Category: Road Safety

Recent figures released by the Home Office show that vehicle theft has increased by 50% in the last 5 years. In 2017, there were 103,644 stolen vehicles in England and Wales alone, along with 280,313 other recorded vehicle-related offences.

These staggering figures are clearly a cause for concern, triggering a response from the AA. As crime levels continue to rise, an anti-theft video has been released in order to combat this. The aim is to increase awareness of the various things which you can do to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of car theft.

See the video released by the AA below:

The video shows that there are two types of car theft: Stealing the vehicle, and stealing from the vehicle. Both can be planned or opportunistic, so it is important to take extra care at all times, especially if your vehicle has a keyless entry system, as signals from the key can be relayed by criminals.

It also advises to always listen to the locks ‘click’ before leaving the vehicle, as thieves now use signal blocking, which blocks the lock signal sent by the key.

The AA’s 10 Top Tips are:

• Always check your door handles are locked before you leave the car. Be careful not to accidentally unlock your car when putting keys in your pocket.
• Remove anything of value from your car.
• Keep your vehicle in a locked garage if possible.
• When looking for a public parking space try to use a car park that offers good security, such as one accredited by the Safer Parking Scheme. Avoid parking in dark streets away from public activity.
• If your car has a keyless entry system then keep the key in a signal blocking pouch.
• Always keep your keys in a drawer or other safe place.
• Consider using a mechanical steering locking device.
• Fit a Thatcham certified immobiliser.
• Consider fitting a dash cam system with tracking to help find your car if it’s stolen, and gain evidence of the event.
• If you’re selling a car, always accompany potential buyers on a test drive.

For our full range of dash cameras and installation options, please click here. To speak to an expert and find the best solution for you, contact us on 01865 598599, or use the contact form below.

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In 2018, we saw the introduction of average speed check camera’s around the A64 roadworks in Yorkshire. The aim was to protect the workforce on site and enforce the temporarily reduced speed limit.

The camera’s work by using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) which records the vehicles number plate at each camera, with cameras placed at intervals along with roadworks. Using the distance between each camera position, the average speed of a vehicle can be calculated by the time taken to travel between two of the cameras. If this is above the set speed limit then the driver will incur a penalty.

Once the roadworks had ended, a freedom of information request revealed that almost 2,500 drivers were caught speeding by the cameras. This was over a 7 month period, which suggests that just over 11 drivers were caught per day, on average.

The large number of speeding motorists caught by the average speed checks could come down to several reasons. Many people simply don’t believe that they are active, and are dismissive of the signs, leading them to ignore the temporary speed limit change.

On the other hand, many drivers may be unaware of how these new cameras work, meaning more knowledge on the matter being needed.

We are all so used to looking out for the big yellow box, however, the average speed check cameras are much smaller and could be easy to miss if the driver loses concentration.

A Highways England spokesman said: “During the roadworks, the speed limit was reduced to 40mph while we replaced the 11 miles of safety barrier along sections of the A64 between Bramham and York, improving safety along this route. Safety is our top priority and the speed cameras and reduced speed limit were there to make journeys safer for drivers while sections of the central reservation were removed.”

“Although the majority of drivers kept to the speed limit, a number of people were caught exceeding the limit which not only put their own lives at risk, but those of other motorists and our workers who were there overnight, replacing the barrier.

These days, almost everyone has witnessed dangerous driving, or has observed somebody behind the wheel who clearly shouldn’t be there. It’s understandably frustrating, and we often hear people ask ‘Why are the police never there when you need them?’.

With 245,000 miles of road in the UK, it’s clearly not possible for the police to be omnipresent! They simply can’t be everywhere at once, taking action against every irresponsible motorist. However, that doesn’t mean that reckless driving will go unpunished. A recent operation is allowing the public the power to help keep roads safer.

The most recent of these is Operation Snap.

With a dashcam, you have an eyewitness that never blinks. Video evidence is recorded wherever and whenever you are on the road. If you have captured a dangerous driving event then the police team working on Operation Snap want that footage.

The operation allows for dash cam footage to be sent directly to the police. This has led to hundreds of motorists being fined and prosecuted over the last year. It’s not only dangerous driving being caught by dash cams; cases of illegal phone usage, and drivers with dogs on their lap have also been caught. The aim is to tackle dangerous driving in the UK.

Some of the footage submitted can be seen in the video below:

Results

So far, over 2,300 dash cam clips have been submitted. Action has been taken on more than 650 of them. Depending on the seriousness of the offence, punishments such as fines, awareness courses, and prosecutions have already taken place. This practical solution allows a much higher degree of safety on our roads, without putting a strain on the police budget.

Inspector Lee Ford of Gwent Police said the public response had been “exceptional”. It has been a practical way to adress various forms of bad driving.”

Teresa Ciano, partnership manager at Go Safe explained that the project was set up to gather footage which was being submitted to police forces already but is now being used formally: “Sometimes the footage shows out-and-out dangerous driving but some are just a lapse of judgement”.

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