IAM RoadSmart calls for urgent action
UK road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has called on the new government to urgently address road safety to reduce the number of casualties on UK roads.
It recently published its manifesto, ‘Safer roads for all,’ which set out a programme of initiatives it believes can improve safety for all road users.
These included:
- An expansion of driver rehabilitation courses for drink-driving and rolling out a programme for drug-drivers
- A commitment to introduce graduated driver licensing (GDL) for new drivers
- Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) breaks for better skilled drivers
- A review of enforcement of illegal mobile phone use at the wheel
- Ringfencing some tax receipts to fix pothole-riddled roads
- Decommissioning all lane running (ALR) smart motorways
- Improving major A-road infrastructure
- Reviewing speed limits on rural country roads
- Supporting 20mph speed limited areas with high-quality infrastructure for motorists and cyclists
- Introducing regulation of private e-scooter use which includes training
- Reducing the cost and simplifying motorcycle licensing
- Reviewing driving for work standards
Potholes
IAM RoadSmart policy and standards director Nicholas Lyes said: “IAM RoadSmart welcomes the new government and ministers to their positions. Doubtless to say, there are plenty of issues that need to be addressed: Motorists are dealing with pothole-plagued roads, expensive pump prices, soaring insurance premiums and worse, progress on reducing serious and fatal road collisions has stalled for many years.
“Work must urgently begin to create safer, more affordable roads for all, with a focus on introducing a form of Graduated Driving Licences for new drivers, which has reduced fatalities in other countries. With road traffic crashes being one of the leading causes of death among the under 25s, it’s clear that road safety needs to be top of the agenda.”
More than 16,000 lives have been lost on Britain’s roads since 2013, while in 2022 alone there were 1,766 fatalities in the UK.
