A Review of the Delivery of the Road Safety Strategy - UCL Report

6: Summary of recommendations

To accelerate delivery of the road safety strategy to 2010 and contribute to the foundations for further progress after that, the review team makes the following recommendations.

1. Investment in cost-effective road safety engineering should be increased by the allocation of more funding to it and the training and effective deployment of more staff skilled in the planning and management of such programmes in local authorities and the Highways Agency.
2. Motor manufacturers should build substantial protection for struck pedestrians and cyclists into the very next round of newly designed or extensively retooled models.
3. Legislation for evidential roadside breathtesting should be introduced in the next session of Parliament.
4. Legislation for a graduated system of fixed penalties for speeding should be introduced in the next session of Parliament and early consideration should be given to the introduction of rehabilitation courses as part of penalties for persistent driving offenders by analogy with those for drink driving offenders.
5. Guidance concerning speed management on rural roads should be issued by the DfT and local authorities and the Highways Agency should act upon it promptly.
6. Safety camera partnerships should be allowed to use inconspicuous cameras where speed-related casualties occur disproportionately over long lengths of road or local areas, and should give thought to enhanced deployment of cameras without necessarily further increasing their numbers.
7. Debate should be started between motor manufacturers and various levels of government about how to realise the potential for real time safety advice to drivers.
8. Motor manufacturers should provide intelligent speed adaptation equipment as an option in new cars and the DfT should commit itself to a date for availability of a digital speed limit map for Great Britain.
9. The National Policing Plan should be followed up by guidance on targeted and intelligence-led enforcement strategies for casualty reduction and on the monitoring of performance in respect of traffic policing under local policing plans.
10. The momentum of work by the HSE and the Occupational Road Safety Alliance to engage employers in the reduction of at-work road casualties should be maintained or increased.
11. The DfT should be continually on the alert with other supportive departments for an opportunity to have the adoption of single/double summer time considered once again, and support it wholeheartedly when such an opportunity arises.
12. Reduction of the blood alcohol level to 50mg/100ml should be reconsidered after a reasonable interval.
13. The debate on cycle helmet wearing should be defused and an agreed basis found with cycling groups for strong promotion of helmet wearing by choice.
14. The potential value of community sentences for non-imprisonable offences in dealing with traffic offenders should be pursued strongly with the Home Office with a view to early legislation for their availability.
15. Consideration should be given to pursuing the lines of research proposed in Section 5.

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