Thinking about New Year's Resolutions: How about 'slow down'?

First of all a Happy New Year to everyone! 

This is the time of year that many people commit to change their lifestyle for the better.  According to Which? the top five resolutions for 2013 are:

1. Do more exercise
2. Lose weight
3. Eat more healthily
4. Take up or restart a hobby/activity
5. Learn a new skill

Now I'm sure at least one of these has crossed nearly everyone's mind, regardless of whether we've decided to act on it in 2013 or not.  Now I'm going to throw another one into the mix, and I'll bet for a lot of people it's not something you'll have considered before, and it's quite simple really:

Drive a little bit slower.

Why, you might ask?  Well, according to 2010 figures 46% of cars on 30 mph roads were travelling over the speed limit and 49% were exceeding the speed limit on 70 mph roads.  If obeying the law isn't enough of a reason for people to change, here's a couple more:

1. As a general rule, for every 1 mph drop in average speed casualties reduce 5%.
2. Smoother acceleration and braking will improve fuel efficiency.
3. Reducing motorway speed by 10 km/h could see fuel savings of 12-18%.
4. Travelling 100 miles at 70 mph takes only 5 mins longer than at 75 mph.
5. A pedestrian hit by a car travelling at between 30 mph and 40 mph is 3.5 to 5.5 times more likely to be killed than one struck by a car travelling at less than 30 mph.

So, driving even a little bit slower could save you money and save lives - why not give it a try?

If you do want to make driving a little slower your New Year's Resolution, check out RoSPA's 'top 10 tips to stay within the limit'.