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ROAD ACCIDENTS
CAUSED BY 'SUN-DAZZLE' JUMP UP BY 12%
ACCORDING to newly
published data concerning road traffic accidents in the UK, there
has been a 12% increase in accidents resulting from dazzling sun
affecting motorists' vision (2012 versus 2011).
Figures taken from The Department for Transport's Reported Road
Casualties in Great Britain: 2012 Annual Report reveal that the
dazzling sun accounted for 2,905 accidents in 2012, compared to
2,592 in 2011. The report highlights that 41% of all sun-dazzle
accidents last year were on A-roads, compared to 1.7% on motorways.
Prestone, a leading manufacturer of quality screen wash, has
identified that the increase in accident rates attributable to
dazzling sun is consistent with weather data from the MET Office,
which indicates that there were 277 hours of autumn sunshine in 2011
versus almost 293 hours for the same period in 2012.
The risk of dazzling sun is particularly high during October, as
sunset occurs earlier and increasingly coincides with rush-hour
traffic. The sun's low position in the sky, combined with damper
road surface conditions, poses a considerable problem for commuters. Prestone highlights that dirty, greasy or scratched windscreens
reduce visibility and compound the problem, particularly during the
autumn.
The figures reinforce the importance to motorists of using the
highest quality screen wash to keep windscreens clear for maximum
visibility. Juliette Mullineux, Prestone Brand Manager, explains:-
"During autumn motorists are likely to find their vision
affected by a range of external factors like low dazzling sun, rain,
road spray and traffic grime. It's often not apparent just how dirty
a windscreen is until the rising or setting sun hits it at a low
angle, so it's vital that motorists prepare their car by using a
good quality screen wash to maintain a clear view of the road.
Motorists often forget that driving without screen wash is illegal
and carries a penalty of 3 points and a hefty fine."
Weather-related conditions, such as rain, sleet, snow and fog were
the second highest contributory factor, according to the new
figures, accounting for 2,448 accidents in 2012. Headlight glare,
spray from other vehicles and dirty, scratched or frosted
windscreens were a factor in a further 814 accidents.
Award-winning Prestone Screen Wash effectively removes frost and
light ice, cleans traffic dirt and reduces dangerous re-freeze.
In-built 'Rain Guard' technology helps to repel rain and road
spray, while the Bug Wash constituent effectively removes stubborn
insect deposits, tree sap and bird droppings. With a freeze
protection formula that works down to minus 23°C, Prestone Screen
Wash is also extremely unlikely to freeze in washer fluid
reservoirs, ensuring that motorists can keep their windscreen clear
all winter.
Prestone Screen Wash is available from Tesco, Wilkinson, Homebase,
ASDA and leading car accessory stores. For more information on
Prestone Screen Wash, retailer locations or other Prestone products,
please call:- 0161 866 4800.
Green Party to "auction" students in
protest against the privatisation of student loans book
MEMBERS of the Green Party
will be "auctioning" students in protest against
government plans to privatise the student loans book.
The Party argues that this decision by the government could plunge
students into unmanageable debt as there will be no safeguards
preventing a private owner of the loans from more than doubling the
interest rates currently being paid.
Benali Hamdache, co-Coordinator of the London Green Party and one of
the organisers of the event said:- "Can you put a price on
student's future? This government certainly thinks so. Thousands of
students; whether currently at university or now graduated; have
relied on student loans to help them pay for their education and
help them build their future. This government, which is hell-bent on
squeezing ever last penny out its public, is now quite happy to whip
that support out from under students' feet and leave them with
unmanageable debts and rocketing repayments. It's unbelievably
cruel. We've organised the auction to highlight what these plans
mean for past, present and future students; that the government is
selling-off their prospects to the highest bidder. We encourage
anyone who is angered by the government's heartless proposals to
join us in our protest on Friday, 18 October 2013."
The Party argues that in addition to be being callous the
government's move is also pointless. The sell-off of £900m worth of
loans accrued between 1992-2012 is expected to make only a fraction
of that amount when sold and the government is being forced to offer
sweeteners to encourage companies to bid.
The Student Loans Company was set up in 1990 as a means for the
government to support students through university. The privatisation
of the student loans book was announced in June 2013 and has led to
a backlash from student groups and campaigners across the country.
The Green Party's "student auction" will be taking
place outside the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
from 1pm to 2pm on Friday, 18 October 2013.
New waste and
recycling policy agreed
A new policy document for
waste collection and recycling in Liverpool has been agreed as
changes to the service start to come into operation. A managed
weekly service, in which purple bins will be collected one week and
blue and green bins the next, will come into operation for more than
100,000 households from 28 October 2013. The mayor's cabinet has
agreed a policy which sets out operational practices and guidance to
householders about waste and recycling. The new policy was
drawn up following research into the best practice by those Councils
which have introduced managed weekly collections. It covers issues
such as the frequency of collections for different types of
properties, the repair and replacement of bins and associated
charges, when bins should be left out for collection and what action
is taken when wrong material is put in bins. "This new
policy means that we are operating in a very transparent manner. We
are setting out the standards by which our contractor will operate
and also making it clear what the responsibilities of householders
are. It means clear standards are set so everybody knows where they
stand about bin collections but we are allowing flexibility for
exceptional circumstances; for large families, for people who need
help in moving their bins or for those who have to dispose of
clinical waste. All the policies and standards in the document are
aimed at making Liverpool a cleaner and greener City. As well as
cutting costs the new collection system will help us increase
recycling. As the document says 'Collecting rubbish and recycling
alternatively encourages people to think about the amount of rubbish
they throw away and to separate materials for recalling."
said Councillor Steve Munby, cabinet member for living environment
and localism. The new policy document is available at:-
liverpool.gov.
S.A.F.E. - Meeting Update
THE next meeting of
Southport Access For Everyone (SAFE)
forum will be held at the Victoria Methodist Church, Sussex Road,
Southport,
PR8 6DG. This is a free public
meeting and will take place, Monday, 28 October 2013, at 7 pm. The
premises are fully accessible for wheelchair users with adequate car
parking facilities, and light refreshments will be served will be
served before the meeting commences. Anyone with an interest in
disability issues is welcome. For more information please visit:-
southportaccessforeveryone.org
or call:- 07866531036. |
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Students have designs on
turning windows at Pyramids Shopping Centre 10 shades of green
TALENTED design students
will be using store windows at Birkenhead's Pyramids Shopping Centre
to highlight vital messages about helping to save the planet.
The group from Hugh Baird College in Bootle will be producing a
series of powerful displays specifically tailored to alerting
shoppers to the importance of green issues such as recycling,
biodiversity and controlling litter in our towns.
The shopping centre has joined forces with the further education
college and Wirral Council's Eco Schools Department to launch the
Ten Shades of Green project, which will see 10 windows in the
shopping centre becoming the setting for the eye-catching displays,
most of which will be created using recycled materials.
The project is the brainchild of Wirral's Eco Schools Officer Lynn
Struve who explained that while getting across the green message to
younger schoolchildren and adults was relatively easy, persuading
those in the age group in between to take notice was much more
difficult.
Lynn said:- "As part of the work my department does in local
schools, we were looking for a way of engaging with secondary
students. With young children, ecological issues tend to be seen in
either black or white but as they get older things aren't so
straightforward. We were therefore looking at ways to reach the
mid-teenagers and we decided that one thing they love to do is shop
and they also understand brand marketing, so that's why we came up
with the Ten Shades of Green project using windows at the busy
Pyramids Shopping Centre. I'd heard about the foundation degree
course in Visual Merchandising and Promotional Design at Hugh Baird
College and decided to ask its course leader, Colette Mawdsley, if
her students might be willing to get involved with the project. I'd
met up with her at the visual merchandising end of year degree show
in Liverpool and it was good to see her again because we were
actually at school together. We talked and Colette agreed to have
her second year students work on the window displays."
Lynn said that 17 of the students are currently
working on designs for the displays, with 10 eventually being
selected by a team of judges to produce the final creations focusing
on the 10 key messages of minimalisation of waste, recycling,
energy, healthy living, transport, litter, biodiversity, water, food
and green homes.
The top 10 designs will be put in place and showcased to the public
in Pyramids Shopping Centre from Tuesday, 19 November 2013.
Lynn added:- "Hugh Baird is one of only three FE colleges in
the country currently offering the Visual Merchandising and
Promotional Design course, so we are delighted to have students from
it getting involved in Ten Shades of Green. It's a very exciting
project and a nice example of partnership working between the
shopping centre, my department and the college. It will also be a
valuable piece of practical work which will look good on the
students' CVs. Hopefully, it could be the first of many projects we
do with Pyramids Shopping Centre."
Derek Millar, Commercial Director for Pyramids Shopping Centre,
said:- "Pyramids Shopping Centre is at the heart of the Wirral
community and so we are only too happy to link up with other
organisations in the area for worthwhile projects such as these. I
wish the students lots of luck with their ideas and look forward to
seeing the final displays."
Colette Mawdsley, who leads the course the students are on at Hugh
Baird College, said:- "We were delighted to get involved in
Ten Shades of Green because this year is the tenth anniversary of
the launch of our 2 year foundation degree course in Visual
Merchandising and Promotional Design. My college pioneered it and
since its launch a couple more colleges in the south of England have
started to run something similar. However, Hugh Baird is still the
only college in the north of the country offering it. After they
graduate our students will design window displays for high street
shops, doing everything from the initial research and design work to
dressing the mannequins, so you could say that producing designs for
Ten Shades of Green is right up their street. Being part of the
project is also great from the college's point of view because it
fits in with our two priority areas of globalisation and
sustainability. The 17 students involved are already working on
their designs and when the final 10 who will actually produce the
displays are chosen there will be funding from Wirral Council's Eco
Schools Department to buy the materials used to make up the designs.
We are hoping to use quite a lot of recycled material in the
displays, such as bottles, general waste materials and plastic
knives and forks."
One of the students hoping to have their design accepted is 29 year
old Kelly Risley, of Knotty Ash in Liverpool, who signed up for the
course to help further her career as a visual merchandiser with the
Primark clothing store in Liverpool City Centre. She said:-
"I've been with the company for 6 years and started working on the
tills. Four years ago I was promoted to the VM team which does the
window displays for the store and I joined the course to help me
progress to the design team at Head Office level. I think it's
brilliant that we have been given the opportunity to be part of the
Ten Shades of Green project. I'm already working on my design, which
will be on the theme of energy. It will use lots of old lightbulbs
and hopefully show that although they can't be recycled they can be
re-used. I'll also be using fossil fuels, like perhaps coal and oil,
to show that they are where most of our energy comes from in the 1st
place. To brighten the whole thing up a bit I will be putting in
some flowers, to show that energy can also be green. There's a lot
of competition amongst the students to have their designs chosen but
it's all very friendly and we're having lots of fun with it. It
would be great to have my design picked and seen by lots of people."
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