Oiiii! Eyes on the road!
Calderdale residents are being urged to keep their eyes on the road with the launch of the "distraction devastates" campaign.
The Calderdale Road Safety team, working with their Calderdale and West Yorkshire Safer Roads partners, are launching the new campaign with the slogan "Oiiiii Eyes on the Road."
The campaign coincides with a return to school for hundreds of thousands of children and young people across West Yorkshire.
Studies suggest that driver distraction could be the main factor in half of all fatal collisions.
The most common reasons for distraction include using a mobile phone, eating, smoking, changing the radio and looking at people out of the window.
Research also suggests that most people involved in a collision will be within three miles of their home and on a road they know well, suggesting that drivers in familiar environments are more likely to lose concentration.
Different age groups allow themselves to be distracted in different ways:
- Crashing while adjusting the radio / CD is more common in drivers under 20.
- Being distracted by children in the car is more common in 20 - 29 year olds.
- Drivers over 65 are more likely to be distracted by something outside the vehicle.
- People driving for work are distracted more than other drivers – 20 per cent of road deaths happen to people who were driving for work at the time.
For every second the driver takes their eyes off the road when the car is travelling at 30mph, the car will travel 44.4ft.
With thousands of children out in the streets in the rush hour traffic, the Road Safety Team asks that drivers commit to staying focused.
Doctor Andy Lockey, consultant in emergency medicine at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust said:
"Every day people put their lives and trust in me. I have to keep focused at all times when dealing with patients.
"This is no different to when people are driving – one wrong decision through lack of concentration may mean the difference between life and death."
Sgt Chris Boyd, of Calderdale Roads Policing Unit, said: "When a collision occurs which results in a death, it is likely to be a police officer who has to break the tragic news to loved ones.
"These tragedies are always difficult to take, but even more so when they could have been avoided.
"Driving a motor vehicle is a complex process requiring focus and concentration and should not be taken for granted."
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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