Liverpool City Council's Cabinet is set to approve plans to deliver its air quality plan

A huge traffic monitoring exercise is to be carried out, for 1 week, in February 2019, as part of the development of Liverpool's City wide air quality plan.  40 cameras will count the amount of traffic, the type of vehicles, along with engine types on all the major routes into the City, using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.   This forms part of a ₤1.1 million programme funded by the Government which also includes installing air quality monitoring stations and updating modelling data for transport in the City Region.  After the traffic monitoring exercise has taken place, a report will then be submitted to the Liverpool City Council's Cabinet, on Friday, 25 January 2018.  Although the City is only obliged legally to ensure it meets UK and European Nitrogen Dioxide pollution levels by 2020, it wants to go further and reduce them as much as practically possible. In 2017, Mayor Joe Anderson laid out a vision to prioritise walking, cycling, electric vehicles and clean fuels to reduce the impact of air pollution.

The Council is in the process of purchasing a diesel free fleet of Council vehicles, has started installing 100 electric vehicle charging points and banned taxis from retro fitting higher polluting engines. There are plans for a new bus hub in the City Centre which will remove 750,000 dead miles and 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide by providing a permanent layover facility.  Also in 2018 the Council launched:-  'Let's Clear the Air Liverpool,' a campaign to raise awareness of the damaging effect of air pollution on health and to advise on actions that we can all take to reduce our personal exposure to air pollution, reduce our personal contribution to it and actions to improve the quality of the air in the City.  Sadly, the latest science suggests that in a City the size of Liverpool, exposure to poor quality air contributes to around 230 deaths each year.

Councillor James Noakes, Cabinet member for highways, transport and street scene, said:- "Liverpool's a growing City and, as with other cities, we have high levels of traffic and it causes around 70 percent of air pollution.  The quality of air we breathe affects our health and wellbeing and we are all affected by it, particularly children and the elderly, and long-term exposure can contribute to heart disease, stroke and lung diseases like asthma. This is a key piece of work to understand the challenges that we face and we know that as a Council we have to play our part. We are leading by example, by changing our fleet of vehicles to be greener, encouraging hackney drivers to move over to less polluting vehicles and working with Merseytravel to deliver a better and cleaner bus service. We're looking to reduce traffic congestion in key areas; like the Strand, new Islington and Bowring Park Road by the Rocket; and making improvements to roads and walk ways to encourage people to walk and cycle more. We are working with City region partners because air quality crosses Council borders. Likewise, we have also joined other cities as part of the UK100 initiative to demand central Government implements the changes and provides the money it needs to, if we are to really make a difference such as a new clean air act, a scrappage scheme for the most polluting vehicles and appropriate funding to properly tackle air quality.  We want Liverpool to have the cleanest air because we want people to live longer, and poor air quality is impacting on the quality of life for residents."

You can watch pupils from Mosspits Lane Primary School in Wavertree having their say on air pollution on YouTube and also find out more about:- 'Let's Clear the Air Liverpool' can be found on:- LetsClearTheAirLiverpool.Co.UK.

Should your age stop you from driving?

FOLLOWING the incident with Duke of Edinburgh, the national news are all talking about laws on what age people must stop driving at, but in reality, aging does not automatically equal total loss of driving ability. In fact since July 2017, it has been reported that there are more than 4.5 million drivers over the age of 70's on the UK's roads. When elderly drivers are asked why they wanted to continue driving as long as possible, older drivers said they liked being in control of where and when they travel. In fact many charity organisations, like Age UK also stress that it's important not to urge a family member to stop driving until you're convinced he's dangerous behind the wheel. That is due to many drivers over 70's relying on their cars to do daily commutes, for example:- going shopping, visiting friends and family and getting to Hospital and/or Doctor's Appointments. In Southport and Formby, Hospital visits can become extremely problematic, if you do not have a car, due many to public transport issues.

Interestingly a report from 2015 also found that 15.36% of reported accidents had involved drivers aged under 24 compared to only 5.95% involving drivers over 70! Currently, in the UK, you must renew your driving licence at the age of 70 and you will be unqualified to drive. Thereafter drivers then have to renew every 3 years. For more information about that click here.

Sadly, the idea of age is often taking away from the real safety questions that should be asked. For example putting in place tests so that drivers can be checked if they want to use new technology when its introduced, for example self driving technology. Should all drivers have mandatory checks on health and/or eyesight?

Interestingly, did you know that a medical examination is only required if those over 70, who want to drive a medium sized goods vehicle or minibus! Plus there is no requirement to take an eyesight test, but applicants must declare that their eyesight meets the minimum requirements for driving!

We took to our Formby Reporter Twitter Page and asked should the UK's DVLAgovuk automatic requires drivers to notify them any medical condition that may affect safe driving if you're over 70. Also drivers need to reapply for their license from 70 and every 3 years thereafter. Do you think a new driving test should be introduced for over 70's? Interestingly 51% said:- "Yes," 37% said:- "No," 8% selected:- "Don't know," and 4% opted:- "Don't care"

As some have suggested mandatory NHS medicals for drivers over 70's could help reduce long term health issues via finding problems earlier and make roads safer. So we asked should over 70's be required to take an eyesight test and also have a medical examinations in order have a UK Drivers Licence? 81% put:- "Yes," 12% said:- "No" and 8% put "Don't Know."

We will be asking on Monday, on our Formby Reporter Twitter Page, should all ages have regular medical and eyesight tests to drive and if yes, at what time scale should this be done.

It is already would noting that the NHS offers free NHS Health Checks for 40 to 74 Year olds, and these checks can help save lives, as well as cash for the NHS in the long run! For more information about the free checks click here.

If you want also to know about how to renew your license UK Drivers Licence and you are over 70, you can do this via the DVLA website https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence-at-70 … using your Government Gateway ID. Its worth adding that there is no fee for renewing the license.

If you are over 70 and would like to have your driving assessed in a confidential and objective test from organisations like the:- Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and IAM Road Smart.

Did you know that:- If you passed your car driving test on or after 1 January 1997 you can: drive a car or van up to 3,500kg Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg?