Economic policies for appraising investment in travel are outdated, they prioritise quick and convenient car travel and do not reflect modern safe and sustainable values.
That’s the headline conclusion of a new report, published by the Road Safety Foundation.
The report, titled Investing in Safer Mobility: Targeting investment across the British Road Network, says that compared with pre-Covid data, fatal and serious casualties are down but that a return to pre-pandemic figures ‘is to be expected’.
It adds that recent rises in the cost of living may impact future traffic levels, travel speeds and subsequent casualties – and that this may be further affected by an increase in home working post-Covid.
The report says it is time to ‘refocus’ economic policies to offer safe, sustainable and inclusive mobility for all road users.
It notes that road infrastructure measures that reduce the risk of fatal and serious injury are ‘well understood’ and the investment returns are ‘compelling’.
Measures such as protecting or clearing roadsides, separating vehicles travelling in opposing directions and designing junctions to be safer offer high opportunities to save lives, the report concludes.
It also says that supporting safer walking and cycling through provision of separate facilities or reducing vehicle speeds is key to encouraging modal shift and reducing deaths and injuries for these important user groups.
Dr Suzy Charman, executive director of the Road Safety Foundation, and one of the report’s authors, said: “Now is the time to invest in our road infrastructure to support safer and more sustainable mobility for all road users.
“This will reduce the burden on our health care services and, at the same time, support environmental, health and cost-of-living imperatives.”
Hi Lynda
Well actually, a lot of people are beginning to realise that 20mph limits reduce speeds from as little as zero to as much as 7-8mph. It all depends on what the pre-speed was. Put 20mph in on a road which already has average speeds less than 20mph and there will not be much change. But do so on roads where ave speeds are 25-30mph and you will get a substantial reduction in speeds. Perhaps not enough to be compliant but certainly to transform the “feel” of the street for active travellers.
And as more authorities recognise this and set 20mph limits on roads where perhaps a decade ago they had deemed “too fast” then the evidence grows. The 2013 estimates on reduction in speeds in the Speed Limit Appraisal Tool are now seen as under-estimating the reduction on faster roads by 50%.
And by “working effectively” it all depends on what your view of “effective” is. A reduction in speeds on faster roads of 5-6mph and a reduction in casualties of 20-40% is certainly what I would call “effective”. And think just how much more “effective” they could be with a bit more enforcement and subtle engineering such as removing centre white lines etc.
Merry Christmas to all.
Rod King, Lymm
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There’s hardly any space to implement such measures, but while not mentioned above, I do hope all the automatic systems being brought into cars actually work – not that I’d use most of them myself.
Better training, education and actually instilling pride in driving will be so much more effective.
And, for Mr King: surely everyone realises now, Mr King, that reducing limits to 20mph is only likely to reduce actual speeds by a very small amount. To make them work effectively will cost a lot of money – you can’t just slap a 20mph sign in.
Lynda Hill, Brighton
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EXcellent. And the biggest road safety “bang per buck” comes from a default urban/village speed limit of 20mph instead of the “unfit for purpose” 30mph that has been rejected by so many local authorities and now Wales and Scotland. And maybe some money left over for enforcement also.
Rod King, Lymm
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