Road Safety Week 2017

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Image Source: roadsafetyweek.org.uk

The last week in November this year (20-26) marks Road Safety Week 2017, an annual event arranged by the charity Brake, to raise awareness of the dangers of the road and to spread life-saving information about how to be safer in and around road traffic.

‘Speed Down Save Lives’

The theme for this year’s Road Safety Week is ‘Speed Down Save Lives’, a campaign encouraging drivers to think about their driving speed and it’s effect on stopping distances. Modern cars can get up to high speeds in very short amounts of time, and this year’s campaign is committed to raising awareness amongst drivers that it’s their responsibility to know how fast they’re going and how long their vehicle will take to stop if they see a hazard in the road ahead.

How can I get involved?

If you want to join in the campaign for safer roads this year, you can apply for a free action pack either as an individual campaigner or as an organisation like a school or community.

If you’d like to raise a road safety complaint in your community, Road Safety Week is a perfect time to do this – take a look at the Brake charity website to find out how to organise petitions, hold a demonstration or how to go about getting speed limits queried in your area.

If you’d like to contribute to this fantastic cause you can do so in a variety of ways, whether it’s a bake sale, run a race for Brake or just give a donation. Brake will be collecting money throughout the week across the country: London 20th Nov, Birmingham 21st Nov, Huddersfield 22-23 Nov and Leeds 24th Nov.

What will you be doing for Road Safety Week?

Tips for drivers as the colder weather approaches

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Image Source: consumerreports.org

Consider getting your vehicle serviced

If there’s something wrong with your vehicle already, the cold weather may exacerbate an existing problem. If your MOT is due soon, take a close look at the advisories and think about what effect that colder weather could have on them if left unfixed.

Keep warm clothes in your boot

If you’ll be driving a lot of long-distance journeys in the next few months, you might want to keep a bag in your vehicle with a change of clothes, or an extra jumper or blanket. This will keep you warm if you were to break down as you wait for a recovery vehicle to reach you. This is particularly important if you’ll be driving through rural areas or on days where there may be limited recovery available (eg. Christmas Day).

Consider getting a dash cam

Even if you know you’re a careful driver, there could be a time where you are involved in an accident and there are no witnesses, and it’s your word against theirs. Having recorded footage on a dash cam could help to allocate accountability with confidence. This is something to consider using all year round, but icy or slippery conditions can make accidents more likely and dash cams more likely to be needed.

Check your tyres regularly

Tyres should always be checked regularly, so make sure you keep this up. Tyres without sufficient tread depth will be especially unhelpful in snowy or icy conditions and it’s good tyres that prevent slipping and sliding.

Stay safe this winter!

Top 5 Ugly Cars on the Road

If you watched the latest episode of Top Gear (Series 24 Episode 7), you will have seen the yacht-inspired SsangYong Rodius, a car that has been subjected to insults about its appearance since it’s launch in 2004, and described by BOAT magazine as the ‘World’s Ugliest Car’.

This inspired us at Shiply to write a list of what we think are the 5 ugliest cars on the road today:

5. In fifth place is the Suzuki Wagon R+. Not only does it look disappointing, reviewers also report its performance outside urban environments as a little ugly too…

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Image Source: parkers.co.uk

4. In fourth place is the aggressive-looking Nissan Juke. A small SUV made to rival conventional hatchbacks. We’ll stick to the conventional ones thanks…

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Image Source: nissan.co.za

3. In third place is the Smart Roadster. We’d only just got used to the quirky, standard Smart Car, then this came along. It looks more like something out of the Legoland driving school than fit for a real road!

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Image Source: parkers.co.uk

2. Our runner up is the first generation Ford KA, which despite its ugliness, sold extremely well following its release in 1996. Thankfully the newer versions are easier on the eye.

 Image Source: johntopley.com

1. In well-deserved first place has got to be the Fiat Multipla. That crease below the windscreen looks like a pimply furrowed brow. The sooner it’s off our roads, the better!

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Image Source: cars-data.com

 

Do you agree with our list? Let us know!