Brake calls for action as road casualty figures rise

Brake, the UK road safety charity, is calling on the government to take action to reduce the numbers killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads. In recent years road safety policy has been diminished by a lack of interest, urgency and resources, the consequences of which are becoming increasingly apparent as our road casualty figures begin to rise. Brake is calling on the government to act now to uphold its commitment to zero road deaths and injuries on the road. Road casualty figures just released
February 3, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
4235 Brake, the UK road safety charity, is calling on the government to take action to reduce the numbers killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads. In recent years road safety policy has been diminished by a lack of interest, urgency and resources, the consequences of which are becoming increasingly apparent as our road casualty figures begin to rise. Brake is calling on the government to act now to uphold its commitment to zero road deaths and injuries on the road.

Road casualty figures just released by the 1837 Department for Transport reveal that 25,160 people were killed or seriously injured in the year ending September 2016, a six per cent  increase, although there has been a small drop in slight injuries over the same period. Road casualties have increased for all road users during this period, with car occupant casualties increasing by 10 per cent and motorcyclist casualties by five per cent. The number of children (aged 0-15) killed or seriously injured on UK roads has risen by eight per cent.

Brake says this is clear evidence that action needs to be taken, particularly to protect the most vulnerable road users.  

In addition, the government’s provisional estimates suggest that there has been a ‘statistically significant’ increase in the numbers killed and seriously injured in a crash where one or more of the drivers were under the influence of alcohol. The number of collisions involving alcohol increased by two per cent over the same period, revealing a widespread problem that Brake says must be addressed. It is calling on the government to increase the resources available to the police so they can crack down on dangerous drivers that choose to get behind the wheel when they are over the limit.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Enforcement cuts distracted driving dramatically
    April 17, 2012
    The government of Indonesia says it is working to reduce the number of road deaths in the country by 50 per cent by 2020 and by 80 per cent by 2035. To achieve this, the government will be upgrading the road infrastructure as well as introducing a road safety programme that will run over a ten-year and 25-year plans, starting this year. The programme will be overseen by the National Planning Development Board with involvement of the national police as well as the public works, transportation, national educa
    Read More
  • Corruption corrodes confidence as ITS battles to improve safety
    October 13, 2015
    News items and articles in this issue illustrate the highs and lows of ITS and the dilemma inherent in enforcement application. An IIHS report showing that speed cameras change motorists' behaviour beyond the immediate vicinity of the installations is further evidence of the positive influence the technology can have, however the guilty plea in the Chicago red light corruption case serves to undermine the entire concept.
    Read More
  • Netherlands bans electric carts after four children killed
    October 8, 2018
    The Dutch government has banned electric carts following a road-rail collision which killed four children in the southern town of Oss. The Stint cart carrying the children - aged four to eight - was hit by a train at a level crossing, the BBC says. A witness heard the 32-year-old female driver from a daycare centre shout that her brakes had failed. The driver and a fifth child were seriously injured in the crash. Stints can carry up to 10 children who are strapped in with a s eatbelt. The driver is
    Read More
  • Foundation funds research for informed campaigning
    April 29, 2015
    ITS International talks to Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the transport research and lobbying organisation, the RAC Foundation. It is through the eyes of an economist that Professor Stephen Glaister, emeritus professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College London and director of the RAC Foundation, views current and future transport problems. Having spent 30 years at the London School of Economics and another 10 at Imperial, the move to the RAC Foundation was a radical departure from
    Read More

Highlighted Content