Brake is a charity who campaign tirelessly to improve safety on Britain’s roads. They are a national road safety charity at the forefront of campaigning efforts to prevent deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s road. They provide education to school children across the UK to promote road safety awareness. They also provide invaluable support to families who have been affected by deaths and injuries caused by road crashes.

Last week was Road Safety Week, a flagship event for Brake. The focus this year was Speed Down Saves Lives. Brake is calling for the introduction of a default 20 mph speed restriction in built up areas; ensuring speed cameras work; the introduction of Intelligent Speed Adaptation; and to raise awareness of the impact speeding can have on the safety of British roads.
 
The importance of their theme this year is demonstrated by statistics which show the impact speeding can have on road safety. It has been found that travelling at excess speed, or travelling to fast for the driving conditions, have been a contributing factor for 1 in 4 fatal crashes in Britain.
 
Speeding has been a major problem on Britain’s roads for a long time. Drivers openly admit to travelling in excess of speed limits with 40% of road uses admitting to driving at 30 mph in designated 20 mph zones. Those who have one speeding violation annually are twice as likely to crash compare to those with none.
 
Through their campaign work, Brake wants to improve awareness and highlight the dangers of speeding in a bid to make Britain’s roads a safer place.
 
Statistics emerged last week, from the Department for Transport, that almost 10,000 people have been injured on Scottish roads between June 2016 to June 2017. The number of road deaths in Scotland increased in 2016 by 14% on the previous year. These figures are nothing short of alarming.
 
So when getting behind the wheel of your car, take a moment to think about the impact, and devastating consequences of speeding.

Blog by Eilish Lindsay, Solicitor