Golfers Drive Fore Brake, the road safety charity

Posted on 27/05/09. By Helen Mervill

To help raise awareness of the 3,000 people killed every single year on UK roads, Brake is appealing to golfers to ‘Drive fore Brake' and organise a charity golf day through their golf club or company.

The appeal, promoted by Brake, aims to raise awareness of crashes in the golfing community and their families.

A horrifying 87 people are killed and seriously injured on UK roads every day*. The vast majority of these deaths and serious injuries are a result of dangerous or careless driving and could have been avoided. Brake believes the best way to tackle this is to educate drivers on how they can look after their own and other people's safety. By linking with Brake, we hope golfers will take on board the importance of driving safely.

The funds raised through the appeal will be directed to Brake's support services, including education of all road users and the charity's Brakecare division; supporting people bereaved or seriously injured through road crashes.

The ‘Drive Fore Brake' appeal has the backing of keen golfer Robert Potter who was seriously injured in a crash whilst at work.

Case study ...

Robert Potter, who works for the Highways Agency Traffic Officer Service, was on the hard shoulder of the motorway in his 'High Vis' patrol vehicle, where a Truck Driver (3 times over the legal limit) struck the stationary patrol vehicle.

Robert's colleague sustained numerous injuries including spinal injuries, Robert sustained life threatening injuries as a result of the impact and was in a coma for 2 weeks and in hospital for a total of 6 weeks.

Robert has since taken part in a charity golf day for Brake and raised £430. He explains below why he has chosen to support Brake.

" I wanted to raise money for Brake because I was a victim in a crash a few years ago where the driver was drunk. The crash caused major injuries to the people involved. Seeing the work that Brake does for victims and their families, I felt compelled to raise money for the charity. My goal now is to raise as much awareness as I can about the risk and dangers of Drink-Driving, and the affect it has on the victims and their loved ones."

Shocking statistics ...

• By gender
Men are almost three times as likely to be killed on roads as women. They are also more likely to be seriously or slightly injured - 70% of those seriously injured on the roads are men. Research has shown that men are much more likely than women to take serious risks and attempt dangerous manoeuvres when driving (e.g. drink-driving, speeding, overtaking blind). Figures for England and Wales show that nearly all dangerous driving convictions (97%) are against men. Men are also more likely than women to be killed or injured while walking or cycling.

* Statistics of Road Casualties Great Britain 2006, Department for Transport, 2007 and research figures obtained Driving Standards Agency's press office, 2006

• Professional drivers
About one in three road crashes involves a vehicle being driven for work. People driving for work are the highest-mileage drivers on our roads, meaning their exposure to risk is the greatest. They are also more likely than other drivers to take risks such as speeding, talking on a mobile phone and driving when tired.
* Taken from the Statistics of Road Casualties Great Britain 2006, Department for Transport

Golfers interested in ‘Driving Fore Brake' should contact Brake on 559909 or email drive@brake.org.uk to find out about support and resources available.