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HEALTH&HABITAT
February/March 2012 www.esb.ie/em
PRIVATE DRIVERS’ your handbook to staying safe on the road is out now!
Private Drivers’ Handbooks launched
GRAINNE COOGAN
SAFE DRIVING
IN THE DECEMBER 2011 / January 2012 issue of EM, we advised you that the Private Drivers’ Handbook and Road Safety Awareness DVD would be with you in 2012. The successful launch of both took place on 26th January in Head Office and there has been a great response so far. They will be distributed to you at your workplace in the coming weeks. ESB driving policies are set out clearly in the handbook as well as useful driving advice and there are strong messages for all roadusers to take from the DVD.
One clear policy in the handbook is the use of Daytime Running Lights, in order to help further increase visibility and reduce collisions. All staff driving private vehicles on ESB business should switch on dipped headlights while driving.
This policy is foremost in my mind at the moment. I find that, when I’m driving during daylight hours, I have to work much harder at seeing vehicles with no lights on, particularly if the weather is dull, dank and dark – and just in case you’re wondering, I have my eyes tested yearly! Even so it can be difficult to see a vehicle with no lights on until it is quite close, especially if the car is a light colour, e.g. grey, silver or white. On a drizzly day on a motorway, they can be like ghosts suddenly appearing by your side, allowing less time to react in an emergency (in such conditions the speed limit is definitely NOT a target),
The purpose of Daytime Running Lights (D.R.L.s) is to increase the visibility of the vehicle to all traffic. It is estimated that up to 45% of all accidents occur because of perception errors i.e. incorrectly judging a vehicle’s speed or not seeing the other vehicle soon enough.
High visibility colours and reflective markings are already used on fleet vehicles and, where available, ESB fleet vehicles purchased since 2007 have ‘auto-on parking/side lights’ fitted as standard.
It’s not only D.R.L.s that are on my mind now. These days, as I venture out on my short hops to bring the kids to their activities locally, usually at dusk or dark, I have taken to counting the number of cars/vehicles with a front light completely out or partially out (think what you like!!) – and it averages about six vehicles per kilometre travelled, a frighteningly high figure. Of course, this defective lighting distorts your perception of what is coming towards you. There is an increased chance of an incident due to the possibility of mistaking these vehicles for motorbikes.
This begs the question, do these drivers realise their lights are out, and do we ourselves make sure to check that our lights are working? A quick check by a passenger or a check of reflections in a window during your “60 second vehicle safety check” is all it takes. It is a few moments well spent, especially now that there is a possibility of penalty points being introduced later this year for driving with faulty lighting.
“Failing to see another road user in time (or at all) is a contributing factor in 50% of daytime collisions and 80% of collisions at intersections” Source: Office of the Director of Traffic - “Lights on Daytime” - July 2002
For more information email safedriving@esb.ie or visit the Safe Driving Website: http://esbnet/safedriving/.
Out now – Private Drivers’ Handbook and Road Safety Awareness DVD
The future
ELECTRICITY ABROAD
Ban Ki-moon’s agenda
MORE than one billion people have no access to electricity and three billion rely on wood and coal for their subsistence, UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon told delegates at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi in January.
Calling the summit ‘the perfect platform to examine the implications for the large-scale adoption of renewable energy and clean technologies in the world’, Ban said that renewable energy ‘is a key to bring about global economic growth’.
“We need innovation to meet the increasing world demand on energy through partnerships between the public and private sectors on one hand, and civic societies on the other, because this will help create economic opportunities, protect the environment and improve the living conditions of the people,” he said.
Setting a target for the global delegates to achieve, he added, “Sustainable development needs sustainable energy. Therefore, there is a dire need to decrease the gas emissions by 2050 by 50 per cent in the world.”
There were 25 renewable energy projects featured at the exhibition adjoining the summit, with a combined value of more than €3billion.
The Chinese takeaway
CHINESE premier Wen Jiabao, who also attended the summit in Abu Dhabi, emphasised the Middle East’s ‘strategic position’ for China.
“We cannot ignore the unique status and role of West Asia and North Africa,” Wen told delegates. While in present circumstances his remarks clearly refer to the region’s oil reserves, Wen also promised to ‘work more closely with other countries to enhance green innovation’.
While China is by far the world’s greatest emitter of carbon, its emissions on a per capita basis are less than one-third the per capita emissions of the United States.
Although China continues to rely principally on coal-fired generation, the country also has 200GW of hydroelectric power and 47GW of wind power, Wen pointed out, adding that last year the Chinese government committed to increasing energy efficiency by 16 per cent and reducing carbon emissions by 17 per cent by 2015.
Mr Wen’s comments were broadly welcomed, particularly for their specific targets. Dr Kandeh Yumkella, secretary general of the UN Industrial Development Organisation expressed his satisfaction that China ‘gave numbers that can be verified’.
Great Danes
The Danish government published proposals last month that call for the country to obtain all of its energy from renewable sources by 2050.
Already the world leader in wind power, with 20 per cent of its power produced by wind turbines, Denmark took over the Presidency of the European Union in January and plans to use its six-month tenure to advance climate and energy issues.
Meanwhile, achieving its own national targets will not be easy. In 2010, coal-fired plants represented 44 per cent of Danish power generation, rising to two-thirds when combined with other fossil fuels. The government’s plan calls for coal-fired power plants to be phased out by 2030.
Minister for Climate and Energy Martin Lidegaard has said the proposal to phase out fossil fuels represents an insurance policy ‘against the risk of the market in the next 10 years’.
He said, “I think this will work out to be the best insurance Denmark has ever had.”
Pyjama Day 2012 launched!
Three children from Little Oaks Crèche, together with the Minister for Children, Francis Fitzgerald, took part in the in the Launch of National Pyjama Day 2012 in aid of Irish Hospice Foundation.
The event which takes place on the 23rd of March will see children in day care and pre-school facilities all over Ireland wearing their pajamas on the day to help raise much needed funds for the IHF.
National Pyjama Day is now in its 9th year and has so far raised over €1.5 million for children’s charities in Ireland and organisers hope to raise €350k this year for the IHF ‘Children’s Hospice Home Care’ programme which will offer support to families who are caring for seriously ill children in their own homes.
Frances Fitzgerald, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs said, “It gives me great pleasure to launch this exciting and incredibly worthwhile fundraising event. I would like to congratulate the newly formed Early Childhood Ireland for their initiative in running this event and I hope that this year will be no exception in terms of the level of generous support that Pyjama day achieves year on year, I would encourage all childcare facilities to take part in this fantastic day and have great fun in doing so!”.
For more information see: www.irish-mediawatch.com/?p=9350 or www.earlychildhoodireland.ie/
