Anti-social driving remains one of the top issues for people in Surrey if the level of interest in the Surrey County Council and Surrey Police Drive SMART display at Wings and Wheels is anything to go by.
Hundreds of people took the opportunity to visit the stand to catch up on the progress of Drive SMART at the show in Dunsfold over the August Bank Holiday weekend - with more than 600 information packs handed out.
Staff from Surrey County Council and Surrey Police mingled with thousands of members of the public at the annual airshow on Sunday and Monday, handing out the information packs and talking to people about their experiences of the kind of anti-social driving targeted by the initiative. Visitors to the Drive SMART exhibition area also had the opportunity to view the inside of a safety camera enforcement van and a police car and to chat to police officers and civilian staff about road safety issues and Drive SMART, which celebrates it's first anniversary in early September.
The Drive SMART initiative, launched in September 2009 by Surrey County Council and Surrey Police, encourages drivers to be more considerate and change driving behaviours that negatively affect the lives of other road users or local residents. These include speeding, tailgating, bad or inconsiderate parking, using a hand-held mobile phone at the wheel, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and generally thoughtless or reckless driving.
Superintendent Rachel Tills, Surrey Police 's lead officer for Drive SMART, said: "It was clear from the feedback from many Surrey people visiting the event that anti-social driving by others can have a significant effect on their daily lives. Residents believe this is an area we should be concentrating on, and the positive response we received shows that we are tackling this anti-social behaviour with the right balance of education and enforcement."
Surrey County Council Leader Dr Andrew Povey said: "Events like Wings and Wheels provide an ideal opportunity to spread the Drive SMART message. Surrey residents told us anti-social driving was a key concern for them which is why we have been working with Surrey Police to make sure our county is a safer and more pleasant place to drive. I'm delighted so many people took the opportunity to learn more about our campaign over the bank holiday weekend."
A dramatic short film illustrating the dangers young drivers face when subject to peer pressure goes live on the web this week.
The film, just one minute 20 seconds long, forms the next stage of the Drive SMART initiative, launched last September by Surrey County Council and Surrey Police to tackle anti-social driving. It is also in response to casualty statistics that show that this group are particularly vulnerable.
Targeted at young drivers in Surrey aged between 17 and 24, the film shows how easy it is for a young driver, coerced by his friends, to take unnecessary risks at dangerous speeds on the road – with devastating consequences.
In a clear challenge to young drivers it asks "Can you stand up to your mates?" and urges them to "Be strong".
Road safety statistics nationally and locally highlight that younger drivers are over represented in road casualty statistics. In 2008, 27% of all casualties in Surrey and 18% of all fatalities were young people aged between 16 and 24 years old.
The Leader of Surrey County Council, Dr Andrew Povey, said: "Young drivers are particularly vulnerable on the road and putting a film about road safety on the internet is one way of encouraging them to take more care. Their inexperience and exuberance behind the wheel, especially when driving with friends, can have devastating consequences - so our Drive SMART campaign aims to highlight these dangers to encourage young people to drive more carefully."
Surrey Police Assistant Chief Constable, Ian Dyson, added: "We want to cut the number of people killed or seriously injured on Surrey's roads and hope that this film will make young drivers more aware of the dangers of taking unnecessary risks. Surrey Police will prosecute drivers who continue to act irresponsibly and break the law but with our Drive SMART campaign initiatives we want to improve motorists' behaviour so they pose less risk to themselves and other road users."
The film, produced by Manchester agency 90degrees, features four talented young actors familiar to thousands of young people across Surrey – Alex Bambrick, Kate Tidman, Brooke O’Halloran and Jamie McLeod-Ross. The quartet all feature in the video that goes with the award-winning Safe Drive Stay Alivestage show run every year for sixth formers across the county by Surrey Fire & Rescue Service.
The viral marketing campaign will see a link to the film clip, now on YouTube, placed on web sites and forums used by young people, including Facebook and Twitter, as well as partner web sites. People viewing the clip will also be encouraged to pass it on to friends and colleagues who may know young people in the right age category.
It will also be shown live at the Transport for Surrey Conference on Thursday, March 25th and at two special performances of Safe Drive Stay Aliveat Dorking Halls on Wednesday, April 28th.
Speeding motorists in Surrey now have the opportunity to go back to the classroom to refresh their driving skills - rather than picking up a £60 fine and three penalty points on their licence.
The courses, offered to those drivers caught speeding just a few miles an hour over the limit, were officially launched at The Spectrum Leisure Centre in Guildford on Friday (February 26th). The launch was marked with a visit from Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Councillor Kay Hammond, and Assistant Chief Constable, Ian Dyson, who called in to speak to some of the first course participants.
The four-hour classroom based presentation, run by road safety specialists from AA DriveTech, is run at three different venues in Surrey, currently Guildford, Staines and Betchworth, but is only available to those travelling just a few miles an hour over the limit*.
The course aims to generate a better understanding of the consequences of speeding and raise awareness of the importance of sticking to speed limits. The course also helps drivers recognise speed limits and provides instruction on driving more carefully. Drivers who meet the eligibility criteria will pay £73 to attend the course, which covers the cost of administering the scheme. It is not offered to drivers who are travelling at speeds well above the speed limit, or those who have attended a national speed awareness course within the last three years (from the date of the offence). Drivers can be referred to the same course elsewhere in England and Wales if that is more suitable.
Implementation costs for setting up the new speed awareness courses were funded as part of the Drive SMART initiative, launched last September by Surrey County Council and Surrey Police to tackle anti-social driving, an issue regularly identified as a concern by local residents. Up to 5,000 motorists are expected to attend the course in the first year. Referrals to the course are via camera-captured speed offences.
The Leader of Surrey County Council, Dr Andrew Povey, said: "Educating people to drive more safely and sensibly is central to our Drive SMART campaign. Offering motorists the opportunity to learn about the consequences of driving dangerously should make them better drivers in the future which in turn will make Surrey's roads safer for everyone."
Surrey's Assistant Chief Constable Ian Dyson, added: “This is about reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on Surrey’s roads and raising drivers’ awareness of the impact that anti-social driving, in particular speeding, has on communities. Often the most effective way of achieving this is with education rather than enforcement and the speed awareness courses aim to re-educate motorists to drive more carefully and considerately to pose less risk to themselves and other road users.
“This does not mean we are being soft on drivers. Surrey Police will take a robust approach in targeting drivers who continue to act irresponsibly and break the law.”
AA DriveTech Managing Director Jim Kirkwood, said: “We know that education makes a positive contribution to road safety and we work hard to ensure that our courses are relevant and useful to those drivers who attend. We never lecture or preach. We’re there to inform, advise and support the motorists so that they complete the speed awareness course with a better understanding of the risks they face while driving as well as some useful and practical tips for becoming safer drivers.”
Average speed cameras are now being used to slow drivers down on the A3 Hindhead Tunnel project roadworks.
The Redfusion brand cameras have been put up at the southern end of the roadworks, close to the Surrey/Hampshire border. Their aim is to ensure that motorists drive at safe speeds, protecting other road users and contractors working on the site. Digital still images of speeding vehicles from the site are downloaded straight to a PC for processing.
Enforcement on both the northbound and southbound carriageways is being provided by the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership at the request of the Highways Agency who are managing the project. The speed limit will be 50 mph.
Project Manager, Duncan Knox said: "The enforcement will result in smoother flows and improved safety throughout the whole length of the section being enforced."
The site will be well-signed with fixed safety camera warning signs combined with speed limit repeater signs on both sides of the road.
The Hindhead Tunnel is due to be completed by mid 2011 – for more details visit this Link
Motorists who take risks by speeding through roadworks on the M3 in Surrey face the prospect of fines and penalty points on their licence.
Average speed cameras are now in operation to ensure motorists drive at safe speeds, protecting both other road users and contractors working on hard shoulder strengthening work close to junction three at Lightwater. This will be particularly important during off peak hours and at night when traffic moves more freely.
Enforcement is being provided by the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership at the request of the Highways Agency who are managing the project. The limit will be 50 mph.
The site will be well-signed with fixed safety camera warning signs combined with speed limit repeater signs on both sides of the road - but if drivers fail to heed warnings and reduce their speeds they risk being issued with a penalty.
A new campaign aimed at warning motorists about the potentially fatal consequences of speeding is launched today (January 11th).
The hard-hitting Ben campaign is the first single issue campaign of the Drive SMART initiative and has been developed by the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership.
New data shows that one third of collisions on Surrey’s roads between 2006 and 2008 (4,123 out of 13,106) were recorded as being caused by drivers either exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for the conditions. Even where speed is not recorded as the main factor, greater speeds increase the chance of collision, and make the consequences far worse.
The Ben campaign uses an image of a distraught small boy sobbing as drivers are informed You were speeding when you killed Ben’s mum: Take your time, not a life - and will feature on bus backs and billboards across Surrey. The voice of Ben will also be heard on radio stations throughout the county.
The eye-catching design will be used on 50 buses operating out of Guildford, Byfleet, Cranleigh and Epsom, with posters also being distributed to businesses, libraries, council offices, police stations, hospitals and doctors’ surgeries across the county. Billboards in Leatherhead, Reigate, Redhill, Whyteleafe and Camberley will also feature the highly emotive image.
Partnership Project Manager, Duncan Knox, said:
"We had a lot of very positive feedback from one of our previous campaigns, which featured a young girl called Amy. The Ben campaign is very much in the same mould in that it features a striking image, tells a brief story and makes drivers think about the dangers of speeding. Our aim is to make drivers aware of the potentially very serious consequences of driving too fast, and we hope Ben brings that home to them in a powerful and thought-provoking way."
The Drive SMART initiative, launched in September by Surrey County Council and Surrey Police, encourages drivers to be more considerate and change driving behaviours that negatively affect the lives of other road users or local residents.
In addition to speeding, these include tailgating, bad or inconsiderate parking, using a handheld mobile phones at the wheel, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and generally thoughtless or reckless driving.
