Council’s new speeding campaign asks ‘are you a Healthy Driver’?

A new road safety campaign launched yesterday (Monday 20 November) by Transport for Buckinghamshire asks motorists ‘are you a Healthy Driver’?

The campaign coincides with Brake’s annual Road Safety Week and will be marked with a Healthy Driver event at Chesham Library next Monday, 27November, attended by Mark Shaw, Buckinghamshire County CouncilDeputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport.

The Healthy Driver campaign, which has online and offline elements, draws likenesses between speeding and other behaviours that are bad for your health, such as smoking, too much sugar, and binge drinking.

In the past 10 years (up to December 2016) 2,466 people have been injured on Buckinghamshire roads as a result of collisions where the driver was either exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for the conditions.

Mark explained his personal connection to the new campaign:

“Road safety is very important to me, personally. I sustained life changing injuries from a collision almost 20 years ago when a speeding driver hit my stationary car from behind, as I waited at traffic lights.

“The impact was enough to leave me with injuries requiring major surgery and at only 32 I found myself with two replacement hips. This has had an ongoing impact on my health and I have had to make changes to my lifestyle since that day.

“I’m happy to support any campaign which brings home the very real consequences of not driving at an appropriate speed, within the speed limit.”

Mark will be part of Monday’s drop-in event at Chesham Library from 1pmto3pm, along with road safety professionals from the County Council and Thames Valley Police to showcase the campaign.

If you are concerned about speed in your area, drop in to the event to find out how you can run a Healthy Driver campaign near you, or visit www.bucks.gov.uk/speeding to find out more.