The number of people killed on British roads is at its lowest since records began, but the government has ambitious new plans to cut the total by a third.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the road safety minister, believes reduced speed limits will save thousands of lives each year.
The latest figures show that road deaths on British roads have fallen below 3,000 for the first time since records began in 1926.
The government aims to see this figure drop below 2,000.
The improvement in road safety may be partly attributable to better adherence to speed limits – particularly those on urban roads; almost three quarters of drivers in 1996 broke the speed limit on residential roads in 1996 – a figure that had been reduced to one in two by 2006.
The consultation document, ‘A Safer Way: Making Britain’s Roads the Safest in the World’, was published yesterday and includes a planned reduction of the speed limit on many A-roads to 50mph and 20mph in residential streets and outside schools.
| 10-year road safety plans | …at a glance |
|---|---|
| speed limits reduced | many A-roads 50mph, residential areas 20mph |
| Speed cameras | new cameras that detect average speed to cover all exit and entry points to residential areas |
| Fixed penalties | 6 points for driving 15mph over the speed limit, offences that are currently regarded by the police as relatively minor, such as passing too close to a cyclist when overtaking, could result in a £60 fine and three penalty points |
| Drink driving | Police will be able to stop and breath-test a driver at random |
| Driving test | become tougher, with candidates required to follow road signs to a destination rather than take directions from the examiner |
Young drivers to be targeted
Specific targets could be introduced for different users and modes of transport. These would take into account the fact the youngest male drivers are almost ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than those of middle age and that the absolute number of people killed can rise at the same time as the death rate per mile falls.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has reported that the recession may result in the safer vehicle technology currently installed in new vehicles taking longer to trickle down to other vehicles, as fleets keep vehicles longer.
ETA comment: Let’s have a national speed limit of 20mph
So the national government is minded to reduce the speed limit to 50mph, but is this enough? Surely the national speed limit should be 20mph.
We already have five national speed limits: these are limits which the driver should understand simply by the look of the road. No signs are needed.
What is the ETA?
The ETA provides motorists and cyclists with green breakdown cover and green insurance products. As well as encouraging responsible driving to reduce carbon, the ETA campaigns for sustainable transport.
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