Transport Business

DfT promotes debate to take road safety beyond 2010

Page 1 of 2 On average, almost 9 people lose their lives each and every day on the UK's roads. Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Road Safety Minister, talks to Transport Business about the Government's plans to tackle road safety issues beyond 2010, and asks Transport Business readers to join the debate. This is an especially important time for road safety. Not only is the UK three-quarters of the way through the present road safety strategy, we are already thinking ahead and debating how best to refine those strategies for the future. This is a crucially important task and one that the Government is not taking lightly. That’s why we have started a dialogue with a whole host of stakeholders from industry, charity groups, insurance companies, road safety campaigners and academia through to the Police, international bodies, vehicle makers and many others. The aim is simple – to ask everyone to contribute their ideas and share their experiences to help us define our goals beyond 2010 and deliver safer roads for the future. The process has already prompted some very interesting discussions. But as we look ahead in terms of re-shaping our thinking, it is first worth looking at how the current 10-year plan is performing. Certainly, most people recognise that some progress has been made over the last decade. During the first six years of our current road safety strategy from 2001 to 2006, almost 1,500 lives have been saved. Much of that progress is down to the tremendous commitment, diligence, professionalism and tenacity displayed by local authorities, enforcement bodies, and the many interest groups that work so hard to keep road safety at the top of the social agenda. However, while 1,500 lives saved doubtless represents a limited improvement, it is also clear from the figures that there remains far more to do. Each year on the UK’s roads, there are still more than 3,000 deaths and another 28,000 serious injuries. That means that, on average, almost 9 people lose their lives each and every day. Daily tragedy This is a daily tragedy on a scale that would be entirely unacceptable on other modes of transport. In the air, 9 deaths per day would lead to a mass grounding of flights until the problem was identified. On the railways, 9 deaths per day would lead to widespread train cancellations until investigators found the cause. Yet today, it takes a serious road incident even to make the local newspaper.  Although there is just a suggestion the media attitude is changing. Looking at the problem in that context highlights two points. First of all, that we endure far too many deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Secondly, that we have to face up to some very difficult challenges in terms of changing people’s attitudes to road safety. The Government is already working with other stakeholders to address these issues, of course, and we have had many success stories to date. For example: the DfT’s Think! team has regular high profile campaigns such as the Driving for Work initiative that highlighted the dangers of distractions such as eating and drinking, reading maps or talking on a hands-free phone we have the Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving programme – SAFED the Driving Standards Agency recently launched the Enhanced Rider Scheme to help train safer motorcyclists and we are working closely with the enforcement agencies to ensure that we tackle the blight of uninsured and drink drivers. These are just a few of the many initiatives underway, so it’s clear that we are determined to tackle road safety issues across the board. << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>