Safe summer driving

As the temperatures rise, so do the number of people who surge on to the uk’s roads. Follow these simple steps to make sure you keep your cool in the holiday season

A family day out is a treat for everyone, but with hot weather and traffic congestion, tempers can become frayed. The good news is that if drivers take a number of easy steps before and during their journey, they can make life easier for themselves. We at the Highways Agency are here to support them on every journey on our major roads and motorways.

The Highways Agency manages, maintains and improves England’s major roads and motorways and we are developing new information services to help drivers to plan their journeys and avoid the worst delays. Denise Plumpton, Director of Information, says: “As a customer-focused organisation, we’re doing everything possible to ensure the roads are safe and well maintained, particularly during periods of high traffic volume.

“As the Agency’s role is evolving, our thinking is evolving too. We have invested considerable time and energy in maintaining the network and making it safe. That will continue and now it’s time to focus more on drivers. Our goal is to put customers first. We are encouraging customers to plan ahead for their journeys. We are supporting customers by providing a range of travel information that is freely available and would be very useful to them. It’s our job to make sure our customers know exactly where to look to find this information.”

 

What do you do if you break down? There are four main things to remember: Hard shoulder – switch your hazard lights on, pull over on to the hard shoulder, as far away from moving traffic as possible Out – make sure that you and all of your passengers get out of the car by the door on the side away from the traffic Move – make sure that all of your passengers move well away from the carriageway and get behind a safety fence, if there is one Emergency – call for help from the emergency roadside telephone, rather than a mobile. This will connect you straight to a Highways Agency Regional Control Centre, where your location can be identified more easily. 999 is for emergencies only and not for breakdowns

 

Before you set off

We want to encourage better journey planning. We understand that there can be a lot to remember before setting off on a long journey: pet baskets, fishing rods, pushchair, maps, and snacks for the journey – the list is endless. Now we’re encouraging drivers to log on to our website or call our information line as part of their planning routine. The Highways Agency traffic information website is at www.highways.gov.uk/trafficinfo

We are using up-to-date technology and traffic management to ease congestion and you can be assured that our National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC), Regional Control Centre and traffic officer teams are working together, sharing and acting on many sources of information. Another key component in managing congestion is communicating with drivers. This is vital, particularly at busy times. We advise drivers to plan ahead for their journeys, and we support them by providing free traffic and travel information on our traffic website. This is all fed through in real-time from the Agency’s high-tech 24-hour NTCC in Birmingham.

Take a break

Don’t drive tired! It can happen to anyone. We advise drivers to take regular breaks from driving. Get out of your car and walk about at service stations and, if possible, share the driving with someone else. Families who stop for a comfort break can help themselves to more than a coffee by taking the opportunity to check the next stage of their journey. We have installed Highways Agency Information Points at 24 motorway service areas across England.

The information points are at Welcome Break Motorway Service Areas. For real-time traffic information, the Highways Agency 24-hour voice-activated telephone service is on 08700 660 115.

For real-time traffic information: 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Tel: 08700 660 115 Website: www.highways.gov.uk/trafficinfo (Calls from BT landlines to 0870 numbers will cost no more than 8p per minute; mobile calls usually cost more) For general H ighways A gency information: Tel: 08457 504030 E-mail: ha_info@highways.gov.uk (Calls from BT landlines to 0845 numbers will cost no more than 3p per minute; mobile calls usually cost more.) Or visit: www.metoffice.gov.uk www.direct.gov.uk/topics/motoringandtransport Teletex page 161 Ceefax page 43

Summer driving – helping you plan your journey

We have produced a pocket-sized guide, packed with information for drivers, including tips and contact details where drivers can get detailed, up-to-the-minute traffic and travel information, before setting out. You should have received a copy of this leaflet, called “Summer Driving”, with this copy of Childsafe magazine. The guide also gives an overview of major summer roadworks on the Agency’s network. Further copies of “Summer Driving” are available from the Highways Agency Information Line on 08457 50 40 30 or e-mail ha_info@highways.gsi.gov.uk. Please quote reference number HA61/06 when you call.

It’s raining!

As everyone knows, we experience very changeable weather conditions in England and when the weather is severe, it can create dangerous conditions on the road. Heavy, sometime torrential, downpours of rain, and sometimes hail, can make driving conditions treacherous in a matter of seconds.

Drivers are also advised to watch their speeds when the weather becomes wet or windy as some drivers underestimate how long it takes to stop in an emergency. Holiday pile-ups are usually a result of a combination of factors, but the main one is speed. It may sound odd, but slowing down can sometimes help you to get there more quickly!

We encourage drivers to tune in the local radio stations to try and keep tabs on the weather; it could help you to avoid the stop/start driving conditions associated with wet and slippery roads.

Show me the way to go home

Road signs are a vital way for the Agency to stay in touch with road users. Electronic signs are an important technical innovation, flashing messages to drivers as they are travelling from central communication points. Many signs are set automatically (for example, caution queues), based on the technology embedded in the road itself. Signs are also strategically-placed on the network to provide advance warning of accidents and, where possible, to give details of diversion routes. It’s important to read and act on electronic signs as they are there to help you as you drive.

Help from the Highways Agency

Appoint one of your passengers to listen to the traffic bulletins. With our national and regional control centres we are able to feed information to the media about accidents or delays, keeping drivers updated. The National Traffic Control Centre is the “hub” of traffic and travel information on the Agency’s road network. This two-way communication enables information to be relayed speedily to road users via the radio and motorway message signs.

You can miss the jams by checking real-time accurate information which is available on our website and phone service.

Traffic Officers If you are unfortunate enough to break down, Highways Agency traffic officers are now patrolling motorways in every region in England. Some 759 uniformed traffic officers are patrolling 1,928 km of motorway, supported by 224 control room staff. Traffic officer vehicles have flashing red and amber lights and they are responsible for clearing the carriageway and dealing with minor incidents.

So, if you are planning a journey this summer, remember: plan ahead, keep our numbers handy then slow down and enjoy the ride. The Highways Agency is here to help.

 

 

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