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Posts Tagged ‘safety’

Drink driving tests show significant drop

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

It appears that drink driving motorists are more likely to get away with their anti-social habit this year compared to previous years as the number of drivers checked and given the breathalyser test has dropped dramatically according to the latest set of figures available.

They know the risk

Drink drivers are quite aware of the chances they take when they get into their vehicle under the influence of drink. If they are stopped by a police car they know a driving ban is almost certainly inevitable and cheap car insurance a thing of the past…forever! However, those prepared to take the gamble will be delighted by the findings of a Freedom of Information (FoI) request on the number of drivers stopped by traffic police and asked to take a breathalyser test.

Cuts forcing constabularies to reduce manpower

The FoI was responded to by 35 of the Police Forces asked and the stunning statistics show that 24% fewer motorists were breathalysed up to May 2011 than in the previous year. Critics say the reduction can be traced to the budget cuts forced upon constabularies across the UK who can no longer afford the man power necessary to put out adequate traffic control teams. Indeed around 60% of the respondents confirmed they had cut their traffic control teams in the last 12 months.

Drink driving not socially acceptable

In all 9,000 fewer motorists were given the test and road safety organisations say that coupled with the reduction in the number of speed enforcement cameras in operation, UK road safety has taken a massive backward step in the last few years. They are afraid that the work of a complete generation of road safety adverts will be lost if the present policy is continued. And they have a point. No longer is it socially acceptable to drink and drive and those that do bring shame upon themselves and can find little support anywhere. This is completely down to the concerted efforts of road safety campaigners and the willingness of successive governments to fund hard hitting campaigns.

Minister refutes accusation

Road Safety Minister Mike Penning, however, is not convinced that Government policy is to blame and quickly points out that of those who have been subjected to the test 8% more have been prosecuted which indicates that Police Officers are using their resources more intelligently. Whatever the truth is, most motorists will be disappointed that those prepared to lose their licence and incur massive motor insurance premiums seem to have less chance of being caught than they had in the past.

Tags: Cheap Car Insurance, drink driving, Motor insurance, safety
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Cluttered cars becoming a safety issue on our roads

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

How many of us can honestly say we keep our cars clean and tidy. The vehicle we use to get us to work, the kids to school, the family on holiday and the pack horse that brings home the supermarket shop does not stay in pristine condition for long.

Clutter soon builds up

The demands of modern life mean that very few people keep their car looking the same as it did when they picked it up after organising motor vehicle insurance on it for the first time. It does not take too long before the car becomes “personalised”. Of course most people like to have personal objects in the cocoon that they spend so much time in, unfortunately according to a recent AA survey we are putting ourselves and our families at risk by cluttering up our vehicles.

Blinded by the light

The Survey, conducted on 2,000 cars travelling on a motorway, revealed that 1 in 20 cars had significantly obscured the driver’s vision by cluttering up the windscreen or rear window with objects. The survey revealed a plethora of cuddly toys, scented air fresheners and sporting regalia, were putting drivers at risk every day. It also revealed a strange belief that grips thousands of motorists in the UK! Apparently many people are convinced that a dangling CD will prevent speed cameras from recording their speed, a conviction that is totally refuted by the police force. However, they do point out that the dangling CD can well blind a driver coming in the opposite direction in some conditions.

Drivers face fines if safety is compromised

A police spokesman also points out that drivers can be fined for cluttering their windscreens with objects that could impair their vision and therefore compromise the safety of road users. The CD or scented tree therefore can have a big impact on the price of your car insurance cover. Even a sat-nav can cause loss of visibility for the driver if it isn’t placed correctly. It is also worth remembering that a car could feasibly fail an MOT if it is badly cluttered to the point where vision loss is an issue.

A clean car is a safer car

Of course the most dangerous aspect of a cluttered car comes into play when there is a collision. Objects flying about a car can maim and kill quite easily and a driver struggling to keep control of the vehicle can easily be impeded by objects blocking his vision or even blocking the controls of the car. It is not always easy to empty the car of clutter after every journey but keeping a clear windscreen will undoubtedly improve the safety rating of your car.

Tags: Car, clutter, mess, motor vehicle insurance, safety
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Older Nissan models being targeted by thieves

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Everyone is worried about their car being damaged or worse still, being stolen. It is why we all get a motor insurance quote. Owners of top of the range cars such as a Bentley or an Aston Martin can breathe easy as thieves in Surrey are currently more interested in old Nissan vehicles, such as the 1990′s Micra models and also old Nissan Sunnys.

Sergeant Dan Gutierrez, explained “They are being stolen because they are so easy to break into. That’s why they are being targeted. We have had fourteen stolen in the last four weeks. They are being taken from the north of the county, especially the Caterham and Warlingham areas. We found one burning near Chaldon Church, and the fire brigade had to put it out – but then it disappeared, so it seems the vehicles are being set on fire to destroy any distinguishing marks and serial numbers before presumably being sold for scrap.”

The police think all of the cars are being stolen by one gang who are working in the New Addington area and think they are coming more into Surrey from the north. Surrey Police are working with scrap merchants in the local areas in an effort try and track down where the stolen cars are being sold. To date 14 Nissan older style cars have been stolen from not just the roadside but from driveways in Caterham and Merstham. Not every car has been sold on by the thieves as two of them were found abandoned and burned in Church Lane, Warlingham.

Not all owners of older Nissan models are worried, Donna Talbot 53, said “I’ve had this car for years and if anyone wants it, they can have it. It’s insured, after all, and it probably doubles in value every time I fill it up with petrol. I won’t be getting a crook lock. What’s the point? But I have to say, despite its age it’s always been a very reliable little car.”

Tags: Car Insurance, Car Safety, nissan, safety, theft
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Technology to make driving safer

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Avoiding an accident is much better than having an accident. A preventative safety feature such as the CAS (Collision Avoidance System) can help a driver avoid having an accident by simply evading them. Motor manufacturer Volvo, equips every vehicle with a variety of preventative safety features, some of them are unique to Volvo and have been developed by their own safety engineers during years of research, design and testing. Introduced on the 2007 S80, ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) helps to give both a comfortable and relaxed drive by helping the driver keep a set distance from the vehicle in front. ACC uses a long range radar sensor which continuously monitors the distance to the vehicle ahead and will automatically change the speed of the car to make sure the proper distance is kept. All ACC needs is the driver to input the desired speed and the minimum time gap to the vehicle in front and it will do the rest. Distance Alert can help keep a proper distance to the vehicle in front of even if the ACC function is turned off. If the car gets too close to the vehicle in front, the system will give an alert by means of a red light in the bottom part of the windscreen. However Distance Alert will not brake the car like the Adaptive Cruise Control will do.

The existing CWBS (Collision Warning with Brake Support) was designed to sense an impending collision and then warn the driver to hopefully avoid or even reduce the damage caused in a crash. The CWBS works by way of long range radar which will continuously monitor the distance to any vehicle driving in front. The new generation of Collision Warning now also comes with Auto Brake. This is done by adding a camera which then gives a wider view of all the vehicles in front. Because the system combines the information from the radar sensor and the camera, it can now provide a very high level of confidence so that auto braking is possible. Collision Warning with Auto Brake will replace Collision Warning with Brake Support. All of these safety extras on a car may help to get a cheaper motor insurance quote.

Losses of concentration or distraction are dangerous when they happen on the roads. Volvo’s DAC (Driver Alert Control) is a unique technique which is built around a camera in the windscreen that will check lane markings to determine if the driver is behaving normal. If the system detects that the behaviour of the driver has changed, the driver is then informed by way of a warning sound and a message is also displayed, suggesting it may be time to take a break or change drivers if any driver car insurance has been purchased. Lane Departure Warning will continuously evaluate the position of the vehicle to the lane markings. The system will then alert the driver with a warning sound when the vehicle leaves the lane and the driver has not indicated a lane change

Tags: brakes, Car Insurance, driving, safety, technology
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Government must make road black spots safer

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

It would be interesting to see in a national survey of motorists how many drivers thought that motorways were the most dangerous roads to drive on. I have met countless numbers of people, mainly, but not all, women who just will not use motorways because they believe them to be death traps. I wonder, then, what they would make of the most recent report by the charity the Road Safety Foundation (RSF).

The report called “Saving lives for less” indentifies the ten most dangerous roads in Britain as well as pinpointing exactly what parts of our roads are the most liable to motoring accidents.

The most startling statistic is that single carriage highways are by far the most dangerous, we are six times more likely to be killed on a single carriageway than on a motorway, and twice as likely to be killed on a single carriageway rather than a dual carriageway. Plenty of food for thought there as one queues to get off the M25. Road junctions, the report confirms, are the most dangerous parts of out road network as over 30% of all serious /fatal accidents occur there.

Once again the “Cat and Fiddle” officially the A357 occupies top spot for the most dangerous road with 34 serious/fatal crashes in the period 2006-2008. The road runs between Macclesfield and Buxton and is a favourite stretch for motor cyclists because of its testing nature. Unsurprisingly motor cycles were involved in the majority of accidents. Other roads featuring in the worst ten were the A684, A621, A5012, A54 and the A18 which was the worst of all when taking motor cyclists out of the equation The A3072 in the West country was the only one of the top ten to be located in the south of the UK.

The report also gave a rundown of the most improved roads with the A40 between Llandovery and Carmarthen winning the accolade for its reduction by 74% in serious/fatal crashes.

The report went on to say that in targeting the 10% of roads that attract 33% of accidents for road improvements, the Government could make massive savings on the cost of road crashes to the nation. Obviously insurance companies would also benefit from this, which would be passed onto to motorists when getting a motor insurance quote.

Tags: Car Insurance, safety
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