BBC News | UK POLITICS | Push to cut road deaths

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Wednesday, 1 March, 2000, 09:40 GMT

Push to cut road deaths

Speeding should become as socially unacceptable as drink driving, Transport Minister Lord Macdonald has said as the government sets out its new road safety strategy.

The government is publishing new targets and measures on Thursday in an effort to reduce the number of people killed or injured on the UK's roads.

Road accidents in 1998
Total killed 3,421
Total killed and seriously injured 44,255
Total injuries 325,212
Child pedestrians killed 103
Child pedestrians killed or seriously injured 3,737
Child pedestrian injuries 17,971
(Source: RoSPA)

The strategy aims to cut the number of deaths by 40% in 10 years and to halve the number of child pedestrian casualties.

Five thousand children were hurt in road accidents last year, and more than 100 died.

Lord Macdonald said: "If you simply bring down speed limits without taking any other action from say 30 to 20 mph, if motorists don't understand why that is being done it will have very little affect on the speed that people travel.

"Our priority is not to have blanket reductions on speed limits but to reduce the speed at which people drive in unsafe conditions.

"What we've got to do is make speeding as social unacceptable as we've made drink driving in the last 10 years."

Among the new measures being introduced are powers for local authorities to impose 20mph speed limits in certain areas, such as around schools.

The government is also seeking to toughen penalties for driving offences, including larger fines for careless drivers, extending bans on drink drivers and creating a new offence for people driving far in excess of the speed limit.

"We believe with all these measures brought into play with very broad support from the RAC, AA and others we can ensure Britain remains one of the safest countries in the world in which to drive," said Lord Macdonald.

But Tory transport spokesman Bernard Jenkin criticised the policy for not being published sooner and for having too much emphasis on speeding as the cause of accidents.

He called for more public education to draw people's attention to the way they were driving and also how pedestrians use the road.

"There's a danger of making speed the be all and end all of your road safety policy when speed only counts for a minority of accidents," said Mr Jenkin.

Possible penalties facing drivers
Fines for careless drivers to increase from Ł2,500 to Ł5,000
Speeding fines to increase from Ł40 to Ł60
New offence for people found speeding far in excess of the limit
Obligatory re-testing for high risk drivers
Drink driving bans increased from one to two years
(Source: RoSPA)

"I still don't agree with Lord Macdonald's emphasis and I think we should attach stigma to all forms of dangerous driving.

"It's perfectly possible to be driving dangerously while well under the speed limit and attach the same stigma that we already have to drink driving to all forms of dangerous driving.

"The policy has got to go with the grain of people's best instincts and their common sense. Too much of an anti-motorist emphasis would simply make enforcement more difficult."

For the Liberal Democrats, Mike Storey, leader of Liverpool council, welcomed the strategy but underlined the need for proper resources to allow local authorities to make sure it is enforced.

He said: "My concern is not the general thrust of the policy which is clearly right and sensible.

"My concern is its all very well sticking up traffic signs saying 20mph speed limits it doesn't work unless you have the resources available and enforcement taking place."

Related to this story:
The challenge to cut road deaths (29 Feb 00 | UK)
Less speed 'could halve' road deaths (14 Feb 00 | UK)
Speed. Panorama 14 February 2000 (14 Feb 00 | Panorama)
Road safety revealed as 'low priority' (09 Dec 99 | UK)
Fury at speeding climbdown (26 Nov 99 | UK Politics)

Internet links: Transport 2000 | Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents | Department of Transport | RAC |
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