The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety welcomed the publication today of the report from the Transport Select Committee of the House of Commons into road safety. Commenting on the report, Robert Gifford, Executive Director of PACTS, said “Just over a year after the publication of the government’s Strategic Framework for Road Safety and following the first rise in road deaths since 2003 and in serious injuries since 1994, it is time to take stock of how we are doing in road safety.
“Rightly, the government has set itself the challenge to be a world leader in road safety. The question is whether the policies being followed help to achieve that aspiration.
“In its report, the Committee has highlighted the lack of leadership being given to the road safety profession by the current government. The current government seems more committed to reducing the deficit than it does to cutting deaths and injuries. Yet, as Mr Penning has said, the success of his time as road safety Minister will be demonstrated in further reductions in deaths and injuries.
“The figures for 2011 show that there is no room for complacency with regard to road safety policy and activity. As we review the framework, we also need to develop a British version of Vision Zero, developing both an appropriate philosophy for improving safety and the means to achieve it.”
ENDS
Note to Editors: The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) is a registered charity and associate all-party Parliamentary group. Its charitable objective is: To protect human life through the promotion of transport safety for the public benefit.
For further details, please contact Robert Gifford 020 7222 7732 (work)
