Category Archives: Road safety

Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana gets driving ban for speeding on hard shoulder

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Footballer pleads guilty to one count of driving dangerously after his offence was caught on camera

A Chelsea footballer who was caught on camera speeding down the hard shoulder of a busy A road in his Lamborghini has been handed a lengthy driving ban.

Wesley Fofana, 24, pleaded guilty at North East Surrey magistrates court to one count of driving dangerously on 20 April along the A3 Esher bypass in Hook, Hampshire. The incident came to light after another motorist captured the footage on a dashcam and reported it to the police.

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Revenue from seatbelt fines spikes 1,400% in NSW as AI cameras peer into 140m cars

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Exclusive: Isabel was fined three times in one week in Sydney. ‘I was like, there’s been some kind of malfunction,’ she said

Isabel didn’t even realise she had broken the law until three fines turned up in her mailbox.

The fines – collectively worth more than $1,200 and nine demerit points – were all for seatbelt offences within the same week in Sydney while she helped a friend move house.

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Two women killed while trying to help injured kangaroo on Melbourne freeway

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Police say one 30-year-old died at the scene on the Hume Highway and the other, also 30, was airlifted to hospital but died soon afterwards

Two women have died after being hit by a car while trying to help an injured kangaroo on a busy freeway in Melbourne’s north.

The deaths have prompted warnings about the dangers of stopping to help wildlife.

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Safety and space at risk as SUVs reach 30% of car market in English cities, researchers warn

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Campaigners call for Paris-style parking charges amid fears big vehicles are taking up excessive public space

The number of giant cars in England’s cities has increased tenfold in recent years, according to researchers, who warn the vehicles are taking up excessive public space and posing a threat to public safety.

Analysis published by Clean Cities has found SUVs have gone from 3% to 30% of existing cars in the past two decades. In London, the number of SUVs has increased from about 80,000 in 2002 to about 800,000 in 2023.

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UK ministers urged to do more to protect new drivers in road safety overhaul

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Motoring groups welcome plan to ban over-70s who fail eye tests but call for young drivers to face passenger restrictions

Motoring groups have welcomed government plans to overhaul road safety laws that could result in over-70s being banned if they fail eyesight tests but have implored ministers to go further with measures they believe could protect younger drivers and their passengers.

Ministers are considering cutting the drink-drive limit in England and Wales and introducing mandatory eye tests for older drivers, the Times reported on Monday. The proposals also reportedly include tougher penalties for uninsured driving and failing to wear a seatbelt – but not measures to stop inexperienced drivers being responsible for the safety of groups of their friends.

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UK road safety push could see mandatory eye tests for older drivers

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Ministers also considering lowering drink-drive limit among measures to reduce road deaths and injuries

Older drivers could face mandatory eye tests and the drink-drive limit could be cut as the government tries to reduce the number of road deaths.

In a major overhaul of the UK’s road safety laws, ministers are also reportedly considering tougher penalties for uninsured drivers and failing to wear a seatbelt.

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Three teenagers killed in Queensland crash while attempting to overtake truck

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Two men and a woman, all aged 19, died at the scene in Mackay after a late night crash involving multiple vehicles

Three teenagers have died in Queensland after their car crashed into a dual-cab ute while attempting to overtake a truck.

Two 19-year-old men and a 19-year-old woman died at the scene in Mackay, more than 800km north of Brisbane, after a crash involving multiple vehicles late on Friday night.

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E-scooter injury toll revealed in study just ‘tip of the iceberg’ in Australia, doctors warn

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Data shows many children involved in e-scooter accidents speeding, not wearing helmets, and ‘doubling’ their friends

Every three days, a child injured on an e-scooter would come through the emergency department doors at the Sunshine Coast university hospital, according to Dr Matthew Clanfield.

Between 2023 and 2024, 176 children were treated at the Queensland hospital.

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Thousands of Ford Kuga hybrid drivers ‘left in limbo’ after fire risk warnings

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Carmaker reportedly has yet to announce plan for repairs after telling motorists not to charge their cars

Thousands of drivers have reportedly been left in limbo after warnings that their car could catch fire due to a battery defect.

Ford issued an urgent recall of its Kuga plug-in hybrid car in early March, warning drivers not to charge the battery because of a risk it might short-circuit while on the road. The problem could cause a loss of power or a fire, according to the recall notice. Four weeks later, the manufacturer has yet to announce a timescale for repairs and owners report that it is failing to respond to their requests for an update.

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E-scooters blamed for big jump in children caught in UK driving without insurance

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Hundreds of teenagers have been given an IN10 police endorsement since 2020, says road safety charity


Electric scooters have been blamed for a surge in the number of children being penalised for driving without insurance.

Since the start of 2020 almost 800 children aged between 13 and 16 have been given an IN10 endorsement – the code used by the police for “using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks” – according to data obtained by a road safety charity.

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Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface

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Researcher at Swansea University says tiny plant spores mixed into bitumen can extend surface lifespan by 30%

For all motorists, but perhaps the Ferrari-collecting rocker Rod Stewart in particular, it will be music to the ears: researchers have developed a road surface that heals when it cracks, preventing potholes without a need for human intervention.

The international team devised a self-healing bitumen that mends cracks as they form by fusing the asphalt back together. In laboratory tests, pieces of the material repaired small fractures within an hour of them first appearing.

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Lorry hits and kills policewoman working at North Yorkshire crash scene

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Constable Rosie Prior and a motorist were fatally struck by HGV that also hit a teenage boy, who was left with serious injuries, say police

A North Yorkshire policewoman has died after she was struck by a lorry while helping at the scene of another crash on the side of a highway.

Constable Rosie Prior was standing on the verge of the A19 at Bagby, near the village of Thirsk, on Saturday morning when she and two others were struck by an approaching heavy goods vehicle (HGV) just before 9am, authorities said.

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Anthony Albanese announces $7.2bn in funding for Queensland’s Bruce Highway in first major election promise

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Federal government to fund 80% of upgrades with state paying for 20%, despite previously vowing to split infrastructure projects 50-50

In the first major promise of the election year, Anthony Albanese has announced $7.2bn in funding for Queensland’s Bruce Highway.

The federal government will fund 80% of the upgrades, with the state funding 20%.

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Police ask public not to share images of man in fatal bus collision in Edinburgh

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‘Distressing’ images and videos were circulating after 74-year-old was struck by a single-decker in Cowgate area

Police have asked the public to stop sharing “distressing” images and videos after a man died in Edinburgh on Saturday evening.

The 74-year-old man was struck by a single-decker bus in the Cowgate area of the city, when the streets were busy with weekend revellers.

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The ‘active transport’ ideas from around the world that could make Australians healthier and our cities cleaner

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Policies such as cash payouts for bicycle commuters have knock-on effects including reduced pollution and better physical and mental health

It’s time for a major rethink of transport in Australia, experts say – and, while some new ideas may meet resistance, “these are not ideas from radical left Scandinavian pot-smoking greenies”, Prof Matt Burke says.

Policies lumped together as “active transport” include proposals to offer rebates for people who ditch their cars for public transport, or cash payouts for people who cycle to work.

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Monster pickup trucks accelerate into Europe as sales rise despite safety fears

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A Dodge Ram 1500 is bigger than a Panzer I tank and campaigners say heavy trucks are ‘lethal’ in collisions

The engines rev, the guitars thrum and a gruff narrator lays out why the vehicle occupying the driveway is more than just a machine. “A truck is a tool,” he says, “but a Ram – a Ram is life.”

So begins an advert for the Ram 1500, a pickup truck slightly bigger than the Panzer I tanks of Nazi Germany and almost as heavy. It is growing in popularity in Europe, with the number of Rams arriving on the continent up 20% in 2023 from the year before, according to registration data from the European Environment Agency. Road safety and environmental campaigners in the UK and Europe are aghast as the latest, most extreme cases of North American car bloat – giant pickup trucks – are increasingly crossing the Atlantic.

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Tesla Cybertruck ‘too big and sharp’ for European roads, say campaigners

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Questions raised about registration in Czech Republic of one of first models to reach continent

Tesla’s Cybertruck is too big and sharp for European roads, transport campaigners have warned, as questions are raised about the registration of one of the first of the electric pickup trucks to hit the continent.

There had been confusion about whether the Cybertruck could be driven in Europe, owing to strict road safety rules that ban sharp edges and require speed limiters on vehicles that weigh more than 3.5 tonnes when full. Tesla’s manual lists the angular steel vehicle as having a gross vehicle weight of 4 tonnes. (The equivalent of a standard family car, such as a Ford Focus, is 1.9 tonnes.)

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Four people taken to hospital as Northern Ireland school bus overturns

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Most of those hurt were well enough to be discharged at the scene, according to the ambulance service

Four people have been taken to hospital after a school bus carrying 43 school pupils and a driver overturned in a field in County Down on Monday.

Photographs on social media showed children in uniform walking from the blue doubledecker bus, which had a shattered windscreen.

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Pedestrian in his 60s dies after being hit by police vehicle in Nuneaton

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Warwickshire police officers were responding to an urgent incident on Friday evening when the collision occurred

A pedestrian in his 60s has died after being hit by a police vehicle, Warwickshire police have said.

Officers were responding to an emergency incident in Nuneaton when their vehicle collided with the man at about 8.45pm on Friday, the force said.

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