The Royal Society of the Prevention of Accidents has said there is still a huge demand for information on child seats from parents, five years on since the anniversary of new child seat law. The RoSPA has a dedicated website, funded by the Department of the Environent, @ www.childcarseats.org.uk  which averages around 4,000 visitors a day.

The award-winning website includes an overview of the law and also the various types of child seats available and how they should be fitted.

Brief summary of the law for children under three years in cars:

• You must ensure babies and toddlers use a child seat that is appropriate for their weight. The ONLY exception is for licensed taxis or private hire cars, where unrestrained travel is permitted if no appropriate seat is available. The RoSPA advises that all parents make appropriate arrangements before booking a taxi to enable a child seat is fitted however.
• Rear-facing child seats must not be used in the front passenger seat if the car has an active frontal airbag. Check with the manufacturers car handbook, if you have a front-facing child seat, about frontal airbags.

Brief summary of the law for children aged three years and over in cars:

• Chidren must use an appropriate child seat until they are 135cm tall (approximately 4ft 5in) or 12 years old- whichever comes first. This applies to sitting in the front or the rear of the car.
• The exceptions are licensed taxis or private hire cars if the child is travelling a short distance; if there are two occupied child restraints which prevent the fitting of a third; or, if seat belts are not fitted.

The above bullet points are only indicated as a guide only and you must ensure that you fully comply with the current law before setting off on a journey, so visit the RoSPA’s child seat website.

The RoSPA and Allianz Commercial has announced they are renewing a two-year partnership to promote effective risk management for any company operating a fleet of vehicles. The two companies have been working together since 2007 and they both offer a range of courses and commercial insurance solutions.

Some new courses have been added for Allianz Commercial Policyholders as follows;

1. ECO-Driving - this course provides advice on how you can change driving techniques to save fuel, reduce CO2 emissions and reduce tyre wear. More information on eco-safe driving is available here.
2. Licence Check- always an issue with company car drivers, this product offers online checking to verify that employees’ driving licences are valid and that they have an entitlement to drive a company vehicle.
3. Driver Profile Managed Service - This product offers a cost and time-efficient method of risk assessment where the RoPSA manages the “back-house” administration.

Every employer that runs a fleet of vehicles, or where an employee drives their own car on business, has a duty of care responsibility to comply with. Full details of all the courses and products available can be found from the RoSPA website.

Winter Driving

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has offered some tips for any drivers setting off on a long road journey this Christmas. They have also placed a winter driving factsheet on their website covering a range of issues affecting drivers including snow, ice, fog and winter sun.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said,”As well as smooth driving techniques, safer winter driving is about good preparation-making sure you’re in a fit state to drive, that your vehicle is in good condition and that you’ve planned your journey”.

RoSPA advice;

• Check that all your lights are clean and working properly.
• Make sure your windscreen and windows are clear and the washer bottle is filled up with the correct concentration of water and screenwash. You may need more screenwash concentrate when the weather is colder.
• Carry a de-icing kit, a first aid kit and a working torch.
• In case you get stuck in the snow, make sure you have a blanket, a pair of boots, a shovel, a high-visibility jacket and a fully-charged mobile phone.

You can also check your journey via a number of websites as follows;

• Trafficmaster – provides live updates on any hold-ups on the UK’s major roads.
• Highways Agency
• RAC website
• BBC website

A final tip is if you are using a satnav system, select routes via the motorways, rather than letting the satnav take you the quickest route as you may find yourself travelling down some “A” or even “B” roads where road conditions may be dangerous.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has welcomed a new Scottish initiative that aims to raise the importance of wearing a seatbelt. The Have You Clicked? campaign was launched by the Scottish Government, Road Safety Scotland and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

Kathleen Braidwood, RoSPA Scotland’s road safety officer said,”This new campaign presents a fantastic opportunity to focus on an issue that has the potential to save lives and reduce the number and severity of injuries on Scotland’s roads. Nearly a third of people killed in cars are not wearing seatbelts and it has been estimated that at least half of those would have survived had they been strapped in”.

The safety charity is also highlighting the importance of choosing the right car seats and that seat belts are fitted correctly. To help with this, RoSPA is also training road safety professionals in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness on how to choose and fit car seats correctly.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has just unveiled their new website which is packed with useful information around life saving prevention from having accidents around the home, at work, in leisure pursuits and of course, on the road.

The site also provides links to hundreds io other sources of safety information including the Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System which provides a wealth of accident statistics.

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive said about the new website,”This is a very exciting development that shows we’re still at the cutting edge of saving lives and reducing injuries. It’s vital that in the age of information technology we have a big, interactive presence on the web. Our previous website received 2.92 million visits in the last year and we look forward to many more visitors in the future”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has commented that the recently published road casualty figures for Scotland shows the need for drivers and motorcyclists to consider refresher training to improve their driving skills.

The main causes of fatal road accidents in Scotland include the following;

- Loss of control of the vehicle was mentioned in 36% of all cases where factors were recorded.

- Failing to look properly was the second most common factor at 22%.

Some of the others included being careless, reckless or in a hurry, travelling too fast for the conditions, failing to judge another person’s path or speed and being impared by alcohol. 

Kathleen Braidwood, RoSPA’s road safety officer for Scotland said,”These detailed road casualty figures show that driver or rider errors are the most commonly cited factors in reported road accidents in Scotland. They highlight a real need to promote a lifelong learning approach to training for drivers and motorcyclists – for individuals but also for companies employing people who drive in the course of work”.

For details of the RoSPA assessments for both experienced drivers and young drivers visit these websites:

www.roadar.org.uk/drivers/safety/eda.htm or

www.roadar.org.uk/drivers/yda.htm

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has welcomed the progress being made on making Britain’s roads the safest in the world. The latest DfT (Department for Transport) figures show that in 2008, 2,538 were killed on the roads (down from 2,946 in 2007) and 26,029 people were seriously injured (down from 27,774 in 2007). The total number of casualties on Britain’s roads fell to 230,884 which was down from 247,780, in 2007.

One concern however is that child deaths did not follow the same pattern as the number rose from 121 in 2007 to 124 in 2008. Kevin Clinton, RoSPA head of road safety, said: “Last year saw the lowest number of road deaths since records began. This new record shows that the fall in road deaths is a trend and not a statistical blip. However it is unacceptable that more children died on the road in 2008, than in 2007″. 

He went on to say ” Each and every one of us should think about the safety of children and how our personal actions, especially when driving, affect the wellbeing of our most vulnerable road users. We must all play our part in making sure that the number of children killed and injured on the roads this year is much lower than the figures revealed today”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has found that a new driving for work qualification would be welcomed by employers. This is because the current system of learner and driver training and testing does not adequately prepare young people to drive as part of their jobs.

The safety charity’s Young Drivers at Work project, funded by the Department for Transport, looked at the potential of developing new ways to help young employees when they are driving for work. More than 60% of employers who took part in the study reported that the learner driving training and testing process did not adequately prepare 17-24 year olds for the challenges of at-work driving.

Figures have shown that young motorists are more at risk of being killed or injured on the roads than more experienced drivers. It is also estimated that one in three crashes involves a car or van being driven for work.

The RoSPA interviewed 407 employers and managers using a questionnaire and conducted 47 in-depth telephone interviews for the study. Twenty five young workers also took part in the focus groups and the RoSPA is now developing a free Young Drivers at Work Workshop to address some of the issues raised.

The full report is available at;

 www.rospa.com/roadsafety/youngdriversatwork

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is focussing on the two biggest causes of work-related fatalities. Their conference in May 2009 will cover the types of incidents related to someone who is at work at the time or on the road.

Both of these two areas account for hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries every year. The RoSPA’s Practical Transport Solutions conference (in association with the Health and Safety Executive) is on May 14th at the Hilton Metropole, Birmingham and aims to provide practical advice to companies on managing these risks. The aim being to reduce the number of incidents each year.

There are a number of specialist speakers plus case studies by Tesco.com and Radius Systems Limited. Cars, light commercial vans, HGV’s and all other vehicles will be covered.

Roger Bibbings, the RoSPA’s occupational safety adviser says ” The Practical Transport Solutions conference will highlight a series of transferable safety tools that can be used in the management of vehicles at work – both on the road and on site”.