Brake, the road safety charity, has recently published the latest road casualty statistics for Great Britain – released by the Department for Transport – and is subsequently renewing urgent calls for a strengthened Road Safety Strategy from the Government.
New data shows that 1,695 people lost their lives on UK roads in 2023, with 1,624 deaths in Britain and an additional 71 fatalities in Northern Ireland. While there has been a slight decline compared to previous figures, the number of road deaths and serious injuries has remained relatively unchanged over the last five years, indicating a lack of significant improvements in addressing these critical issues.
Along with the figures surrounding fatalities, it was shown that over 28,000 people suffered serious injuries, many of which were life changing.
Road Safety Week 2024
In the run up to Road Safety Week 2024 (17–23 November), Brake is putting road victims at the heart of its focus and asking the Government to take urgent action to introduce more robust safety measures to help prevent crashes and reduce harm on UK roads.
Despite efforts to improve road safety, there has been no significant reduction in the number of fatalities and serious injuries on UK roads over the last five years. The charity is pressing for the introduction of a number of significant new road safety measures, including:
- 20mph Speed Limits on Urban Roads: Reducing speed limits in built-up areas has been shown to significantly decrease road casualties. Wales, for example, has seen a 23% reduction in deaths and serious injuries on roads with a 20mph limit.
- Progressive Licensing for Young Drivers: A safer approach to the licensing system could help protect younger, less experienced drivers by implementing staged learning phases.
- Stricter Drink-Driving Limits: A near-zero tolerance approach to drink-driving would aim to eliminate one of the most significant contributors to road crashes.
In highlighting their concerns, Brake’s Chief Executive, Ross Moorlock, said:
“The Government last published a Road Safety Framework in 2011. During the years there was a strategy in place (2011–2021), we began to see a small reduction in road casualties. However, since the latest framework expired (in 2021), more than 89,000 people have been killed or seriously injured on UK roads, and progress has stalled. We urge the Government to “move fast and fix things”, as the Transport Secretary set out in her first address to the Department for Transport, to prevent another 89,000 families having to go through the sudden trauma of a devastating road crash during this parliamentary term.”
Brake believes these safety measures have been proven elsewhere. Ross Moorlock continued:
“We have already seen the positive change the introduction of a default 20mph limit in built-up areas is making in Wales, with a 32% reduction in all casualties on 20mph roads in the final three months of 2023, and a 23% reduction in deaths and serious injuries on 20mph roads in the first three months of 2024.”
Source: Read the full article from Brake here:
“Another year, another 1,700 people killed on our roads. We must act now to save lives!” says Brake
Find out more about Road Safety Week 2024.
Read our previous article for related information:
Campaigners Calling for Mandatory Safety Features in All New Cars
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