Road Safety Warnings Ahead of ‘Busiest’ August Bank Holiday
Road safety experts are urging drivers to take extra care while driving over the August Bank Holiday weekend, with traffic levels set to be the highest in almost a decade.
The August Bank Holiday weekend is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year on the road as people head for a weekend away or visit family before the schools go back in September.
Not only that, but people head for days out to make the most of the last of the summer weather (if we’re being optimistic!).
It’s expected that there will be more than 19 million leisure trips made by cars over the bank holiday weekend, which is the highest since 2015.
What Safety Precautions Should You Take?
The higher the traffic density, the more likely it is for incidents to occur.
Add in traffic jams and delays and it can result in all manner of issues on the road, which is why drivers are being urged to check their vehicles before heading off on any journeys.
They’re also being advised to leave adequate time in your journey to ensure you’re not running late as traffic can be unpredictable on busy weekends like this one.
National Highways are once again promoting their new ‘TRIP’ campaign, which stands for Top-up, Rest, Inspect, and Prepare.
That means topping up fuel, water and oil before your journey and during the journey if necessary, resting every two hours, inspecting tyres and lights pre-journey and en-route, as well as preparing by planning ahead, checking traffic and road closures, as well as weather forecasts.
These are all essential preparations for any driver ahead of any journey that can reduce the chance of any incidents and breakdowns.
With traffic levels set to be higher than we’ve seen in recent years, it’s important to take the extra time to ensure everything is well with your vehicles.
For fleet drivers, that goes without saying – the importance of checking vehicles over is not only for the safety of drivers, but of the vehicles too. It’s also crucial that fleet operations remain at optimum levels, even on a busy bank holiday weekend.
What Does It Mean For Road Safety?
Bank holidays are a great boost for the economy, particularly for travel, tourism and leisure activities.
But with travel levels set to be busier than usual, it’s a challenge that fleets have to overcome.
Given that traffic levels are expected to be higher, it’ll be a case of allowing time in scheduling for delays, rather than rushing to get from A to B – and the same is true for anyone on the roads this weekend.
Saturday is set to be the busiest day of the weekend according to predictions by road safety experts but expect busier than usual traffic for a Sunday and Monday on the roads too.
And if the weather is good, there might be even more traffic on the roads than predicted…
What are your plans for dealing with higher traffic volumes over the Bank Holiday? Let us know in the comments below.
