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Tough new laws are to be introduced in the UK for drivers. New regulations will mean that drivers who cause road fatalities while using their mobile phones will face a life sentence in jail. At present, the most serious driving offences can result in a 14 year jail sentence in the UK. However the new laws will see the maximum life sentence being imposed instead. The aim is to send a message to drivers that bad driving is unacceptable. In 2018, 122 people in the UK were sentenced for causing death by

Burkina Faso is planning a major road upgrade programme. The Burkina Faso Government has set a budget of US$309 million to improve several key road sections. A portion of the funding being supplied by Japan. Funding is also being supplied by the West African Development Bank and through the Burkina Special Road Fund (FSR-B). The country’s capital, Ouagadougou, will be amongst the cities to benefit from new and improved roads. Ouagadougou’s Tansoba Boulevard south-eastern ring road will benefit from a $45 m

A notable improvement has been seen in road safety in Lithuania. This is of note, given that the country used to have an extremely poor record for road crashes and road fatalities. In the period from 2001 to 2018, the country’s average road fatality rate plummeted by 75.9%. This is the biggest reduction in road deaths seen in any EU nation, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The safety improvement has been continuous in Lithuania during this period according to the ETSC’s data, which

The Japanese authorities are taking steps to ensure greater road safety for ageing drivers. This follows data showing that elderly drivers are involved ina worryingly high number of serious road crashes in Japan. And with the age demographic of the country increasing, the problem looks likely to grow unless addressed effectively. As a result, older drivers will be able to benefit from fixed charges for using taxis, in a bid to tempt them away from using their own cars. Older drivers may also face changes t

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) says that road safety requires a major transformation to halve road fatalities by 2020. Data shows that road injuries present a significant public health concern worldwide. Road crashes are one of the top 10 causes of death globally. But despite roads in the EU becoming safer each year, the reduction of road fatalities since 2010 has reached a plateau. In 2018, there were 25,100 reported road fatalities across the 28 EU member states. The average road fatality

Slovakia’s 14km stretch of the east-west motorway D1, from Bidovce to Budimir, will open in December, according to the government. Last year, Slovakia’s motorway company NDS and the transport ministry agreed a subsidy of nearly €204 million for the D1 section. The EU is covering 85% of the project cost, while the remaining 15% is covered by the government for construction the Budimir-to-Bidovce stretch, near the city of Kosice. The section, being built by Skanska for almost €237 million, is part of th

The finance package required for Colombia’s Popayan-Santander de Quilichao highway project is being secured. The highway forms part of Colombia’s fourth generation (4G) motorway plan. Costing US$692.5 million, the necessary financing should be in place by July 2019. The work includes building 78km of dual carriageway and no less than 31 bridges. It also includes improving 18km of single carriageway roads and also installing two new toll booths. The construction work is expected to take a further 36 months t