David Ward, Executive President of the Towards Zero Foundation, shares his thoughts on what we need from the UK Government when it comes to road safety.
Over the last 14 years the UK road safety performance has flatlined. If we had sustained the trend to 2010 there would have been over 40,000 fewer deaths and serious injuries. That is the human cost of this dismal display of complacency. Ministers at the Department for Transport have preferred to peddle myths about a so-called ‘war on motorists’ rather than reduce carnage on our roads. The Government has failed to deliver a promised road safety strategy, life-saving vehicle safety technology has been blocked, road policing has been cut, and no action taken to reduce road danger to young drivers.
This legacy of failure has destroyed the UK’s reputation as a global leader in road injury prevention. According to the International Transport Forum’s latest Annual Road Safety Report, 25 counties have done better than the UK in reducing road fatalities since 2012. Whereas we used to be a world leader in promoting best practice in vehicle safety technology we are now falling behind. From July 6th all vehicles sold in the European Union must be fitted with crash avoidance systems including automatic braking and intelligent speed assistance. But in the UK Brexit ideology has blocked the UK adopting measures which the Government knows are cost-effective and will save lives.
The next government should act immediately to implement the four policy recommendations included in the 2024 Road Safety Manifesto prepared by PACTS. The Towards Zero Foundation is pleased to join with all the UK’s leading road safety organisations in supporting this urgent call to action. There is no reason to delay any of the recommendations which are ready to be adopted within the first 100 days of a new Government taking office. Over the last decade Ministers have lost the ambition to improve UK road safety and given up on any pretence to meet the United Nation target to halve road deaths by 2030. It is unforgivable to normalize nearly 30,000 annual UK deaths and serious injuries in road crashes. That is why it is time for change and new leadership to make our roads safe.
David Ward is the Executive President of Towards Zero Foundation. In 2021, the Towards Zero Foundation with PACTS and Agilysis published a Road Safety Index revealing the cost of complacency on UK road deaths.