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Hundreds of e-scooters coming to Rochdale for 12-month trial

Hundreds of e-scooters are coming to Rochdale before April as part of a 12-month trial - with the town council calling it 'the future'.

The Manc The Manc - 11th February 2021
Image: cottonbro / Pexels

Hundreds of e-scooters are set to arrive in Rochdale before April as part of a 12-month trial.

A recent report by Rochdale Online reveals that an electric scooter scheme has been signed off by the local council – with testing set to take place primarily in the town centre and railway station area.

Riders must have a provisional or full driving license to rent one of the vehicles – which will need to be returned to a designated parking point after use.

E-scooters will be limited to 15mph or less and banned from entering certain areas.

Image: Alexander Schimmeck / Unsplash

It is hoped that the introduction of e-scooters can ease congestion on public transport networks and lower emissions in Rochdale, with council members calling the mode of transportation “the future”.

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Councillor Sara Rowbotham, cabinet member for climate change and sustainability, said the pilot was about making sure e-scooter use was “safe and accessible”.

“We are going to keep our eye on it really closely and make sure it works and it works for everybody,” she added.

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Two e-scooter companies – Bolt and Zwings – are apparently set to launch bids to become involved in the Rochdale trial, with hundreds of vehicles being rolled out by mid-spring.

The prospect of e-scooters in Manchester was also considered last year, with the Department for Transport  already sanctioning trials in other parts of the UK.

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Record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues, as a record number of festive trips are predicted across the UK ahead of the big day.

With the festive season generally known to make the roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with an annual study by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 29 million journeys are planned before Christmas Day arrives.

Nearly half of these journeys (14.3 million) are set to be crammed into this coming weekend.

But, as Christmas falls mid-week this year, the figures suggest there will be an extended period of ‘pre-Christmas panic’ on the roads, with 5.7m trips taken yesterday and today alone.

The true festive getaway kicks off tomorrow (20 December), with an expected 3 million trips on this day, before the figure then jumps up to 3.7 million and 2.9 million this coming weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December) – which is the final weekend before the big day itself.

A record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year / Credit: Geograph

By far the single busiest day, however, has to be Christmas Eve, with 3.8 million separate getaway journeys expected by car, on top of the final flurries of commuter traffic.

To make matters worse for everyone, the RAC’s research has also revealed that a further 4.7 million trips are expected at some point between the 20 and 22 December, and 2.5 million on either the 23 or 24 December, all coming from motorists who haven’t yet decided which day they’ll travel.

When it comes to the best and worst times to travel over the festive period, the research has revealed that the worst time to travel along major routes will be between 1pm and 7pm, especially tomorrow and Saturday, so both the RAC and INRIX are suggesting that drivers set off early in the morning, or later in the evening when the heaviest of the traffic should have subsided.

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After the big day, there are an additional 4.4 million trips predicted on Boxing Day and 3.8 million on Friday 27 December.

On these days, drivers are advised to avoid major roads during the hours of 10am to 3pm, which is when journeys are expected to take significantly longer than usual.

Featured Image – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)

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A third of Brits want police to immediately ban drink drivers at the roadside

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A third of Brits support giving police powers to immediately ban drink drivers at the roadside, a new survey has revealed.

Ahead of the festive travel season, where a record number of people are expected to hit the road and make journeys all across the UK over the next couple of days, the RAC has asked more than 2,500 drivers to give their thoughts on the state of the roads for 2024’s edition of the Report on Motoring, and found that tougher sentences were the most popular solution among motorists for tackling the problem of drink-driving.

With instances of drink-driving said to be responsible for the deaths of some 300 people in 2022 – which is when the latest data on this was collected – four in 10 motorists (38%) believe harsher sentences are the answer.

A third of drivers (33%) also support giving the police new powers to immediately disqualify drink-drivers at the roadside once they’ve been stopped.

A third of Brits want police to immediately ban drink drivers at the roadside / Credit – Vladimir Proskurovskiy (via Unsplash)

The idea that convicted drink-drivers should have alcohol interlocks, also known as ‘alcolocks’, fitted to their vehicles to prevent them driving if they have any alcohol in their system, was favoured by 32% of those questioned by the RAC.

A similar number of drivers (31%) also want to see roadside breathalyser testing increased.

When it comes to drug drivers, results from the RAC’s survey are a similar story, only higher – with almost two-thirds of all drivers (64%) supporting tougher sentencing for drug-drivers, and 56% saying they would like to see increased levels of roadside testing.

Just under half (49%) of motorists questioned want the police to be able to immediately disqualify drug-drivers at the roadside.

Speaking on the findings from the RAC’s survey, Chief Constable Jo Shiner, who is the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, commented: “In policing, we see the damaging impact of drink and drug driving all too often, and every fatality or serious injury which happens as a consequence of this is completely avoidable.

“Driving under the influence of drink or drugs puts everyone at risk – individuals, families, businesses and whole communities.

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“Together we must do everything we can to put a stop to this irresponsible and incredibly dangerous behaviour.”

Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons

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