Driver Hire supports road safety event

Driver Hire has been raising awareness of Road Safety Week to try and reduce the number of road deaths in the UK.

Driver Hire has given its support to Road Safety Week to try and spread the message on how deaths and injuries on our roads can be reduced.

The annual awareness week, which is organised by road safety charity Brake and runs between the 19th and 25th of November, aims to make road users more aware of safety concerns on the road. Shockingly, around 1,700 people die on the roads every year and the charity are trying to get this figure down by making the public more aware of how they can stay safe.

This year’s event is called ‘Bikesmart’ and aims to make people think about how we can help our roads become a safer place for those travelling on two wheels. It urges drivers to slow down, be more aware at junctions and take better care when opening their car doors, amongst other things. Driver Hire has put its support behind the campaign and is encouraging all of its 100 franchisees to share the message with those around them.

Graham Duckworth, sales director of the business franchise, explained just how vulnerable those on two wheels are on our roads.

“Figures from Brake show that cyclists and motorcyclists are amongst the most vulnerable road-users and on average, a cyclist or motorcyclist is killed or seriously injured on British roads every hour. Compared to car drivers, they face a 63 times higher risk of injury or death.”

“Supporting worthy national campaigns is all part of the ongoing support we offer all our franchisees.” Graham Duckworth continues. “Driver Hire’s marketing team is assisting our franchised network with a toolkit of shareable resources which include an online news story, a Road Safety Week email template, as well as a plethora of Road Safety Week messages and visual posts which that can be shared via social media.”

National Account Manager for Driver Hire, Adele Turner, is a keen cyclist but was too apprehensive to brave the daunting rush hour traffic on her bike. However, after getting some helpful tips from two colleagues who regularly cycle to work, she decided to give it a go to experience what it’s really like in aid of Road Safety Week.

“I feel that there is a general lack of awareness of cyclists by other road users. Cars tend to get closer than they should; people park in cycle paths forcing you out into the main flow of heavy traffic,” said Turner. “On the Cycling Super Highway there were a number of occasions where motorists didn’t even look before pulling out and then seemed totally surprised to see us there! On the plus side, I did actually feel the benefit of the commute as I was definitely more energised and alert for the day ahead.”