A leading road safety charity has suggested the lack of progress made in reducing road deaths in recent years could be, in part, due to the political disruption caused by Brexit.
The DfT’s annual casualty statistics, published earlier this month, show 1,784 people were killed on roads in Great Britain last year – down 1% from the 1,793 reported in 2017.
However, the 2018 figure is similar to those recorded since 2012 – when there were 1,754 road deaths.
Stakeholders have reacted negatively to the statistics, including IAM RoadSmart, who says it is increasingly concerned that disruption to Government, in part caused by Brexit, has forced road deaths down the political agenda.
Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: “The uncertainty surrounding Brexit has swallowed up the attention of the decision makers for too long now, which means people are still dying on our roads at the same level as six years ago – as a developed nation, that is pretty disgraceful.
“It is really time the Government renews its commitment to this issue which is affecting all communities in society, young and old, and make sure we don’t continue to kill and injure people in ways that could so easily be prevented.”
IAM RoadSmart says working in partnership to promote road safety is the key to returning to critical, long term downward trends.
Neil Greig adds: “More incentives for post-test training, consistent enforcement of new motoring laws, accelerating the uptake of AEB (autonomous emergency braking) equipped cars and promoting best practice in driving for work are just a few examples of the quick gains that could be achieved.”
I am afraid that to me Neil Greig’s comment suggests a lack of understanding of the situation. You don’t need a government review on road safety et al. There are too many red herrings going around in this context which seems to preclude seeing the wood for the trees, as the saying goes. A key ability to improve road safety is already there. It just needs the will to implement it. So let’s start with that one first and see where it goes.
Nigel Albright
+3
Let’s stop blaming the government for the careless behaviour of individuals on the road.
Perhaps there should be a new contributory factor on collision reports “Driver distracted due to worry over Brexit”.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
+6
How many more (or fewer) people are there on the roads now, as opposed to 6 years ago?
David Weston, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
+3