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.

Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Road Safety Trust to fund pilot scheme to reduce tailgating
    July 5, 2016
    Transport & Travel Research (TTR) and parent company Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) have secured funding for a pilot scheme to reduce tailgating by business drivers from the Road Safety Trust, a charity that funds research to support its objective of reducing road casualties. TTR is now seeking interest from potential local authority partners that would act as a host for the pilot in their area. Tailgating, or close following, is a widespread concern on UK roads. It makes drivers feel intimidated,
    Read More
  • Don’t drive drunk – or use a hands-free phone
    August 29, 2019
    Despite law changes, drivers’ bad habits have been creeping back in. TRL’s Dr Shaun Helman tells Adam Hill why using a phone at the wheel is just as distracting as driving after a few drinks esearch from as far back as 2002 (see box) suggests that driving while making a phone call – either hands-free or holding a handset to your ear – creates the same amount of distraction as being drunk behind the wheel. While it is notoriously hard to predict how alcohol will affect an individual (due to the speed of
    Read More
  • Looking both ways for speeding vehicles
    June 9, 2015
    Single-camera bi-directional speed enforcement can reduce the cost of enforcing speeding on two-way roads without repositioning the camera. Truvelo has received UK type-approval for a simultaneous bi-directional (SBD) enforcement camera, the D-Cam P digital, which can capture speeding motorist both those travelling towards and away from the camera. It is also in the process of carrying out the first installations of the D-Cam P in the UK.
    Read More
  • Intersection collision avoidance system trial
    January 31, 2012
    Although much of the emphasis of research into intersection management has tended to concentrate on the needs of urban locations, there remain specific issues pertaining to rural intersections which need to be addressed. Here, Rebecca Szymkowski and Greg Helgeson, Wisconsin DOT, Todd Szymkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Craig Shankwitz and Arvind Menon, University of Minnesota detail progress on an intersection collision avoidance system for more remote locations.
    Read More

Highlighted Content