The 'no excuse' for poor driving campaign is just part of a whole range of activities delivered by Essex Highways Road Safety Team. The Team work closely with their partners on the Essex Casualty Reduction Board (ECRB) which, along with Essex County Council include the Police; Fire and Rescue Service; East of England Ambulance Service; Highways Agency; Southend-On-Sea Council and Thurrock Council.Working hard to ensure Essex's road users are as safe as possible, the Road Safety Team focus on educating motorists and motorcyclists with key advice below:-
- To wear a seat belt whenever they are in a vehicle
- Never to use a phone when driving, even a hands free
- Never to drink and drive/ride. Any amount of alchohol will impair a drivers/riders ability
- Pay attention to speed limits and stay within them. Drivers/riders should adjust their speed to conditions, for example by slowing down when it is raining
- Never exhibit anti-social driver/rider behaviour
These key areas of road safety are targeted during Essex Highways regular 'Surround at Town' (SAT) events. SATs are used to target areas in the county where research has shown that the most crashes and casualties occur. Colleagues at Essex Police stop drivers who are committing a road safety offence, such as being on the phone whilst driving, and with the support of the Road Safety Team, either offer road safety education or if necessary issue a penalty notice. At a recent event in November 2012, 338 vehicles were stopped. Of these:-
- 32 drivers were using mobile phones
- 95 drivers/passengers had commited seatbelt offences. Of these, 65 people opted to attend 'seatbelt re-education' sessions on the day
- 21 cars had no MOTs
- 6 vehicles had no insurance
- 5 drug searches took place
- 3 arrests were made
SATs will be taking place across Essex throughout 2013, so remember there is 'no excuse' for poor driving.
For information on road safety engineering, education, training and publicity, please visit the Essex Casualty Reduction Board.