Keeping Your Fitness Up in Winter? Keep Your Road Safety in Mind

The JCP Swansea Half Marathon 2021 has crossed the finish line but road runners who are keeping up their fitness are being reminded to be extra careful during the darker winter months.

Brake’s Road Safety Week campaign gets underway from 15 November to 22 November, with athletes and joggers being urged to take sensible measures to avoid injury by cars, bikes or scooters. You can do this by following these handy tips:

• Make sure traffic can see you by wearing reflective, bright clothing
• Run in a safe, well-lit area where there is a wide path
• Plan your route and tell people where you are going and when you expect to be back
• Use a head torch if there are few streetlights
• Be aware that wearing headphones could make you unable to hear any approaching hazard
• Go with a running buddy if possible

Kirsty Meech, an Associate Solicitor in the Injury Services team at JCP Solicitors, who ran the London Marathon this year, said: “Of course it is important to do whatever you can to avoid injury. A&E departments are particularly stretched in the winter and aside from the fact that nobody wants to have to deal with injury, it is important not to put any extra strain on the NHS. Here at JCP Solicitors we see a number of people every year who are dealing with sometimes life-changing injuries caused by road collisions. This can take a huge toll on people’s lives and the lives of their loved ones.”

David Martin Jewell from Front Runner Events, which organises the JCP Swansea Half Marathon, said: “Many runners will be hitting the streets in the winter months to keep their fitness levels up and it is important to make sure safety is a top priority. Even relatively small injury can impact your running schedule, so it is important to warm up carefully, as well as taking the steps listed above. The theme of National Road Safety Week is ‘be a road safety hero’ and this is a handy reminder of the part we play as drivers and cyclists, too, to look out for each other’s welfare.”

For details about how you can get involved in Brake’s Road Safety Week, click here.

The Injury Services team at JCP Solicitors is on hand if you need support. Contact law@jcpsolicitors.co.uk or 03333 209 244.