Wide-ranging measures aimed at improving safety on roads

THE first new national road safety strategy in more than a decade has been welcomed by Devon and Cornwall’s police and crime commissioner.

- by STAFF REPORTER

A car almost rolled right into the sea at a Torbay beach with its occupant still inside. Police officers and the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue service attended the incident at around 9am on January 8, and it was later confirmed that a woman had been in the car when it rolled down the steps at Oddicombe beach. The car stopped only three feet from the sea, at the bottom of the steps which lead up to the car park. No one is believed to have been injured. A spokesperson for the fire and rescue service said later: "We got called just after 9am and attended with two appliances. A car with a lady inside had gone off the steps and stopped three feet away from the water. The lady was out of the vehicle when we arrived, so we secured the vehicle."

The Government's proposals include lowering the drink-drive limit in England and Wales from 80mg of alcohol in 100m of blood - unchanged since 1967 - to match the 50mg level already in force in Scotland.