This week is Road Safety Week, the UK’s biggest road safety event. According to the Department for Transport, 1,732 people died on the UK’s roads in 2015 – an average of five fatalities per day. So what can we all do to help keep ourselves and others safer on the roads?
On foot
The green cross code may feel like something from your childhood but it is still as relevant today as it ever was. Of the 1,732 fatalities on the road in 2015, 409 were pedestrians. Road Safety Week is a great opportunity to remind yourself of the great advice that the green cross code offers.
- Find the safest place to cross – avoid crossing between parked cars and instead look for designated crossing, a traffic warden or a bridge or underpass.
- Stop before you get to the curb – make sure you can see oncoming traffic from where you’re standing and give yourself plenty of time to look around.
- Look and listen – take a look in every direction before crossing and make sure you listen – sometimes you can hear traffic before you see it.
- If traffic is coming, let it pass – don’t cross until you’re sure there’s a big enough gap rather than making a dash for it. Even if a car looks a long way off, it may be moving faster than you think.
- When it’s safe, go straight across the road and don’t run – keep looking for traffic (including cyclists and motorcyclists) as you cross and don’t cross diagonally.
Behind the wheel
When you’re driving a car, keep these top tips in mind to make sure you and those around you are as safe as possible.
- Keep your distance – The more space you keep around you, the less risk of a collision. The most common type of traffic accident is when one car drives into the back of another so make sure you leave plenty of room around you in traffic and use the brake lights early to give the driver behind you plenty of warning that you’re slowing down.
- Slow down – Give yourself plenty of time for your journey so there’s no temptation to speed. The faster a car is going in a collision, the higher the chance of a fatality.
- Think ahead – Don’t just look at the vehicle directly in front of you and in your mirror – anticipate what might happen by looking as far ahead as you can and around you at the behaviour of the road users. If you don’t spot a potential danger, there’s nothing you can do to avoid it.
It’s a cold, dark time of year but make sure to leave plenty of time for your journey, be vigilant and help everyone around you stay safe on the roads this Road Safety Week – and for the rest of the year.
