Winter Safe Journey 2009
It’s that time of year again as the winter months fast approach, Northern Constabulary and Grampian Police have teamed up with Diageo to ensure drivers in the North East, Highlands and Islands are geared up, running the second winter safety awareness campaign across the two Force areas.
Commencing today and running until the end of January 2010, the ‘Winter Safe Journey’ campaign on Moray Firth Radio and Northsound will highlight the consequences of drink driving, tips to prepare your vehicle for winter as well as encouraging responsible driver behaviour.
In addition, to raise awareness through the on-air campaign, the AA will be providing free car safety checks at various Tesco retail outlets over the month of November. These will be available between 0900-1100 hours at the following locations:
- 07 Nov – Tesco, Inverness (on A96)
- 14 Nov – Tesco, Elgin
- 21 Nov – Tesco, Wick
- 28 Nov – Tesco, Danestone, Aberdeen
Moray Firth Radio street teams will be on hand at each of the events to distribute goody bags with free winter car products and safety advice.
Brian Higgs, Malt Distilling Director for Diageo, said: "The winter road safety campaign forms part of Diageo's ongoing commitment to encourage people to embrace a responsible attitude towards safe driving and being a safe road user."
"We are delighted to be offering our support and hope that during the weeks ahead we will see a reduction in the number of incidents on our roads, making them safer for other road users, pedestrians and cyclists and for the wider community as a whole."
Chief Inspector Ian Wallace, Head of Road Policing at Grampian Police, said: "This campaign is all about helping to reduce the number of casualties on our roads this winter, by encouraging drivers and riders to make small changes to their attitude and behaviour while on the road."
"With temperatures dropping and roads being frequently wet or damp, I would urge all motorists to take extra care over the next few months and to be mindful about how these factors can impact upon their own safety. Simple things such as adjusting your driving style and speed to match the prevailing conditions and ensuring your vehicle is ready for driving in winter conditions can help significantly towards creating a safer journey."
"Drivers should also remember the potential consequences of drink driving. Remember, the effects of drinking alcohol can often last into the following day, which can result in a driver being over the legal limit to drive."
"Officers will be deployed to deter and detect offenders during the 'Winter Safe Journey' campaign and we would encourage anyone to contact us with details of people they know are committing an offence."
Kenny Fraser of the AA commented: "We are happy to help with this campaign in raising awareness about the importance of ensuring your vehicle is up to the required standard to deal with adverse weather conditions which can particularly be a problem in the more remote areas of Grampian and the Highlands and Islands."
Northern Constabulary’s, Head of Road Policing, Inspector John Smith reinforced the message saying: "The campaign will be focussing on engaging with the individual driver and the decisions they make, which will have long term adverse consequences if they are detected driving under the influence of alcohol."
"A high number of drink drivers are reported to us from concerned members of the public but more notably a large number come through friends and family."
"I must again warn that a number of those people arrested will spend time locked up until the next available court date which could be three nights if a driver was detected on a Friday evening."
"We are once again happy to be linking in with Grampian Police and Diageo and the message from all of us is clear, don’t drink and drive."
Further information
Continental tyres has produced a series of videos, presented by British Touring Car Championship racer Fiona Leggate, covering the essentials of winter tyre safety including how to check tread depth, tyre pressure and damage.