DRIVESAFE TACKLES SUMMER DRINK DRIVING HEAD ON

DriveSafe, Greater Manchester’s Casualty Reduction Partnership,  launched an action packed engagement campaign, ‘None For The Road’.

The campaign event saw mascots from Greater Manchester’s football clubs join forces to raise awareness of the dangers of drink driving.

As well as appearances from local mascots, the launch saw a giant inflatable goal post positioned in Albert Square. Passers-by were encouraged to try their luck from the spot but with a twist, they will have to wear ‘beer goggles’- a device which blurs vision and distorts balance so the wearer feels intoxicated. The activity is designed to give participants a real understanding of how alcohol affects co-ordination and ultimately shock people into realising they should never get behind the wheel after, even after only one drink.

Speaking about the campaign, Karen Delaney, communications officer at DriveSafe, said: “It is extremely dangerous to try and calculate alcohol levels – it depends on so many factors, BMI, age, weight and food intake during the day. Those that attempt to calculate whether or not they are over the limit often find themselves being arrested for drink driving, or worse, injuring or killing themselves, or someone else.

“That’s why our message is ‘None For The Road’. If you’re planning on having few drinks, don’t take the risk of getting behind the wheel, Greater Manchester has a fantastic public transport network and if all else fails just call a cab.”

During the event road safety officers and representatives from System One Travelcards handed out One Day Bus Travel passes to encourage people to use the bus network in Greater Manchester, as an alternative to driving.

‘None For The Road’ will incorporate a series of radio and print adverts and a further direct engagement element.

Safety top priority as new camera captures average speed 

DriveSafe, Greater Manchester’s Casualty Reduction Partnership, is aiming to make the roads safer and reduce road casualties by installing the first urban ‘Average Speed Camera’ outside of Greater Manchester’s motorway network.

The pilot scheme is being delivered through a partnership between DriveSafe and Manchester City Council, and is being trialled on the notorious A6104 hotspot, in a bid to reduce the high collision rate.

The device, normally found on motorway networks, will be installed on Victoria Avenue, Blackley where a total of 46 collisions were recorded between 2005 and 2009, four of which were fatal and eight serious, as a result of speeding traffic and aggressive driving.

Previous attempts to improve road safety through speeding intervention include refuge islands, vehicle activated signs, mobile safety camera operations and signing and lining improvements which have all had limited success.

Each average speed camera is in a pair and uses automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to capture speeding drivers. The entry camera films number plates upon entry into the controlled zone and on exit and if the average speed is over the speed limit, evidence is passed onto the police.

Karen Delaney, communications manager at DriveSafe, Greater Manchester’s Casualty Reduction Partnership, said: “Blackley has received a large amount of negative press coverage over the years as a result of speeding and understandably, there is growing community concern about speeding traffic and aggressive driving.

“Traditional safety cameras are very effective at reducing speed, but roads such as the A6104 route, which has a high level of speed-induced collisions, have huge potential to benefit from these new cameras and we are confident that the device will encourage lower speeds, discourage overtaking manoeuvres and ultimately reduce collisions.”

“Manchester City Council and Drivesafe took the decision to trial this new device as, unlike traditional speed cameras, which see motorists jamming on the brakes as soon as they see a camera and then accelerating as soon as they have passed, the average speed cameras monitor speeding throughout a controlled zone.

“Road safety is a priority in Manchester and tracking a motorist’s average speed has proven successful on motorways, with the number of collisions and speeding both reduced, and so we’ve adapted it to this urban residential area where a 30mph speed limit is in force.”