The future of UK roads
Site: www.wheelsatonce.com Article Release details: Immediate
Date: 14 October 2005
The future of UK roads
Britain's roads can be treacherous; every journey, even popping
to the shops, requires drivers to concentrate hard and take in
hundreds of facts, processing them instantly to avoid accidents.
Every obstacle and danger must be registered by the brain so
that action can be taken instantaneously. From the motorbike
approaching from the right at a roundabout, to the bus that
looks like it's about to pull out without signalling, the human
brain needs to be on top form and your vehicle needs to be
roadworthy and responsive in order to avoid major calamity.
There are literally millions of vehicles lining our highways
every day, around 22 million to be more precise. More than 151
billion vehicle kilometres of journeys take place every year on
England's road network alone and there are a whopping 4,818
miles of road to be covered. It's hardly surprising then that
accidents happen quite frequently. Just one momentary lack of
concentration can lead to a serious accident involving loss of
life and serious personal injury. In fact there are a some roads
notorious for their danger factor. Number one on the list is the
A989 near Dalwhinnie in Perth and Kinross, number two is the
A537 between Macclesfield, Cheshire and Buxton in Derbyshire and
the number three is the A12 near Romford in Essex. We may rate
our roads as the safest in the world, carrying a third of all
traffic we only see one eigth of all accidents, but we still
endure massive loss of life every year. The UK statistic for
death and serious injury on our roads in 2001 was 34,764.
The European Union wants to cut road deaths in half by 2010, by
introducing a variety of new road safety measures which will
make the roads a less perilous place to be. Along with trying to
adjust driver behaviour, vehicles will be made safer and road
infrastructure improved. The hope is that the incident rate for
car accidents will drop dramatically.
Education High risk groups such as truck and coach drivers and
male car drivers under 25 will be targeted for new safety
education schemes. If behaviour is highlighted as a major cause
of death on the highways then it is thought that dangerous
drivers will rethink their attitude to the road. One of the new
technologies that could support this initiative is the
implementation of tailgating cameras to spot people driving
intentionally or unintentionally close to the car in front.
People who feel that speed cameras encourage a George Orwell
1984 type society will have to brace themselves for a raft of
new motoring equipment that will tell police how they are
driving and will encourage speedy prosecutions.
Nowhere to hide The future is bleak for law breakers who are set
on making the roads less pleasant for everyone else. Police will
be able to spot uninsured motorists with a number plate
recognition system that feeds into DVLA data bases and video
cameras, to tell an officer who is insured and who is not.
Evidential breath testing equipment will be introduced next year
for roadside use and passive sensors will be able to detect the
presence of alcohol in the immediate area. In order to protect
the public from drunk drivers and those without insurance the
police are willing to crack down without repent. If you've had a
drink and are pulled over by the traffic cops then you're in
trouble. That's if your car starts in the first place.
Safe hi tech cars New technologies are being researched and
developed all over the world by clever people who are concerned
about the dangers of getting behind the wheel.
Drink driving may soon be wiped out by the introduction of
'alcolocks' in all vehicles. This nifty device means that before
the engine will even start, the driver will have to breathe into
an alcohol detector to prove to the car that they are sober.
This has the potential to save lives and change the future of
motoring. In 2002, 560 people were killed when one or more
driver or ride was over the limit. If drivers can't start their
car without a breath test then these figures might fall.
The speeding issue could also be a problem of the past, while
cameras will remain; speed freaks may have difficulty in
reaching break neck speeds anyway. Intelligent speed adaption
will keep cars within the legal speed limit. If an accident does
happen, aerospace technology may be the key to finding out what
happened. Black boxes similar those found in aircraft can record
details of how a car was being driven in the moments leading up
to an accident. These might also be used to implement new 'pay
as you go' schemes for car insurance.
On the road The roads will soon become home to a variety of
traffic calming technologies that will catch out even the
slightest deviation from safe driving behaviour. In the future
speed cameras will monitor over a distance rather than taking a
snapshot of a drivers speed. Tailgating cameras and seatbelt
detection cameras will appear on gantries. If drivers don't belt
up and keep well back from other motorists they may face fines
and worse. Lane sensors will detect whether someone has
overtaken on double white lines and some discussion has taken
place over the last few weeks about the introduction of speed
cameras in cat's eyes. So maybe the nine lives of a cat can help
to save the lives of countless UK drivers?
What to do if you do have an accident We have a little while to
wait before all of these strategies are rolled out in the UK. In
the meantime it will certainly pay to drive carefully and to
keep in mind that road traffic accidents are estimated to become
the biggest worldwide killer by the year 2020. If you are caught
up in a road accident then you might be entitled to make a
personal injury claim for accident compensation. You can get
free legal advice at www.wheelsatonce.com or you can call on
0800 78 38 846 to learn more.
So the future is bright? It looks like the UK's roads may
become safe once more. If the illegal activities such as drink
driving and speeding are reduced then hopefully driver behaviour
will change. If everyone works together to rein in change, then
Britain's roads will become less of a hazard.
-ENDS-
Wheelsatonce provides help to hundreds of people who have been
involved in a non fault accident. They can organise a
compensation claim, a replacement car, repairs to your car and
will also get your recovery and storage account paid.
Visit www.wheelsatonce.com or call 0800 78 38 846
Editorial notes: Wheelsatonce www.wheelsatonce.com provides
compensation to people who have been involved in an accident
that was not their fault.