During National Commute Smart Week, which runs from 26th October to 1st November, road users and pedestrians will be warned to be extra careful this winter by Work Wise UK, the organisation behind the awareness campaign to promote alternatives to the 9 to 5 daily grind, five days per week. Chief executive Phil Flaxton said:
"A combination of the end of a long and tiring working week with the rush to get the weekend started will result in some people being a little more careless than usual. Road users need to take care on friday's, especially in the late afternoon."
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Analysis of the Government statistics - 'Road Casualties Great Britain 2007' - reveals that there was a 15 per cent increase in the number of car users killed or seriously injured, from 1006 in October to 1157 in November. The number of pedestrians killed during the winter months showed a greater rise, being 36 per cent higher than in the summer: 274 were killed during BST, whereas 372 died during the winter.
The government data also showed that there was a 5% increase in the total number of accidents resulting in death or serious injury when figures for friday between 4 and 6pm and any other weekday are compared.
The total number of people killed or seriously injured during the friday evening (4pm-6pm) commute was 1081 for 2007. This can be contrasted with 1033 for any other weekday evening for 2007. Car users are most at risk, accounting for 365 of those killed or seriously injured during the friday commute compared with 324 on any other weekday within the 'rush hour' period.
Another group of road users, who are more at risk on a friday between 4 and 6pm is pedestrians, with 299 either killed or seriously injured in 2007 compared with 277 for the same time period on any other weekday.
National Commute Smart Week aims to encourage the wider adoption of smarter commuting, promoting more home working and more flexible working. More people working from home more often will reduce the overall requirement to travel, reducing traffic congestion and public transport over crowding, whereas allowing more flexible working will enable commuters to avoid peak times, easing the strain when congestion and overcrowding are at their height.
Phil Flaxton continued: "With less people travelling, and peak times less busy, it must impact upon accident rates and reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads."
According to RoSPA, by working from home, workers are at less risk of an accident - 20 people are killed and 250 seriously injured every week in crashes involving someone who was driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes.
National Commute Smart Week, which is organised by Work Wise UK, the Government-backed not-for-profit campaigning body with members that include the TUC, CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, BT, Transport for London, Association for Commuter Transport and the RAC Foundation.
Transport for London (TfL) promotes smarter working to help manage demand on the capital's transport network. TfL has teamed up with Work Wise UK to produce a Smarter Working Guide to support employers with practical guidance on creating, implementing and improving smarter working within their organisations,
