Skip to main content

DfT to review UK traffic enforcement

The Department for Transport (DfT) in the UK is to carry out a review into road policing and traffic enforcement in a bid to improve highway safety. The two-year review - jointly funded by the DfT and Highways England - will look at how road policing currently works, its effectiveness and areas for improvement. The DfT will work with the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council. A pilot programme is expected to follow in 2020, looking at new initiatives to see what works best for reducing roa
July 22, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

The 1837 Department for Transport (DfT) in the UK is to carry out a review into road policing and traffic enforcement in a bid to improve highway safety.

The two-year review - jointly funded by the DfT and 8101 Highways England - will look at how road policing currently works, its effectiveness and areas for improvement.

The DfT will work with the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council. A pilot programme is expected to follow in 2020, looking at new initiatives to see what works best for reducing road casualties.

Michael Ellis, road safety minister, says road policing is a “key deterrent” in stopping drivers breaking the law and risking their own - and other people’s - lives.

“This review will not only highlight where police forces are doing good work, it will show what more can be done to improve road safety,” Ellis adds.

Additionally, the review will look at how police and different agencies work together, the information they share and how improvements may increase capability and capacity. It will also consider how best to police roads in rural and urban areas and the strategic road network.

As part of the move, the DfT is rolling out a new version of the Collision Reporting and Sharing software and smartphone for police mobile devices.


The DfT says the app allows officers to report crash data and locations on-site rather than having to return to a police station to duplicate paperwork on a computer.

A call for evidence will launch in the autumn to find out what currently works well. Findings and recommendations will be ready next year.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Traffic alert app from Pennsylvania company launches in UK
    August 6, 2012
    Motorists using major highways in England can now access real-time, personalised traffic and roadway travel information on their smartphones by downloading a free app developed by Philadelphia-based Information Logistics. The Hands-Free Traffic Talker England (HFT England) app audibly broadcasts information about a motorist's specific travel route, freeing the user from the distractions of touching the phone, reading messages, or listening to irrelevant traffic alerts.
  • IAM Roadsmart: drivers must be more alert to protect pedestrians
    May 25, 2018
    UK charity IAM RoadSmart is urging drivers to be more alert as pedestrians now make up a quarter of all road deaths on the country’s roads. IAM refers to figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) for 2016 – the most recent figures available - which revealed 448 pedestrians were killed. This is an increase of 10% over 2015 - the DfT says drivers failed to look in 42% of crashes while pedestrians did not look in 54% incidents. In addition, a fifth of drivers failed to judge the other perso
  • Surewise calls for mobility scooter update to Highway Code
    January 17, 2025
    'Unacceptable' that users are not already termed VRUs, insurer says
  • US Cities push for smarter poles
    June 25, 2018
    US Cities The need to connect existing infrastructure has led various US transit authorities into imaginative alleyways: David Crawford examines some new roles for street furniture. US cities are vying with each other in developing schemes to create a new generation of connected places. Their strategies include taking advantage of their streetlight poles’ height and ubiquity to give them new roles in supporting intelligent nodes. They are now being equipped for collecting real-time data on key transport