The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) has co-ordinated a manifesto with the support of 33 organisations calling for 'immediate and strategic action' to address road fatalities and serious injuries.
The manifesto outlines four strategic priorities to help the UK reach Vision Zero (no, described by co-signature road safety charity Brake, as 'simple, quick wins that are unanimously agreed across the UK’s leading road safety authorities'.
These are:
1. Developing a new National Road Safety Strategy – Implement a Safe System Strategy focused on prevention, protection, and post-collision response, coupled with evidence-based targets and robust safety performance indicators.
2. Establishing a Road Safety Investigation Branch – An independent body modelled after existing transportation safety branches to analyse road incidents and provide actionable insights for preventing future tragedies.
3. Introducing Graduated Driver Licensing – A progressive licensing system to support young drivers by limiting high-risk driving situations, a measure proven to reduce fatalities by up to 40%.
4. Adopting Advanced Vehicle Safety Regulations – Immediate implementation of the world-leading vehicle safety standards, mandating critical technologies such as Automatic Emergency Braking and Intelligent Speed Assistance.
PACTS said that the UK has fallen from being a global leader in road safety to lagging behind other nations - with progress on reducing KSIs stagnating since 2010.
Jamie Hassall, executive director of PACTS, said: 'These four simple measures will be the building blocks to enable the UK to reduce the number of people that are killed and seriously injured on our roads.
'When we have strong leadership and a strategic approach the UK has managed to half the numbers of road deaths in a decade, but since 2010 the focus was lost and daily road deaths have remained at five a day. Investing in road safety is not just a moral duty but it’s good for peoples’ health and wellbeing, the environment, business, and the country.'
Every day on average five people die on UK roads, with more than 30,000 individuals killed or seriously injured a year. This amounts to a staggering societal and economic cost of approximately £43.5bn each year, PACTS said.
It urged the incoming government to 'prioritise these strategies within the first 100 days of office to ensure the UK meets international road safety targets and sets a global standard in protecting its citizens'.
