Tuesday, 22 May 2007 – for immediate release

People who drive badly in Birmingham are being shopped on a website set up to make the UK’s roads safer.

On BetterDrivingPlease.com members of the public can report motorists they have seen driving dangerously.

So far, there are more than 150 West Midlands reports on the site, including 135+ reports from Birmingham, and others from Tamworth, Telford, Dudley, Kidderminster, Solihull, Balsall Common and Halesowen.

Road safety campaigner Andrew McGavin set up the site.

He said: “How many times have you followed someone driving like a total idiot, and wished there was a police car nearby? Now you can do something about it by reporting that person yourself”.

The website lets anyone make a report and view every single report in the database. Nationally, there are more than 1,600 reports of bad driving.

Reports from the area include:

• The driver of a W reg car spotted with no tax disc, and talking on a mobile on the Duchess Road in Edgbaston

• An 05 plate van using a closed lane on the Aston Expressway

• The driver of an S reg car not wearing a seatbelt, and deliberately driving the wrong way down a one way street in Birmingham

The full number plates and details of these incidents are available on www.BetterDrivingPlease.com

New Zealand has a similar website. The statistics are stunning. Drivers reported there are 23 times more likely to crash within a year of being reported – proving to be an effective tool in identifying the worst drivers. And that's given Andrew ambitious plans for the site.

He is currently talking to UK police chiefs about them checking their records against the BetterDrivingPlease.com database, then writing to offenders.

He added: “The more reports there are on the site, the more powerful a weapon it becomes against the small minority of stupid drivers who make it dangerous for the rest of us on the roads”.

• Check your number plate and area on the database at www.BetterDrivingPlease.com

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

• To find specific reports of bad driving in this area, go to www.BetterDrivingPlease.com and enter the area in the Keyword search box
• You are welcome to publish any information you find on the website
• For any further information, quotes or interviews, a BetterDrivingPlease.com spokesman is available. Please email press@publicityheaven.com or call Paul Green on 08452 303049
• A factfile, logo, screenshots and other press resources are available online at http://www.betterdrivingplease.com/press.press.asp