Driving and riding safely

There are many factors that can affect road safety and several things you can do to ensure you drive or ride more safely.

Speeding

Between 2006 and 2010 there were 2,021 casualties on Nottinghamshire’s roads involved in collisions where the vehicle they were in was travelling too fast for the road conditions or speeding. 51 percent were aged 16-to-29-years-old, including 25 fatalities.

The THINK! speed website contains facts and advice about speeding and the consequences.

Alcohol

Your driving is seriously affected when you've been drinking alcohol. This is because alcohol:

  • gives you a false sense of confidence
  • reduces co-ordination
  • slows down reactions
  • affects judgement of speed, distance and risk.

Your body works off alcohol at a rate of roughly one unit per hour regardless of what you eat or do, therefore time is the only way to get alcohol out of your system.

The THINK! drink driving website contains facts about drinking and driving and what the limits and penalties are. 

Mix up a mocktail

Make the perfect non-alcoholic cocktail - or mocktail - using our mocktail recipes:

Drugs

On 2 March 2015 the drug driving law changed. It is now an offence to drive with certain drugs above a specified level in your blood. This includes illegal drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and cannabis as well as some drugs available on prescription such as morphine or opiate based drugs e.g. codeine, diazepam, temazepam.

It is important that you let your doctor or pharmacist know you are a driver. You can take these drugs and still drive if:

  • you have been prescribed them by a healthcare professional
  • only take the prescribed levels
  • they are not causing you to be unfit to drive.

The THINK! drug driving website contains information on how drugs affect your driving ability and the penalties for drug driving.

Tiredness

Studies have shown that drivers don't fall asleep without warning. Drivers who fall asleep at the wheel have often tried to fight off drowsiness by opening a window or by turning up the radio. This doesn't work for long.

The THINK! road safety website contains advice on what you can do if you're feeling tired while driving.

Mobile phones

It is illegal to use a mobile phone while driving. Your attention will be distracted from the road and reaction times for drivers using a phone are around 50 percent slower than in normal driving.

The THINK! road safety website contains facts and information about using a mobile phone while driving, including the penalties if you are caught.

Seat belts

Always wear a seatbelt. In a crash you are twice as likely to die if you don't.

The law states that you must wear a seatbelt if one is available, unless you are exempt.

The THINK! road safety website contains facts, a crash simulator, the law on who should wear a seatbelt and when you may be exempt.

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