Good Egg Guide gathers momentum

Road Safety GB’s first national campaign, the Good Egg Guide to in-car child safety, is continuing to develop and expand as it moves towards its 6 September launch date.

The award-winning Good Egg initiative aims to  inform parents on how best to ensure that their children are kept safe inside the car –  raising awareness of the importance of correctly fitted child restraints and how best to choose and fit child car seats.

With more than 70 partners across the UK already participating and more planning to take advantage, the multi-agency partnership has already proved a great example of best practice in the road safety sector.

Alan Kennedy, chairman of Road Safety GB, said: “One of the biggest challenges facing road safety officers is the problem of effectively communicating the work we do in our local areas to the wider road safety community. This would allow us to learn from our colleagues and pool our best ideas.

“National campaigns co-ordinated by Road Safety GB, such as the Good Egg guide, not only allow us to benefit from the economies of scale, meaning we can all get more campaign for our budgets, but minimise waste and help road safety teams develop a strong, distinctive national voice.

“In-car child safety is an important road safety issue and it’s shocking that so many parents are unaware of how simple it is to protect their children. The Good Egg campaign aims to unite road safety teams across the UK in ensuring that parents are properly educated on how to restrain their children while travelling by car.”

The Good Egg campaign’s emphasis on partnership working and minimising waste fits with the new  government 's aspiration  to  increase efficiency and facilitate spending cuts while delivering a high-level of service - by  providing road safety teams with an affordable, high-quality, life-saving campaign. Road Safety GB believes it also provides a cost effective and impactful template for the future.

For more information contact Jan Deans at Dynamic Advertising on 0131 667 8833.

Older driver refresher courses benefit all, says IAM

The IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) has welcomed the 2010 RAC Report on Motoring which finds that 84% of drivers aged 70 or over acknowledge the value of a refresher driving course.
 
Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research, said: “With ever-growing numbers of older drivers looking to stay safe and maintain independence, it is encouraging to see that there is a high degree of support for refresher courses.
 
“Older drivers have most of their crashes on high speed roads, particularly on slip roads and at junctions and roundabouts. Updating their skills to deal with these hazards and helping them to stay mobile for as long as possible should be the key aim of refresher courses.  The IAM provides a Drive Check 55 refresher course which specifically address these issues.
 
Neil Greig concludes: “The IAM does not support compulsory retesting or medicals as we believe they will force many perfectly safe drivers to give up driving too early. This loss of mobility makes them a far greater financial burden on society and less able to access services and support. 
“GPs need more training and information to help them advise patients on giving up driving and refresher courses.”
 
For more information contact the IAM press office on 020 8996 9777.