We all know that the last few winters for us, here in the UK have been disastrous, in terms of weather with ice and snow. For many of us, this made it a struggle to get to commercial properties that we work at. This winter is set to be just as bad as last year, according to a road safety charity.
Despite this, the Institute of Advanced Motoring (IAM) has reported this week, that around 67 local councils in the UK are planning to cut spending on winter road services, which brings us to question ‘Why?’
The figures from last year show a rise in the number of car accidents by 37 per cent, caused by ice and snow on the roads surface, causing vehicles to overturn. It is suggested that there will be a cut by 3.6 per cent approximately in spending for snowploughing and salting roads, which leads me to believe that this could potentially mean we will be seeing a further increase in the number of car accidents this winter.
Chief Executive of the IAM, Simon Best expresses his concern over this topic; “Roads are essential for the economy – not only in rural areas where cars are the only way to get around but also on the main routes that keep our economy moving. People in Scotland were almost left without fuel and food last year because of the ice and snow.”
Mr Best further talks about how this could have negative impacts on both the public and the private sector; “Ambulances, supermarket food deliveries, meals on wheels, utilities, even the armed forces, all rely on having a usable road network.”
So, if this plan does go ahead, people could be struggling to get to work, both on time and safely, due to the traffic caused by car accidents.
For this matter, a number of Suggestions have been made by a car expert’s website, ‘HonestJohn’ to all who need to get to commercial properties by car, this winter:
These little things could help commercial properties to keep running and reduce the risk of our economy slowing down this winter.
