According to the RAC, it is far too soon to make negative conclusions from a small scale study into the effectiveness of 20mph limits. Findings from a report by Bath and North East Somerset Council have aroused criticism this week, since it rolled out 13 reduced speed zones last year.

However, an RAC road safety spokesman pointed out that only when best practice studies have been conducted on a greater scale, in a wide variety of environments, can the correct measures for combatting road accidents be properly assessed.

The south west council’s report shows that over the past year, the number of reported incidents had reduced in three of the 13 areas where speed limits were reduced from 30mph to 20mph.

While an additional three areas saw no impact on figures, there was an increase in serious or fatal incidents as a result of speeding across the remaining seven.

Critics were quick to jump on the less-than-resounding impact of the £871,000 scheme, while the RAC highlighted that blanket 20mph zones will regrettably never be the solution to speeding in urban areas.

Safe driving from Britannia!

When you think about it, tyres are among the most important features of your car – since they are the only contact between the vehicle and the road.

The grooves in a tyre are vital for wet weather performance as they help channel water away and enable your vehicle to move better around corners and brake more safely. The legal minimum tread depth for your tyres in the UK is 1.6mm across three quarters of the tyre’s width.

Most manufacturers will recommend that you change your tyres when they are worn down to 3mm. A tyre with 1.6mm can take nearly 50% further in distance to stop a car in the wet compared to a new tyre with 8mm of tread depth.

If the potential safety hazards aren’t convincing enough, perhaps the law will be! Driving with tyres below the 1.6mm limit will not only fail your MOT but is also illegal and will cost you a fine and three points on your licence per offending tyre.

Safe driving from Britannia!

In many cases, the familiarity of being behind the wheel can cause you to become over confident. This however can lead to multi-tasking and doing other things while driving – the most obvious one being use of a mobile phone without a hands-free set. While this is obviously illegal, there are plenty of ‘legal’ distractions that many honest drivers will admit to, such as eating and drinking, tuning the radio or operating a sat nav device.

Distracted driving is a major cause of death and serious injury on our roads. You can make a difference by improving your attention span when behind the wheel.

It is always a good idea to be aware of what things distract you so as to avoid them from happening. If you’re hungry, eat before you go driving, so you’re not having to feed yourself behind the wheel. Make use of in-car technology such as hands-free. Pull over if you need to do something which affects your concentration. Most importantly, stay focused when driving and never attempt to multi-task.

Safe driving from Britannia!

Safe driving from Britannia!

Motorists will be able to park their vehicles using their smartphone or key fob for the first time, under plans to overhaul the rules of the road. Regulations will be updated to take account of driverless technology, enabling motorists to stand on the roadside and watch their car park itself.

Remote control parking is currently available on a number of prestige models, including the BMW 5- and 7 series. This cutting edge technology is intended to help motorists forced to squeeze their vehicles into small garages or tight parking spaces, as well as passengers with mobility problems who struggle to get in or out of vehicles.

A consultation document from the Department for Transport states that, however, the use of a handheld device to remotely park leads to “uncertainty” at present, because it could clash with regulations that ban motorists from using a mobile phone or tablet at the wheel, thus putting drivers at risk of being prosecuted.

The Department for Transport is proposing to amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 in order to make it clear that remote parking devices are legal. The changes, which will be subject to a six-week consultation, will provide an “exemption into this regulation to permit the use of hand-held and mobile communications devices as a means of performing remote control parking manoeuvres”.

Safe driving from Britannia!

A female motorist was charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a fatal car crash involving three vehicles.

The collision happened on Friday lunchtime on the A1307 at Bartlow, east of Horseheath Road in Linton, Cambridgeshire. The 50-year-old woman from Suffolk appears at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court today.

The female driver of a Nissan Micra who unfortunately died has not yet been formally identified, according to police, while the 43-year-old male driver of the third vehicle, a VW Tiguan, suffered only slight injuries.

Incidents such as this remind us to always have our wits about us when out driving.

Safe driving from Britannia!

UK drivers face the highest fuel prices in four years as hundreds of drivers took to the main roads for Christmas.

Prices at motorway service stations could even outstrip the cost at supermarket refilling stations.

This comes after travel chaos struck the UK on so-called “frantic Friday”, when the last of the year’s commuter traffic clashed with the festive getaway.

On the M40, there were major traffic jams in both directions after a lorry carrying beer caught fire on the southbound carriageway near Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Merry Christmas and safe driving from Britannia!

If you have to think about whether or not you’re sober enough to drive – the answer is you probably aren’t.

At Christmas time in particular, people are very likely to go driving the morning after a heavy drinking session without realising they are still technically under the influence of alcohol. Remember, a few hours’ sleep is no quick fix for lowering alcohol levels in the blood.

A road safety spokesman stated that anyone who has been out celebrating the night before driving “may just be about to ruin someone else’s Christmas, as well as their own.”

Earlier this year drink-driving was revealed to be a key concern among the public. Statistics show that far too many people are prepared to take the risk of dangerous driving, both straight after a drink and on the following day.

Remember that if you have been drinking, you need to allow sufficient time for your body to process the alcohol you have consumed.

Merry Christmas and safe driving from Britannia!

It is quite astonishing the lengths that some drivers will go to to protect their beloved motors from dreaded bird droppings.

In Clifton, Bristol, people have been placing spikes in trees near their homes to prevent the birds from fouling their cars from above.

The spikes, normally used to stop birds resting or nesting on buildings, have been set along branches that overhang a car park used by residents near Clifton Downs, which overlooks the Avon George and Clifton Suspension Bridge. As expected, the measure has prompted a backlash from environmentalists in the city.

While Green Party councillors are fully aware that the landowners have the right to protect their property, they argue that the spikes look truly awful and trees should naturally provide a habitat to birds.

One of them stated that it is too easy to lose sight of the benefit that we all gain from trees and green spaces and from the presence of wildlife around us in the city.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Have you ever taken extreme measures to protect your car from nature and wildlife?

Safe driving from Britannia!