Motorists are being urged to ‘drive less, live more’ as part of this year’s Road Safety Week.

Organised by road safety charity, Brake and taking place from 23 – 29 November, the campaign is aiming to make people consider whether the amount of driving they do it absolutely necessary, or whether some journeys could be made using alternative transport methods such as walking, cycling or public transport.

The week-long event is the biggest annual road safety campaign and is supported by thousands of organisations from schools to community groups every year. 

According to Brake, 1,770 people were killed and 22,377 people were seriously injured on UK roads during 2013, the majority of which were attributed to driver error. Encouraging more people to walk, cycle or use public transport would help to decrease the number of road accidents, as well as help drivers to save money by minimising petrol costs. 

Tom Jones, head of policy at Thompsons Solicitors, said: “By reducing individual mileage, the risk of road accidents is hugely reduced as the majority of collisions are caused by driver error. 

“A lot of road accidents, where people suffer serious injuries, are down to factors like busy roads, yet traffic volumes could easily be reduced when you think that 40% of trips are less than two miles. Reducing the number of car journeys we all take clearly has financial benefits, but it would also have an impact on road safety as a whole. 

“That having been said, if more people are being encouraged to walk or cycle, there also needs to be a commitment from the government to improve infrastructure to ensure that pedestrians and cyclists are adequately protected too. 

“At Thompsons, we see the consequences of road traffic collisions all too often and the theme of this year’s road safety week is positive and we hope that everyone re-considers how much necessary driving they actually do on a daily basis.”