GTA V inspired road safety infographic focuses on UK statistics

GTA V inspired road safety infographic focuses on UK statistics

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

Grand Theft Auto, the incredibly popular and successful video game is definitely not known for promoting road safety. In fact, the game centers on stealing cars and driving them at high speeds around cities often ending in wrecks and fatalities. However, RED Driving School in the UK have capitalized on the recent launch of the smash hit game GTA V to release a road safety inspired infographic using the GTA comic book design.

You can download the infographic here.

Grand Theft Auto is hugely successful game franchise but its also the official name of quite a serious crime. That aside, we know its pretty clear that GTA doesn’t promote road safety but is rather a move away into a ‘virtual world’ of recklessness and entertainment with a riveting storyline. However, RED Driving School in the UK have capitalized on the fresh release of GTA V to publish an infographic in the same, comic book graphic design and depict the serious threat facing young drivers on the ‘real’ roads. 

While games remain an escape into the virtual, it must be stressed that the real life is quite different and we as young people aren’t the heroes of GTA V.

See below, RED Driving School’s GTA-inspired road safety graphic, put together based on a research report around the most common road risks for younger drivers.

The report pulled in data from the UK and the US relating to some of the more common accidents and fatalities experienced by Younger drivers, as well as surrounding information, on topics such as insurance and new driving tech. Here at RED we also ran a couple of surveys related to car insurance and attitudes to drink driving for younger drivers.

The full list of findings is available upon request to interested parties, and a RED spokesperson can also be made available for comment on any data which is mentioned within the graphic.

What do you think? Do games promote reckless road behaviour or are they are good opportunity to drive in a virtual world where consquences do not exist? Join the debate!

World First Aid Day celebrates ‘First aid and road safety’ with action

World First Aid Day celebrates ‘First aid and road safety’ with action

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

The World First Aid Day has been celebrated annually all around the globe for 13 years. The day acts as an chance to celebrate first aid and raise awareness about how important it is understand basic first aid which can save millions of lives the world over. This year, the World First Aid Day theme was ‘first aid and road safety’ acknowledging the huge safety issues surrounding the road.

Read the original story at the Internation Red Cross Red Crescent wesbite here 

World First Aid Day, which was introduced by the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in 2000, is an opportunity to raise awareness about a life saving act. This year on World First Aid Day, the theme is ‘First aid and road safety’.

Road traffic accidents have become a major global killer. Today, there is one road fatality every 30 seconds and more than 50 per cent of deaths from traffic accidents occur in the first few minutes after the crash. Yet much of this loss of life is preventable. First aid training educates citizens on accident and injury prevention, and gives them the skills to respond immediately to both major or minor emergencies.

This year the Red Cross Red Crescent is asking for legislative provisions to make first aid training compulsory for every driving licence candidate. It is also essential to introduce first aid training at all stages of a person’s life – at home, in school, at the workplace. First aid training should be accessible to everyone, not just to those who can afford it.


First aid saves lives. It is for everyone, everywhere.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescenet share some key examples of road safety in action around the world during the day from countries that implemented road safety action. 

Last September, the Slovak Red Cross first-aid team took part in a successful training course in the neighbouring Czech Republic. Organized by the Czech Red Cross youth, it aimed to improve practical and theoretical first-aid skills.

Throughout the weekend, participants had the opportunity to experience a range of realistic situations, both indoors and outdoors. One particularly challenging evening focused on how to handle injuries that could result from a road traffic accident. The weekend ended well, and with their training still fresh in their minds, the team headed back home along the motorway. They did not know, however, that their training would be put to good use so soon. 

Good morning, Tanzania! On your dial today, a little music, some chit chat, and how to save a life! For listeners more accustomed to the latest tunes, Radio Victory’s Usalama Wetu programme – Kiswahili for “Our Safety” – might not be quite what they had expected with their breakfast.

The programme, broadcast in conjunction with the Tanzania Red Cross National Society, is proving to be a vital component in the battle to tackle road accidents and prevent deaths in the northern Tanzanian region of Mara.  

Every year, nearly 100 people are killed on the region’s roads. The radio show, which is broadcast to thousands of people in northern Tanzania, is part of the urgent action being taken to solve the problem. With hard-hitting messages such as ‘driving + phone = death’, the charismatic host talks passionately about the need to follow the rules of the road with his guests Ngodoki Chupa, the Red Cross branch manager of Mara, and two local policemen. 

Read more stories at the IFRC’s Website.

NOYS Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit to kick off

NOYS Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit to kick off

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

The 4th Annual NOYS Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit will kick off tomorrow (18th September 2013) with more than 150 youth and adults from across the country meeting for impactful presentation, interactive training activities and creative ways to fight distracted driving amongst young people. The event is taking place in Washington DC, USA and takes place over three days.

The Summit, sponsored by AT&T and State Farm®, will provide teens an opportunity to hear from distracted driving crash victims and national transportation officials, and meet with exhibitors who will showcase products and information using the latest technology to improve traffic safety and eliminate distracted driving. At the conclusion of the Summit, the teens will use what they learned to create initiatives to prevent distracted driving in their hometowns.

Read about distracted driving in the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit

Traffic crashes are the leading killer of teens. Teens overwhelming use of cell phones coupled with their driving inexperience makes for a deadly combination. In fact, drivers under the age of 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,331 people were killed in vehicle crashes in 2011 involving a distracted driver, up from 3,267 fatalities in 2010. That same year, an additional 387,000 people were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver.

A recent Centers for Disease Control study showed that nearly half of all U.S. high school students aged 16 years or older admitted to sending a text or email while driving.

Our CORE Group Representative for North America – Ms Emily Reynolds will be attending the event in her work with NOYS. She told us,

“Attendees have an opportunity to attend, exhibit, host workshops and network with hundreds of industry leaders that are working to address distracted driving on the local, state, and national levels. Be a part of this nationwide effort to work with youth to support distracted driving prevention efforts and help save the lives of youth on the roads! 

Youth teams will be selected from around the country through an application process to attend the 2013 Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit and lead year-long efforts in their community.  After the Summit, they will develop, implement, and support distracted driving prevention efforts in their local communities and host a Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit in their state”.

Breakdown of the event includes:

  • Wednesday September 18th: Travel day and evening youth meet and greet (evening youth activities will be youth only)
  • Thursday September 19th: Youth training and AT&T National Day of Action event (youth training will be youth only; All are welcome to attend the AT&T National Day of Action)
  • Friday September 20th: Teen Distracted Driving Summit (speakers, exhibitors and activities, All are welcome to attend)
Brian’s Column: Hold my hand – a road safety method in Africa

Brian’s Column: Hold my hand – a road safety method in Africa

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

Brian is back with a new column on all things road safety in Africa. Today he talks about the focus of the recent African Road Safety Conference, the promotion of ‘hand holding’ for the safety of pedestrians. The ‘walking bus’ is a concept being adopted around the world with school children to promote walking, safety and community. Read about it here!

Hello superstars, did you miss me? September is already here and it’s time to adjust into a new gear, fresh and reloaded! What new ideas and creativity have you decided to get married to in order for you, your family, and friends to stay safe? Did you know that Apple is launching another smart phone this time I-phone 5s? I am very afraid friends. It seems to me good things just started to pop in. But wait, we can only enjoy all these, if only we stay alive!

If you haven’t been following, youths in South Africa under the Bakwena Safe Roads 4 Youth project in Nelspruit, they are making inroads through Soul sessions around the local taverns. The objective is to encourage people about responsible drinking.

Bakwena Safe Roads 4 Youth project Trainers of Trainers Workshop in South Africa

Bakwena and Drive Alive initiated a project where Grade 10 Learners from Dinokana, Lehurutse, Zeerust, Bapong and Majakaneng attend a 3-day drama workshop. They use their skills, and information gathered from the Alcohol and Road Safety Manual developed by SADD (South Africans Against Drunk Driving) to write and perform a drama. You can imagine, Elna Van Niekerk ,Caro Smit and Njabulo Mnguni have been, and still are busy! Much love for the guidance to those youngsters.

In case you dint know, The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) in collaboration with the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Programme (SSATP) organized a seminar to address the road safety management in African cities. The seminar “Moving People Safely in Cities” took place from 4th to 5th September, 2013, at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Where else would it have been! Did I tell you, I have some origins there? LOL

Read a YOURS Spotlight on GRSP South Africa

Top on the agenda was how young people as drivers, and pedestrians could contribute to observing safety in towns: Upon which I introduce to you: Hand Holding!

Ok, calm down every body, when I talk about ‘Hand Holding’, young people’s minds will hover to holding hands with someone who you love, or let’s say, someone you have a thing for? Correct me if you are wrong. But have you correctly observed that, if you have been driving before, that its easier for you as a driver to control your speed when you see a group of pedestrians intending to cross the road? That’s correct: its backed by evidence too. Holding hands will ensure that there is a coordinated movement of the pedestrians who are crossing the road. This is actually what gave birth to the famous ‘Zebra Crossing’. The Zebras never move backwards for when it is set to move forward, that is what it will do.

Hand Holding has been modified in different places all over the continent into a Walking School Bus: which is a school bus powered not by an engine but by legs. Children don’t sit inside this ‘bus’ – they walk in a group to school, with an adult ‘driver’ in the front and an adult ‘conductor’ at the rear. The walkers are the bus.

The Walking Bus in South Africa which has also been promoted in Europe.

Considering that September presents a break from school for many schools in the continent, we as young people find that we have some free time, and that’s when we need to go and catch a movie, catch up with friends from the other boarding schools or even taking a walk! There is a higher chance that you will cross a road more times than normal. If you are going to cross with a friend, you will need to hold their hands, well, who wouldn’t want to?

In the ‘Impact of hand holding on the road safety behavior of children’ Amber Keefe found a very strong relationship between hand holding and road safety behavior as it

  • Strengthened the Connection between the child and their parents who held their hands while preparing to cross the road.
  • Calmed a Child’s Stress: (Your own or a friends stress in this case)
  • Showed One ‘Understood’: How about this one? There are many of us who really would want to experience this! (winks)
  • Kept a Child Safe: Because there is always a chance that you will be absent minded while on the road, possibly checking your status on Facebook or tweeting me about a certain road safety event! Haha (Don’t tweet and walk or drive!)

So, there we go, who doesn’t want to ‘Hold My Hand?’ It could be your and my savior! You wanna play that Akon fet Michael Jacksons ‘Hold My Hand’ or what? Watch out when you intend to cross the road!

Ps. September 14th is World First Aid Day, and the theme is ‘First Aid & Road Safety’, What will you be doing? Until next time, #STAYSAFE

ITV Fixers UK – youth talking to power about road safety

ITV Fixers UK – youth talking to power about road safety

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

‘Young people using their own experience to fix their future’ is the tagline of this innovative media based campaigning platform called, Fixers.  Fixers is a movement of young people tackling issues they feel strongly about to make a difference to others in the UK. As an issue that cropped up time and again, road safety was the feature topic last week at a special ‘Fixer Nation’ event called Road Savvy, where a group of young people passionate about road safety came together to decide the key issues affecting them. They then presented them to the UK Transport Minister and a host of decision makers.

With statistics showing that road traffic crashes are the number one killer of young people in the UK, Fixers are gearing up to take action on road safety. To have their voices heard, they were invited to attend the ‘Fixers Road Savvy Forum’ in London on Wednesday 4th September 2013.

The event brought together Fixers, politicians, road safety experts and emergency service representatives to discuss the biggest road safety issues facing the country today. The brainstorming of these issues comes at a point where the government are formulating their green paper (a government report on suggestions for new laws). As the biggest public health issue affecting young people in the UK, the ‘Fixers’ had the opportunity to identify the top issues in road safety for young people in a morning consultation session with nearly 20 young people.

In the morning session a group of young people brainstormed key issues affecting youth in terms of road safety in the UK.

In an afternoon session, the Fixers reported back in a special panel style conversation between the young people and decision makers, one of whom was the UK Minister for Transport, Mr Stephen Hammond.

On the panel, our very own Manpreet Darroch, road safety campaigner in the UK and staff member of YOURS was part of the consultation process and reported back suggestions of the morning session to the Minister.

He said, ‘This event was a brilliant example of youth advocacy. Young people were given a chance to talk about road safety as a serious issue that affects them and their peers and the fact that we were able to talk directly to power, that being the people who will shape road safety measures in the future, was a unique opportunity and I congratulate Fixers for organizing it and giving young people a voice. What happens next is a key part of the advocacy process, politicians and decision makers need to show that they have listened and taken our suggestions seriously if they really want to save young lives on our UK roads’.  

The panel discussion included victims of road traffic crashes and young people who had lost loved ones. It also included YOURS network coordinator Manpreet Darroch and was compared by TV personality and journalist Nina Hossain.

Key conclusions from the event will be presented to the Department for Transport in a ‘Fixers Green Paper’ as a contribution to the Government’s forthcoming Road Safety Green Paper and details of the suggestions will be shared on the YOURS paper too.

For the next few weeks, YOURS will be featuring some of the inspiring road safety stories of Fixers from the UK on our website including their media documentaries that have been featured on British national media. This will serve as a case example of how road safety is being tackled, in a creative approach, across the UK. Stay tuned! Find out more about Fixers in the right column!

The science of distracted driving and why it’s just so dangerous

The science of distracted driving and why it’s just so dangerous

by | Dec 8, 2023 | News & Blog

A new article from Science Daily explains that talking while driving poses dangers that people seem unable to see. As a major contributor to road crashes worldwide, this epidemic is incredibly dangerous for a number of reasons. They are explored in science based study in the United States proposing ideas such as ‘tunnel vision’ and inattention blindness.

The original source for this story can be found at Science News.

“Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel.”

The late rock and roll singer Jim Morrison was not a poster boy for public safety — and was no authority on safe driving. After all, later in “Roadhouse Blues,” he has beer for breakfast. But the opening line of that Doors’ song still resonates as sound guidance.

If only such good advice could stand the test of time. “Roadhouse Blues” hit the airwaves in 1970, long before the unlikely marriage of driving and talking on a cell phone. Millions of people now routinely conduct remote conversations while driving, despite research showing that it’s dangerous — even with two eyes on the road and both hands upon the wheel.

A meme of Jim Morrison from the lyrics of Road House Blues a song that was release years before distracted driving was considered a serious problem.

It turns out that hands don’t matter. It’s the conversation that can be lethal. Cell phone conversations impede what a driver sees and processes, a number of studies have shown. That, in turn, slows reactions and other faculties. This distracted state should be familiar to everyone. “That’s why you can drive home and not remember having driven home,” says Daniel Simons, a psychologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Just because you look at something doesn’t mean you see it.”

Braking badly
Undergraduate students in a driving simulator are slower to brake when given auditory tasks via a hands-free cell phone while driving (dual task) compared with just driving (single task).

Simons has shown that people assigned to observe certain activities in a lab setting can totally miss other events occurring in the very same space. The on-road versions of such blind spots show up when drivers engaged in a cell phone conversation fail to look at side streets or watch for pedestrians. This distraction may seem subtle and even fleeting, but it takes a toll: The risk of an accident quadruples when the driver is on the phone, studies have suggested.

Texting, talking and the use of tech while driving are serious incidents of distracted driving.

Research into driving behavior has produced a three-way disconnect between scientists who study it, legislators who regulate it and drivers who talk on the phone. Majorities of all groups acknowledge that texting while driving is risky (see sidebar). Fewer accept that chatting on a hand-held cell phone while behind the wheel is dangerous. And most drivers and state legislators don’t worry at all about hands-free calls.

As a result, the science of distracted driving has run well ahead of policy. Not a single U.S. state bans hands-free cell phone talking for most adult drivers. Some states limit hand-held cell phone use, but many others apply bans to only bus drivers or novices. Three states have no restrictions whatsoever on calling or even texting while driving.

Public views are also out of sync with the scientific findings, in part because it’s easy and usually harmless to drive while distracted. And many people assume that they can successfully perform multiple tasks simultaneously. But researchers are challenging that assumption. David Strayer, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, has found that such supertaskers do exist, but comprise only 2.5 percent of people tested. As for the other 97.5 percent, he says, “I suspect they are kind of kidding themselves.”

TUNNEL VISION : Eye-tracking equipment reveals the broad coverage of drivers’ gazes without distraction (top). Doing an auditory task requiring a live conversation with an experimenter in the car (middle) or over a cell phone (bottom) limits the extent of drivers’ attentiveness.

Data began showing up in the 1990s suggesting that cell phones and driving are a poor mix. In 1997, researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto combed through nearly 27,000 cell phone calls during a 14-month period made by hundreds of drivers who had been in crashes. The average risk of getting into a collision was four times as great when people were on the phone than when they weren’t. Phones with a hands-free option offered no advantage, the researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The problem isn’t confined to North America. Scientists in Perth, Australia, checked on people who owned cell phones and who wound up in emergency rooms after car crashes. The researchers compared the likelihood of being on the cell phone before the crash with cell phone use during an uneventful drive at the same time of day one week earlier. The patients were four times as likely to have been on the phone during the smashup, the researchers reported in 2005 in BMJ.

Read about distracted driving in the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit

Such observational studies don’t establish cause and effect. So scientists at Complutense University of Madrid actually got into cars with volunteer drivers and distracted them. The researchers had drivers make phone calls using hands-free phones that needed only the push of a button to work. Special vision-tracking devices showed that conversations requiring extra thought or concentration diminished drivers’ extent of visual scanning, speed control, detection of warning flashers and decision-making ability. That study, which appeared in Transportation Research Part F in 2002, still stands as one of the clearest examples of what it means not to give full attention to the road.

Read the full article here.