The latest road safety statistics for Great Britain demonstrate that there is a real need for dedicated targets in England, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
In a trend that began in 2012, there was once again no significant reduction in the number of deaths on Britain’s roads in 2018, in which 1,782 people were killed – more than 34 people every week.
Prior to 2012, the country saw significant decreases in the number of people being killed in road traffic incidents, but since then the downward trend has stalled. RoSPA believes this could be addressed by the introduction of dedicated road safety targets for England.
Any commitment to dedicated targets – as exist across Europe, including in other UK constituent countries – was omitted from the Department for Transport’s latest Road Safety Statement, released last week, although it did commit to researching their effectiveness.
RoSPA’s head of road safety Nick Lloyd said: “We believe the case has already been made for the introduction of road safety targets in England. They are already being used to great effect in countries including Norway, which has the safest roads of any country in Europe, Ireland, which has seen dramatic decreases in fatalities over recent years, New Zealand, and even Scotland, where they have already seen a 50 per cent decrease in fatalities against a target of 40 per cent.
“We welcome the targeted interventions outlined in the Road Safety Statement, and hope that these have a real impact, however we also feel that targets would be of great benefit, as they help to focus and unite efforts to make our roads safer.â€
RoSPA Vice President Lord Jordan of Bournville raised the issue in the House of Lords on Tuesday.
