75% of drivers surveyed think people in the UK use their cars too much- Air pollution is estimated to kill 52,500 people in the UK each year
- 43% of adults in England don’t meet the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week. Cycling or a brisk walk to work can meet these recommendations.
- Five deaths and 64 serious injuries happen daily on UK roads, up 4% on the previous year
A national campaign launched today (23 November) by the charity Brake at the start of Road Safety Week calls on drivers to drive less, live more. The campaign aims to make roads safer, especially for people on foot and bike; save money; make communities more pleasant; protect the environment; and improve public health.
As part of the campaign, Brake and partners AIG and Specsavers today reveal statistics confirming the devastating effects on health and wellbeing of driving, including the extent of air pollution, the shocking number of deaths it causes, and levels of ‘inactivity’ across different parts of the UK.
A map of the UK showing statistics for each local authority is now live at roadsafetyweek.org.uk/drivelessmap for your analysis.
The table below shows the data extracted for Ashford and adjacent districts.
| Maidstone | Ashford | Swale | Shepway | Rother | Tunbridge Wells | Canterbury | UK/England | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 161,800.00 | 123,300.00 | 140,800.00 | 109,500.00 | 92,130.00 | 116,100.00 | 157,600.00 | 64,596,800.00 |
| CO2 emissions /1000 tonnes | 1,062.20 | 831.90 | 1,385.70 | 645.30 | 597.50 | 671.10 | 816.20 | 454,000.00 |
| Emissions /tonnes head pop | 6.56 | 6.75 | 9.84 | 5.89 | 6.49 | 5.78 | 5.18 | 7.03 |
| % Drive to work | 44.3 | 43.7 | 41.4 | 39.0 | 37.7 | 36.9 | 34.2 | 35.0 |
| % Cycle to work | 0.8 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| % Inactive | 59.3 | 52.9 | 54.1 | 59.3 | 57.6 | 57.5 | 53.7 | 27.7 |
| Number of deaths due to poor air quality | 75 | 50 | 68 | 58 | 62 | 46 | 81 | 28969 |
| Deaths/1000 head pop | 0.464 | 0.406 | 0.483 | 0.530 | 0.673 | 0.396 | 0.514 | 0.448 |
Brake, Specsavers and AIG are also today launching results of a survey of 1,000 driving adults (23 Nov):
- Eight in 10 (79%) admit to driving on journeys that could be made on foot, bicycle or by public transport.
- A large majority of people surveyed see overuse of cars as a problem, but point the fingers at others: 75% think people use their cars too much, but only 30% think they are guilty of this.
- 85% of those surveyed believe people overall should reduce car use, for a variety of reasons: 52% to reduce air pollution and noise, and half (50%) to protect the environment and stop climate change.
- Significant numbers agreed their driving was detrimental to their own/family’s health (31%), and their family’s finances (28%).
- The most commonly cited factor people said would help persuade them to drive less (37%) was making public transport in their area more frequent, accessible and convenient.
Brake, the road safety charity 23 November 2015