RAC CALLS ON POLITICAL PARTIES TO ADDRESS THE ‘MOTORIST’S AGENDA’

August 22, 2014

RAC CALLS ON POLITICAL PARTIES TO ADDRESS THE ‘MOTORIST’S AGENDA’

Any political party aspiring to form the next Government needs to address the ‘motorist’s agenda’ and propose viable solutions to the ‘big four’ motoring concerns that negatively impact individual drivers, businesses and the economy as a whole, say the RAC.

As approximately two thirds of those eligible to vote hold a driving licence, the RAC say they believe their voice deserves to be heard en masse.

The RAC are calling for each party to put forward plans in the run-up to the General Election, as part of their manifestos, on how they will tackle:

The high cost of fuel – reducing fuel duty to lessen hardship for the lower paid who depend on their cars and to help stimulate economic growth.

“The cost of fuel is still the number one concern for a majority of motorists. “It remains a huge drain on the budgets of less affluent motorists and those living in rural areas with no public transport alternatives to the car.

“As committed supporters of FairFuelUK, the RAC believes that there is a strong case for a further immediate 3p reduction in fuel duty to sustain economic growth.”

The poor state of the UK’s roads – putting an end to the cycle of deterioration and under investment that has led to all-year-round potholes and the ‘developing world’ status of our roads.

“The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates that an immediate one-off expenditure of £12 billion in England alone is required to return our roads to a state that we can be proud of and will support the economic well-being of the nation.

“The next Government needs to ensure that this problem is fixed once and for all over the life of the next parliament.”

Illegal behaviour of drivers – improve enforcement by halting the decline in the number of traffic police that has created a ‘getting away with it’ culture among a significant minority of drivers.

“They are particularly concerned about the widespread use of hand-held phones by drivers and the small but significant number of motorists who drive under the influence of drink and drugs.

“They are equally concerned at the low awareness and ineffectiveness of the new penalties to tackle tailgating, undertaking and middle lane hogging on our motorways and dual carriageways.”

Expensive and inadequate parking facilities – addressing the increasing cost, reduction in availability and fitness for purpose of parking in many parts of the country.

“”Motorists are increasingly concerned at the cost, availability and fitness for purpose of parking facilities in towns and city centres.

“A majority of motorists report an increase in charges and a reduction in availability of parking over the last 12 months – and the size of parking bays has not increased to reflect the increased width of modern cars to accommodate side-impact crash protection features.

“Many local authorities are making huge surpluses from parking and this is adding to motorists’ growing frustration with the current situation.

“The next Government needs to ensure that local authorities manage the provision of parking within a framework that is fair to the motorist and recognises the link between the availability of parking and the commercial health of our high streets.”The RAC has written to the leaders of the main political parties setting out these concerns so that they can be addressed in their election manifestos during the summer parliamentary recess.The ‘big four’ motoring concerns were identified in the 2014 edition of the RAC Report on Motoring, an annual independent survey of what’s on the mind of a representative cross-section of UK motorists – a study which the country’s oldest motoring organisation has been carrying out for the last 26 years.

RAC technical director David Bizley said: “We know that motoring is vital to the UK economy and therefore we want the political parties to fully understand the biggest concerns on motorists’ minds.

“And we are calling on each leader to explain clearly what their party would do to address these issues and bring about positive change for the benefit of the country as a whole and everyone who uses the roads.

“Motorists are not just motorists, they also use public transport, they cycle and they are pedestrians so they are not seeking solutions at the expense of other road users.”

‘MORE DRIVERS SHOULD BE TRAINED TO DEAL WITH AFTERMATH OF CRASHES’

Eighty-four per cent of people think more drivers should be trained in the skills needed to deal with the aftermath of a road traffic collision, according to a new survey from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and Driver First Assist (DFA).

Of the 2198 respondents, 50 pc said they would like to participate in such training themselves, and 34 pc were interested in finding out more.The survey explored whether people’s hypothetical responses to scenarios matched up with best practice on emergency responses and findings here were mixed.

Reassuringly, 78 pc of the respondents knew that finding a safe place to stop and assess the scene was the most important first step, before dialling 999 or ensuring all those involved are grouped together.

Similarly, 73 pc knew that the only time they should park their vehicle to protect a collision was to protect life.But there were some myths too – with 39pc of respondents believing that the emergency services would be able to trace their mobile using GPS to pinpoint their geographical locations, which isn’t the case.

And despite a majority suggesting they would try and attempt first aid at the scene, 60 pc thought that patient movement was not enough to indicate that their heart is beating, which is in fact true.DFA founder David Higginbottom said: “The fact that nearly half of drivers have come across the scene of a collision before the emergency services arrive clearly demonstrates the potential the motoring public has to help, and individuals’ responses to the survey show how willing they would be to do so.“A person will die from a blocked airway within four minutes, but the target ambulance response time is twice that.

“Having a network of volunteers on the road, trained in the skills needed to correctly report a crash to the emergency services, or even to deliver life-saving first aid, has the potential to reduce road deaths by up to forty-six per cent.”IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “While it’s heartening to see how keen people are to help at a crash, whether or not they had training, the survey also highlighted a number of misconceptions. First aid and giving an accurate report to the emergency services will save lives. Drivers will be much more useful in this role if they are trained.” (Source: IAM press release)Lorry speed limit on single carriageway roads to be increased

LORRY SPEED LIMIT ON SINGLE CARRIAGEWAY ROADS TO BE INCREASED

The speed limit for lorries on single carriageway main roads in England and Wales will rise from 40mph to 50mph, the Government have announced.The move, affecting heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes, will come into force in early 2015.RAC head of external affairs Pete Williams says: “While it may seem counterintuitive on the face of it to suggest higher speeds create safer roads, there is good evidence from trials in Europe to support the idea that raising speed limits on some roads has helped to reduce accident rates.

“A two-year trial in Denmark has seen speed limits on some rural roads increased from 80km/h (50mph) to 90km/h (56mph). “Results there showed that some slower drivers raised their speed slightly, while faster drivers slowed down.

“Although average speeds on the roads remained almost the same, the smaller difference between faster and slower traffic resulted in fewer collisions and fewer deaths, according to police findings.

“They said the move has helped reduce frustration among faster drivers, and stopped them from performing dangerous overtaking manoeuvres.

“The Danish study may well prove to be ground-breaking in years to come but what’s needed now are more studies to establish whether this reduction occurs in all instances.” (Source: RAC press release)

More than 618,000 levies have been bought for over 112,000 lorries from 76 countries since the HGV road user levy was introduced in April 2014, say the Department for Transport.

Foreign truck drivers have handed over more than £17 million to the taxpayer in the past 4 months thanks to a new charge.

More than 618,000 levies have been purchased for over 112,000 vehicles from 76 different countries since the HGV road user levy was introduced in April 2014 – which has seen drivers coughing up enough cash to patch more than 320,000 potholes on our roads. (Source: DfT press release)

Recent evidence shows over 95 pc of heavy goods vehicle operators are paying the new levy in Great Britain. Roadside checks have seen DVSA enforcement officers issue over 850 fixed penalty notices to drivers who have not paid – resulting in fines worth more than £250,000.

Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said:”We anticipated the levy would generate around £20 million a year – to take £17 million in just four months is impressive and shows that compliance has remained high since introduction.

“Before the levy was introduced we had a ridiculous situation where foreign HGV drivers could fill up their tanks on the continent, pick up business in the UK and return to the mainland without even buying fuel here – without giving a penny to help maintain our roads.

“Meanwhile British hauliers were effectively operating at a disadvantage. “I’m glad to see this levy has addressed that imbalance.” (Source: Department for Transport press release)

SCOTTISH DRIVER DID 139 MPH – ON 60 MPH ROAD

New figures obtained by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) through a Freedom of Information request to Police Scotland have revealed the top 20 recorded speeding offences in Scotland for the past 15 months.

They show that of the top 20 recorded top speeds between 1 April 2013 and 30 June 2014 just one took place on a motorway – the rest were on A roads. The speeds were captured on either fixed or mobile speeding cameras and ranged between 114mph and 139mph.

The highest figure was a driver recorded at 139mph on a 60mph stretch of the A96 Keith to Huntly Road, one mile east of the B9115 Junction in Aberdeenshire on a mobile speed camera.

The remainder of the top three were recorded on 70mph limit roads; 129mph on the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen Road at Waterston Road, Angus caught on a fixed speed camera, and 127mph on the A9 Perth to Inverness Road at Moulinearn, Perth and Kinross on a mobile speed camera.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “These speeds show there are still drivers out there displaying a contempt for the law and for the safety of their fellow road users.

“This is made doubly worse by the fact the vast majority of the incidents took place on ‘A’ roads, therefore putting oncoming motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians at greater risk.” (Source: IAM press release)