November 2008

The period between the Annual General Meeting in July and the meeting in November always seems a less hectic one since it includes the summer holiday and Parliamentary recess. However, there still is much to report.

Parliament

Members will be aware that, in the recent reshuffle, the only Minister at DfT to retain his position was Jim Fitzpatrick. The new Secretary of State is Geoff Hoon who is joined at the Department by Lord Adonis and Paul Clark. Obviously, the new Ministerial team will need some time to settle in to their new briefs. However, the continuation of Jim Fitzpatrick is clearly beneficial for road safety in terms of stability. I look forward to working with the new team on relevant policy issues.

The summer period also means a reduction in the number of Parliamentary questions to circulate. I am grateful to Gill for reviewing these each week and to including them on the web-site where relevant. If you want to keep an eye on Parliamentary scrutiny, please refer to the PACTS site (www.pacts.org.uk) where we will be placing PQs with links to the answers given.

Events

The second half of the year always sees a significant amount of time devoted to our events programme. This year has been no different.

On October 15, we held our conference on the theme of safety and personal security on public transport. This is relatively new territory for PACTS but is important since many current non-users of public transport are reluctant to do so for fears for their own personal safety. This is an issue that the providers of public transport need to consider since an increase in patronage will be beneficial for income and is likely to lead to people using safer modes of transport than the private car. The conference heard a variety of presentations on this issue, identifying the need for better levels of staffing and also for more co-ordinated investment by local authorities.

On December 2, Oliver Carsten will be giving the 19th Westminster Lecture on the topic: “Technology – curse or cure?” This is a highly timely lecture given the recent publication of research into Intelligent Speed Adaptation and the increasing emphasis placed on technology to reduce accidents by the automotive industry. If you have not booked your place, please do so quickly as space is filling up.

On March 11 2009, we will be holding our spring conference on the topic of safety and sustainability. There will be presentations on safe walking and cycling, on behavioural change and sustainability and on developing safe and sustainable fleet management policies. It seems to me important to ensure that these two policy areas complement each other. The final programme for the day will be circulated shortly. In the meantime, please put the date in your diary.

DfT Consultations

At the last meeting, I think that I referred to the forthcoming consultation on compliance with road traffic law. This is still awaited. It seems highly likely that the contents will include the proposed variable penalty points for speeding offences and also suggestions about improving compliance with drink-driving. One issue not included will be the lowering of the drink-drive limit. Clearly, this is disappointing given the level of public support for a lower limit and assurances from previous Ministers that the lower limit would be included. It will, in my view be important to send a strong message to the government that a lower limit would be both popular and life-saving.

PACTS submitted a response to the DSA consultation on ‘Learning to Drive’ that supported the proposed approach to focus on improving the standard of tuition, raising the levels of achievement by young drivers and including the driving test within the structure of vocational qualifications. My suspicion is that any changes to the driving test are some way off and that there will be further consultation on issues over the coming months.

Other involvement

Over the past months, I have been a member of a group set up by the Motorists’ Forum and the Commission for Integrated Transport to look at the casualty and fuel savings arising from more widespread use of ISA. This is likely to be published before Christmas. It has been an interesting area to look at since the benefits to drivers of safer, more predictable, cheaper journeys through voluntary fitment of ISA had yet to be fully quantified.

There have also been a number of opportunities to continue the debate about casualty reductions beyond 2010. I spoke at a Transport Times conference on this issue on October 8 and at an IHT regional event on October 23. It is clear that there remains considerable professional support for a further set of targets and a vision for road safety when the current period closes. The challenge will be to persuade politicians that this should remain a priority.

Publications

The Annual Review of 2007/8 was published during the summer. I am grateful to Peter Bottomley and Louise Ellman for agreeing to sign letters to Parliamentarians to accompany copies of the Review. This was undertaken to raise our profile with MPs and Peers interested in transport safety.

I am also pleased to report that the research project on behavioural change and road safety is also nearing completion. The report is likely to raise some key issues about how we achieved long-term behavioural change in safety behaviours. It is looking at achievements in both road safety and in other areas of policy such as recycling and banning smoking in public places. Our hope is that the report will be published in December.

Communications

I referred earlier to the inclusion of PQs on the PACTS’ website. If you have not visited our new-look site, please do so. The intention is that reports and documents are loaded on to the site on a regular basis. If there are reports that you feel should be included, please let me know as it will only be as good as the information that it contains.

Conclusion

This is a brief summary of some of the aspects of our work since July. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information or if you have any questions.

Robert Gifford
Executive Director