Government launch new strategy for road safety
On 11th May 2011, the Government launched a new strategy for road safety, which has set the scene for further, continuous effort towards casualty reduction on Britain’s roads.
There will be six key indicators which relate to road deaths and will measure the outcomes of the strategy at national level. These include:
- Number of road deaths (and rate per billion vehicle miles)
- Rate of motorcyclist deaths per billion vehicle miles
- Rate of car occupant deaths per billion vehicle miles
- Rate of pedal cyclist deaths per billion vehicle miles
- Rate of pedestrian deaths per billion miles walked
- Number of deaths resulting from collisions involving drivers under 25
At the local level, the number of road deaths is small and subject to fluctuation. For this reason the following has been proposed as key indicators:
- Number of killed or seriously injured casualties
- Rate of killed or seriously injured casualties per million people
- Rate of killed or seriously injured casualties per billion vehicle miles
The Think Education campaign from pre-school to 16+ will be continues as well as encouraging pedestrian skills training and a commitment to financially supporting Bikeability cycle training to the sound of £11m.
The new Strategic Framework for Road Safety sets out the Government’s plans. Here are just some of them:
- Make careless driving a fixed penalty offence
- Require offenders to pass a test before they regain their licence after a serious disqualification
- Improve enforcement against drink and drug driving, as announced in the response to the North Report in March
- Increase the use of police-approved educational courses that can be offered in place of fixed penalty notices to encourage safer driving behaviour
- Launch an annual road safety day.
dbda’s Business Development Director, Bill Smith said, “We welcome this long awaited road safety strategy from the Government to give direction in the present economic climate, however we are disappointed that the Government has failed to include targets for casualty reductions, which have been proven in the past to focus attention and help deliver effective results to the benefit of all road users”
dbda are committed to support the road safety framework with unique and valuable road safety education resources. To find out more please visit our webshop: http://shop.dbda.co.uk
To read the full document, visit: http://www.dft.gov.uk