Road safety

While statistics show that the number of people killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads continues to fall, reducing such accidents is a high priority for government and local authorities.

Tomorrow’s roads: safer for everyone

is the government’s strategy for improving road safety from 2000 to 2010. It includes the following targets:
40% reduction in the numbers of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents (compared to 1994-98)
50% reduction in the numbers of children killed or seriously injured
10% reduction in the slight casualty rate

The following are examples of action the government is taking to reach the 2010 targets:
Ensure safety continues as a main objective in designing, building, operating and maintaining trunk and local roads
Include safety in the planning framework for main and local routes
Publish guidance about engineering for safer roads
Use local transport plans to promote safer neighbourhoods
Monitor progress on local efforts to reduce casualties

The objectives are given in full at www.dft.gov.uk

Achieving safe, appropriate vehicle speeds significantly reduces the risk of accidents. Where drivers will not voluntarily curb their speed, traffic calming measures should be used. Road safety can be greatly improved by introducing road features such as road humps to slow traffic down.