach toward driving and road safety.
It is known that the driving test will become tougher in this new structure and also there are plans to include the knowledge on road safety in the school syllabus. This new format of test is an innovative way to make sure the driver is capable to drive in all conditions. The previous 40 minutes driving test is now expanded to two stages and also included many new additions like driving at night and on motorways. All this will help to encourage the driver to drive safely.
As it is evident that these days many accidents are occurring mainly involving young drivers who are losing their lives for driving recklessly. This new structure will help to control the hazardous driving to some extent. Now to make sure young drivers have more driving experience and confidence, the young licence aspirants have to complete 500 hours of driving before getting the final nod.
Hope this new plan will help to reduce the reckless driving and will bring out more confident drivers. Now time will tell how far this new structure prepared by department of transport will succeed.
No talking while driving
December, 21
One of the Britain’s biggest transport company has announced that, it will prohibit its workers to use mobile phones while driving on company business. It is known that the Aberdeen based FirstGroup has a workforce of over 135,000 and the announcement came out on account of a research which suggested that having a conversation while driving affects the performance of the driver. This global announcement was rolled out to make sure the workers are not at any risk while driving.
The decision taken covers all the staff from top to bottom, associated with the company to follow this new rule. It is evident that the train and bus drivers of the company in Britain and North America are prohibited from using any mobile phone or other communicative device while driving from the past two years. But from January 1 this new rule will came into force affecting all the workers.
A study undertaken in this area has found out that those people who use mobile phones or hands free telephone while driving are at greater risk than the person who drives after drinking over the prescribed limit. Talking in mobile or phone disturbs the concentration of the driver resulting to accidents and other fatal incidents.
Hope this announcement will come up as a safety measure and would help the workers to drive safely and properly. It will also help to reduce the chances of accidents, and may result as a bench mark for many other big companies, who will also soon follow these safety measures for their workers.