Author: The Editor

We’re taking part in Road Safety Week

Stinchcombe Speed Watch is taking part in Road Safety Week, organised by the road safety charity, Brake.  The objective this year is to start a national conversation about speed.

Why?

Here are five good reasons:

1. On average five people die on British roads every day
2. Inappropriate speed contributes to around 39% of crashes that result in death or serious injury, of which there were 29,742 in Great Britain in 2022
3. Every 1mph increase in speed increases crash frequency by 5%
4. The risk of a pedestrian being killed increases slowly up to impact speeds of around 30 mph but at speeds of 30 – 40mph becomes 3.5 to 5.5 times more likely
5. About half of pedestrian fatalities occur at impact speeds of 30 mph or below.

Learn more from

• Brake
• RoSPA
• 20’s Plenty .

And turning the spotlight on Gloucestershire …

Our statistics for people killed or seriously injured on the roads remain poor.  This was tragically brought home to us in Stinchcombe by the fatal crash on Taits Hill, the first anniversary of which passed recently.

The fact is we’re lagging behind other local authorities.  Our figures increased in 2022 whereas the best-performing local authority (Staffordshire) saw a 52% reduction.

Source

So please join in the conversation with us …

There are various ways to do that:

1. Comment at the end of this article on the Parish website. 
2. Attend our Stopping Distances* event at the Village Hall at 3pm on Sunday 19th November to take part in a memorable demonstration and share themed biscuits and cakes.
3. Come and talk if you see our stand at Leaf & Ground.
4. Respond to our posts on Stinchcombe Social or make your own.
5. If you know who we are you can even buttonhole us in the street.

* Brake research found that 71% of drivers don’t know what distance to keep from a vehicle in front of them.

It’s a very rare person who never drives too fast and we’re not going to be judging anyone.  We just want to hear what you think.  Why and where do we speed?  What would stop us?  What do we think about others speeding? Do we know the facts about speed and its potential consequences? Does our vehicle make it all too easy to speed? Are we using any features it has to help us keep to appropriate speeds?

The Speed Watch Team: Trudy Chinn, Don Cribb, John Delafield, Kath Hudson, Joan Jelfs, Marion Twentyman and Ava Walker

The Quiz

On that last note, let’s kick off the campaign with a short quiz.  It will also be available on Stinchcombe Social, along with other campaign posts.  You’ll find some of the answers in this article and we’ll publish them all on Saturday 25 th November.  

1. How many people die on UK roads every day?

a) 2

b) 3

c) 4

d) 5

2. Each year, how many fatal crashes involve someone driving too fast?

a) 1 in 3

b) 1 in 4

c) 1 in 5

d) 1 in 6

3. Which roads have the most speeding cars?

a) Urban (30 mph limit)

b) Motorway (70 mph limit)

c) Rural (60 mph limit)

4. What is the total stopping distance at 30 mph? (Average car length is 4 metres)

a) 9 m (2.25 car lengths)

b) 12 m (3 car lengths)

c) 18 m (4.5 car lengths)

d) 23 m (5.75 car lengths)

5. What is the total stopping distance at 20 mph? (Average car length is 4 metres)

a) 6 m (1.5 car length)

b) 9 m (2.25 car lengths)

c) 12 m (3 car lengths)

d) 15 m (3.75 car lengths)

6. How many times more likely is a crash at 30 mph likely to cause severe injury than a crash at

20 mph?

a) The same

b) Twice as likely

c) Three times as likely

7. How many drivers don’t know what distance to keep from a vehicle in front of them?

a) 37%

b) 53%

c) 71%

d) 90%