Plea for care with night driving (From Gazette Series)

Plea for care with night driving

THE AVON, Somerset and Gloucestershire Safety CameraPartnership has launched a campaign urging drivers to be careful when driving at night.

Advertisements bearing the slogan 'Don't have a fright and go bump in the night' will be featured on buses and radio stations, and are planned to coincide with Hallowe'en and the clocks going back.

The message is to remind drivers that dark driving conditions are dangerous and require us to adapt our driving accordingly.

Raines Walker, a spokesman for the Partnership said; "The chance of having an accident doubles at night, particularly late in the evening and in the early hours but drivers do not always treat darkness as a hazard

"Some even drive faster because there is less traffic but in a context of increased alcohol consumption, tiredness and reduced visibility, this makes for treacherous driving conditions. Respect for speed limits is just as important at night, if not more so".

Last November there were 66 injury accidents during the night, which equated to 36 percent of the month's total accidents, and 52 percent of those that were serious or fatal. The traffic flow for this same period was just percent of the overall volume.