Motorists across the UK are this week [21 – 27 November] being urged to improve their driving behaviour and take a Pledge as part of Road Safety Week.

Now in its 19th year Road Safety Week, which is organised by the charity Brake, is the biggest road safety initiative in the country and is supported by thousands of community groups, schools and campaigners.

As part of the initiative, Brake is calling on all road users to take action and make the Pledge to do six things to save lives on British roads. These include:

  • Driving slowly
  • Avoiding alcohol and drugs before getting behind the wheel
  • Ensuring all passengers wear their seatbelts
  • Avoiding distracting devices like mobile phones when driving
  • Booking regular eye tests
  • Only driving when necessary

According to the Department for Transport (DfT), 24,620 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions between June 2015 and June 2016, a 3% increase on the year prior.

Road Safety Week comes after World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims [Sunday 20 November], an annual event highlighting the impact of road traffic collisions which cause almost 4,000 deaths a day worldwide, according to RoadPeace.

David Robinson, specialist road traffic collision solicitor at Thompsons Solicitors, said: “Brake’s Pledge is a simple but vital set of guidelines that, if followed by all motorists, could result in a drastic reduction in the number of road collisions reported every year.

“Although awareness initiatives play a key role in improving road safety across the UK, they alone cannot make a big enough impact. We’ve long called upon the government take action and provide increased funding so that new and improved road safety measures can be implemented, but the rise in road traffic injuries and fatalities reported by the DfT earlier this year just goes to show that action is needed now more than ever.”