Oldham drivers urged to look three times to save lives

Drivers in Greater Manchester are being urged to ‘look closer’ to help keep cyclists and motorcyclists safer on our roads in a new campaign.

Active travel commissioner Dame Sarah Storey also hopes making it safer to walk or cycle will reduce congestion on Oldham’s roads.

Taking the time to check far, middle and near distances when approaching and emerging from junctions can make a real difference and save a life.

According to the new Transport for Greater Manchester campaign, when driving and turning at junctions, drivers should look three times – firstly all the way down the road, then halfway down, and then closer to the vehicle.

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By pausing to ‘Look Far, Look Near and Look Closer’, drivers are more likely to see motorcyclists, cyclists and other road users who can be harder to see.

Drivers not looking properly is one of the main contributing factors in serious road collisions.

The new campaign urges looking three times (Image: TfGM)

Greater Manchester active travel commissioner Dame Sarah Storey has her own experience of the impact of a crash, having been hit by a driver while she was cycling on a roundabout in January 2006.

Speaking in an interview with The Oldham Times, Dame Storey said: “I was hit by an elderly driver who was entering a roundabout just near Junction 4 of the M61, we were on the A6 just outside Westhoughton.

“I was travelling north towards Rivington to do a ride around the Rivington Road race course that had been used in the Commonwealth Games.

“He hadn’t looked properly at the roundabout, I was on the roundabout and he hit me.

“He sent me sprawling, I broke my right hand and the police were very dismissive of the fact that because I was walking and I was conscious, being shaken up didn’t really matter to them, it would appear, and subsequent follow-up from the police was that that sort of incident wasn’t a focus for them and there would be nothing further taken from their perspective.”

Dame Sarah added: “It was very traumatic, I hadn’t been a full-time athlete cyclist for very long. Although I’d been a commuter cyclist I hadn’t ever been doing it everyday, it was a horrible shock and the way that I was treated after I felt like the driver was more important than me on that day, and that shouldn’t be the case.”

More than 1,200 motorcyclists and cyclists were killed or seriously injured on Greater Manchester’s roads between 2017 and 2021 – a third of them as a result of a collision involving a vehicle that was turning right.

Dame Sarah wants to see the roads made safer in order to bring about other benefits – such as the reduction of traffic jams, adding: “Congestion is at an all time high, it feels like, and I know that Oldham is having particular challenges.

“We need to make sure that the journeys that could be walked or cycled feel safe enough to do so, so as well as designing the junctions in such a way that makes it easier for people to see and there’s nothing blocking vision, we also need people to take that responsibility to look, take time to look, and have patience with the driver in front, who may just be looking properly.”