Zebra Crossing 60 Years Old
The UK’s zebra crossings are 60 years old but, just like many animals, are under severe danger of extinction.
The original appeared in Slough, in the county of Berkshire, in 1951. However, well over one thousand have been taken away during the last 5yrs.
Others have been substituted by more innovative solutions with flashing lights and signs.
The sheer numbers of deaths on the crossings has increased by 100% since 2007, in part due to growing unwillingness of motorists to stop at crossings.
‘Zebras are regarded as far inferior to other pedestrian crossings since there is no red light indicating to cars when to stop,’ said a spokesman of road safety at the AA. ‘In some UK towns, there’s pressure from locals for councils to replace them with pelican crossings as local residents believe that they are more safe, so zebras are being replaced.
’The UK government introduced the crossings since the number of collisions with pedestrians on the streets was going up. The government upgraded crossings designated with metal studs on the street, that were found to be too difficult for people to see.
A multitude of different colours were considered, including blue and yellow and even red and white stripes. Finally black and white was eventually found to give the best visual effect. James Callaghan MP, who eventually became prime minister, was the first person to see the likeness to the zebra, and the rest as they say is history.
However, the sheer number of deaths was still high so the panda crossing, came into being in 1962.
A zebra crossing costs about £10,000, whilst traffic light crossings, that can be operated by the pedestrians, are about £35,000.
Five people died on zebra crossings last year, and 144 were injured, in comparison with only three deaths in 2006. One factor is the fact fines for drivers neglecting to come to a stop at the crossings are less in Britain than in other countries in mainland Europe. In Britain motorists face a £60 fee and three points, however the highest fee in Belgium could possibly be £2,000.
One of the most famous zebra crossings is situated at Abbey Road in London – which was used on the 1969 Beatles album of the same name.
Peter Skelton Driving School offers Driving Lessons in Newbury to the highest standards and at affordable rates.
Electric Driving
Mr Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, in a move towards an eco-friendly city, announced recently that he wants to have some 1,300 charge points for electric cars around London. He recently introduced bike rentals to London. Now Boris Johnson is trying to bring us around to a new way of thinking in London where driving is concerned. Cyclists and electric car drivers are definitely in vogue.
We will have to wait and see how this will work. The bike rental scheme runs at a loss, as does the buses and underground. It will also be interesting to see if most Londoners take up the challenge of buying an electric car especially if they want to visit family up North and the car runs out of power half way up the M1. Car insurance companies give deals to those with electric cars and comparing them to traditional petrol or diesel cars should give some indication of the opinion of eco-friendly motoring from the perspective of the motoring industries.
A large proportion of London’s pollution comes from motor vehicles. If the capital went green then we could see London becoming the most eco friendly City in the world. For those of you who are worried about global warming and depreciating natural resourses this is great news. In America, there are financial incentives for going electric, from rebates to tax credits and free parking and even free recharges.
However, the problem with electric is that you can’t get very far. If you drive more than 100 miles even the best and latest electric car may fail you. The Mayor of London may in fact only supply these charge points to inner London, so for those driving outside that area, running out of charge may be a real problem and may in fact leave drivers stranded randomly around London.
So if you are one of the millions who live in London and you’re thinking about switching vehicles, perhaps it’s best to go for a hybrid car first. You will get the moral boost from driving an eco-friendly car, but you are not likely to get stranded if you can’t find a charge point. If the whole city takes up Boris Johnsons offer then I fear that 1,300 charge points will not be enough.
Refresher Driving Lessons
On 2nd April The Telegraph published an article about driving refresher lessons. They highlighted 3 people that had taken them. The first person was a young man in his 20’s. The second was a woman in her 40’s. The third person was a one of my pupils! All of whom had lost confidence in their driving for various reasons. My pupils name is Patricia Jackman, she’s 77 years old, retired and drives a Peugeot 207 automatic. She took a course of refresher lessons with me in 2010. Below is a summary of the article.
“Having passed my driving test 1972 I drove in London for many years. Later on we moved to Cornwall where I continued driving. Driving in Cornwall was much easier than the busy roads of London. Then in 2005 myself and my husband, Norman, moved to Newbury in Berkshire. Newbury isn’t as busy as the roads in London but certainly a lot busier than the roads of Cornwall. Somehow I had lost my confidence to drive again on busier roads. I went for 5 years without driving. I relied on Norman to drive me everywhere.”
“In 2010 I made the decision to do something about my nervousness of driving as I wanted to be more independent. I decided to take the bull by the horns and booked a course of refresher lessons with Peter Skelton Driving School. The first lesson was nice and gentle to assess my driving and to get my confidence back. We drove around a few quiet, local country lanes. At the end of that lesson I asked Peter his honest opinion as to whether I was good enough and safe enough to drive on my own. Surprisingly he was very supportive. He said to me that my driving was actually very good. I went away feeling quite pleased with myself. I took two more driving refresher lessons after that. The lessons involved driving around Newbury town centre and on the busy A34. We also practiced driving to the local hospital, the local supermarket and practiced reverse parking in a bay.
“I am happy to be driving again. I would recommend anyone who has lost confidence in their driving ability to take some refresher lessons. My only wish is that I should have done it 5 years ago.”
Motorway Driving
The majority of accidents on motorways can be avoided very easily by adopting good driving practices. Congestion on the motorway suggests danger. Motorways are some of the roads in Britain. However if an accident does occur then it can be very serious due to the high speeds. All drivers on the motorway can do their bit to help avoid accidents:
- When joining the motorway use the acceleration lane to match the speed of the vehicles already driving on the motorway. If cars in the left hand lane are moving at 70 miles per hour then you should be aiming to do the same. This will allow you to join the flow of traffic without causing a disruption.
- Drive in the left lane unless you wish to overtake. Don’t be a “Middle Lane Cruiser” If there is no one in the left lane then you should drive in that lane. It only takes one person who hogs the middle lane and refuses to move back to the left lane to cause the traffic to slow. Especially if that vehicle is traveling slower than everybody else. Very often the driver is oblivious to the problems they are causing.
- Every time the vehicle in front passes a fixed point say to yourself “Only A Fool Breaks The 2 Second Rule”. Tail gating causes a great number of accidents. You may feel that you all the fancy gizmos in your car but one thing that hasn’t changed for thousands of years is human reaction time. So keep your distance. In the wet double that time and snow or ice 10 times longer.
- Drive at a steady speed. Try to avoid fast acceleration then sudden braking. This can cause a chain reaction behind you where all the other cars follow suit and brake as well. This can cause the whole motorway to come to a standstill eventually. Not only that, driving at a steady speed will save you fuel.
- If you need to change lanes check your mirrors and have a side ways glance too before signaling. When you do change lanes do so slowly and keep glancing in your mirrors as you do so. It’s easy to miss something in other lanes. Especially if you’re moving from the left lane to the middle, a car from the right lane may also be moving to the middle lane from your blind spot area. By changing lanes slowly and always giving a signal, then at least you give the other driver a chance to react if you have missed something.
- Don’t sit alongside lorries for a long period of time. You don’t want to end up in their blind spots and find that they pull out on you. This is especially true of foreign lorries which may be left hand drive. Also high winds can easily blow a lorry of course into other lanes.
- If you see traffic ahead coming to a crawl or a standstill, it’s best to gently brake in plenty of time. That way not only does it make it easier for you to stop but your brake lights act a signal to other drivers to start braking in plenty of time. Doing so can prevent a pile up. Another thing to do is to put your hazard lights on as you slow to act as a warning.
- When you leave the motorway try avoid braking until you are well on the slip road. That way you will avoid causing the traffic behind, you still on the motorway, to slow down.
- You can often second guess what another driver is going to do next. If you see them gaining fast on another vehicle ahead of them they will probably change lanes. So that maybe the time not to carry out any manoeuvre yourself.
- If you see other drivers drifting or changing lanes with signaling that may be because they are on their mobile phone. Even though it is illegal to do so there is still a large number of drivers who talk on their mobile phones whilst driving. Give them a wide berth. If they are in the left lane and you need to over take them do so in the right lane to give them an even wider berth.
What’s In A Name
A few months ago I decided to try a little experiment with the business name. I changed it from “Peter Skelton Driving School” to “Newbury Driving School”. I thought maybe that the new name would make the driving school sound Bigger!!!! I also thought that the Bigger new name would therefore attract more pupils. Then one day, not so long ago it dawned on me that Bigger is not always the best. In the world of driving schools smaller is definitely better. The reason is this. Pupils tend to trust a smaller and more local driving schools rather than one of the larger, faceless companies. Pupils are more likely to recommend you if you are a small company. When I was a franchised instructor at BSM a number of years ago I must admit I did get recommendations. However because I worked hard it was BSM that my pupils recommended not necessarily me. So sometimes those recommendations went to other BSM instructors and not me
Anyway to cut a long story short, I felt that going back to using my original name would prove more successful. I have spent 7 years building up my reputation as an instructor. I get a lot of searches on google where people have searched for my name and not gone straight to my website. Thankfully there is only 1 Peter Skelton Driving School in Newbury. Pupils will know straight away when they reach my website that they have the right person. So 7 years on from 1st becoming an instructor it still thrills me when a pupil passes their driving test. It makes all the hard work worth it in the end
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Newbury Driving School
Driving can be very difficult at times and potentially very dangerous. Below are some great tips to develop good driving habits that will help you to stay safe on the streets.
1. Car Maintenance
Routine car maintenance will not only prolong the life of your car but also may save your life. It can make your vehicle safer by routinely checking tyre pressures and tread depths etc. You may get your car serviced every 6 months or so. However you should still make time for some routine checks. Apart from tyre pressures you should also test the brakes at least once a week.
2. Bad Weather
It’s a shame that when the weather is at its worse driving tests do not take place. It’s also the time when some pupils and even driving schools avoid driving lessons. At times admittedly weather conditions can be too dangerous even for the most experienced driver. But don’t be afraid to take a lesson or 2 with an experienced driving instructor in adverse conditions. Those skills may save your life one day.
3. Defensive Driving
Accidents can be down to a number of things. However aggressive driving does play it’s role. Aggressive driving isn’t just the sort of things we see on “Road Wars” it can also include speeding, disregard for the highway code, safe separation distance, and of course road rage. Defensive driving isn’t there to try to make you look boring in front of your mates. It could one day save your life. Don’t speed, keep a good safe distance from cars around you, and avoid any form of conflict with the other road users. Defensive driving can cut the number of accidents on the roads.
4. Please Belt Up
Putting a seat belt on is something that thankfully we do almost instinctively. We’re told from a young age to “belt up” However, it’s also easy to be last with this one. Especially a short journey like popping down to the shops. Wearing a seatbelt won’t necessarily stop you from getting in an accident. However it can help prevent serious injury. It’s easy for a group of young lads in a car to try to look cool in front of their mates by not wearing a seat belt. There’s nothing cool about killing yourself or seeing one of your mates killed in an accident.
5. Concentrate
Concentrate!!! Often a pupil on a driving lesson can drift on the road resulting in me grabbing the steering wheel. When I ask them they sometimes say “Oh I was watching that bloke walking his dog”!!! It only takes potentially less than 1 seconds lapse in concentration for something to go wrong. Therefore don’t let other things distract you from your driving. Don’t talk or text on the phone. Even your fellow passengers could distract you. You need to be big enough to say to them to quieten down if you feel your concentration slipping.