A turning point for road safety
Last year an average of four people died every day on England’s roads with thousands more left with life-changing injuries. Behind every one of those numbers is devastating grief that could have been avoided.
The Government’s new Road Safety Strategy is the first comprehensive plan in over a decade to make our roads safer for everyone. This long overdue strategy marks a real turning point in how we approach road safety across the country and here in our communities.
This ambitious strategy sets out a clear, measurable goal – a 65% reduction in people killed or seriously injured on our roads by 2035 and a 70% reduction for children. These are not abstract targets, they represent thousands of lives saved and countless families spared unimaginable pain.
For too long, progress on road safety has stalled. Technology has moved on, our roads have changed, and the risks people face are different from those of a decade ago. This strategy recognises that and takes decisive action.
It includes tougher measures to tackle drink and drug driving, including consulting on lowering the drink-drive limit. It will mandate new safety technologies in vehicles, improve driver training and testing and update speed limit guidance to make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike.
Crucially, it will also establish a new Road Safety Investigation Branch which will will learn from collisions in the same way we already do in the rail and aviation sectors, to understand what went wrong and prevent it happening again.
Consultations will consider the introduction of a minimum learning period for new drivers, mandatory eyesight tests for drivers over 70 and reforming motorcycle training. It will bring in new vehicle safety technologies, invest billions in road maintenance and improvement and strengthen enforcement against dangerous behaviour such as uninsured driving or not wearing a seat belt.
This is about protecting everyone who uses our roads, be it children walking to school, commuters on bikes, new drivers building confidence and older drivers who wants to stay independent.
No one should lose their life or suffer a serious injury while using our roads and this landmark strategy makes that belief clear. These reforms will save lives, protect vulnerable road users and help ensure the high standards of safety that people in our community deserve.
Road deaths are not inevitable. With the right policies, investment and determination we can make our roads safer for everyone. This strategy is a vital step in that direction.
