The SafeSpeed Campaign lives on

Following the sad, sudden loss of SafeSpeed campaigner, Paul Smith, I should like to let all readers know that Paul’s partner of 24 years, Claire, has vowed to continue the campaign and so I would urge all interested in seeing a return to, in Paul’s words, “sensible road safety policies”, to join the campaign at: http://www.safespeed.org.uk

The following is contained in the latest SafeSpeed newsletter and I thought it appropriate to include here:

And in parting Paul recently created the 100 word Highway Code :
With every edition the Highway Code gets bigger. The latest edition recently published, has swelled to 133 pages. The Safe Speed campaign says that this ‘bloat’ is causing the
essential safety messages to get lost and has produced their own version of the Highway Code in just 100 words.

Safe Speed’s Highway Code in exactly 100 words:
================================================
Drive on the left.
Make sure you can see and be seen.
Keep a constant look out all around.
Be aware of signs and regulations and why they are there.
Be predictable.

Recognise and anticipate danger and keep clear space from it.
Always ensure that you can stop within the distance that you know is clear.
Develop your skills.

Give courtesy, co-operation and space to others. Don’t obstruct them.

Never take risks, drive unfit or compete with others.

Safety is paramount and far more important than priority.
Take personal responsibility for your safety and the safety of those nearby.

Enjoy.
==================================================

Safe Speed founder Paul Smith explained: “We’re not seriously suggesting that
the official Highway Code should be replaced with just 100 words of advice to
drivers, but the reason we have done this is deadly serious. We need to point
out to Department for Transport that they have lost sight of the essential
foundations of road safety, and their new Highway Code further loses sight of
these foundations in a morass of rules.”

“You cannot replace skilled human judgement with a rule book - however big it is
- but that’s exactly what Department for Transport is trying to do.”

“Our Highway Code even includes things that the official version does not. For
a start it reminds people that road use can be enjoyable. Without that
enjoyment we wouldn’t have the interest to develop the skills that safe use of
the roads requires.”

“Another problem is that the Highway Code tells us what to do, but not how to
decide when it is safe. We need to recognise danger and develop our skills for
that.”

“We hope that these founding principles will help road users everywhere - not
just drivers - to focus on what’s important and stay out of trouble.”

“Some of the statements may not be immediately obvious to inexperienced road
users, but all the common crash causes are covered. When we get it right we
don’t crash - but in order to get it right we need the right beliefs, the right
skills and the right attitude. When things go wrong - think back to your last
incident - and you’ll probably be able to recognise the cause of the incident
in those 100 words. Did you fail to spot the danger? Did you take a risk
knowingly? Were you unfit through tiredness, drink or drugs?”

“Use this code, learn from your mistakes and use the roads as safely as you
possibly can. It’s enjoyable to do so.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 6:06 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.