Skip to main content

Road deaths still not reducing, says PACTS

The road casualty statistics for Great Britain just released by the Department for Transport (DfT) are worrying in a number of ways, says the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS). They show no reduction in drink-drive deaths since 2010 – remaining at 240 deaths a year and no reduction in total road deaths and a two per cent increase in serious casualties in the past 12 months (to 31 March 2016). Seven police forces, including the largest ones, Metropolitan and Greater Manchester
August 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The road casualty statistics for Great Britain just released by the 1837 Department for Transport (DfT) are worrying in a number of ways, says the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS).

They show no reduction in drink-drive deaths since 2010 – remaining at 240 deaths a year and no reduction in total road deaths and a two per cent increase in serious casualties in the past 12 months (to 31 March 2016).

Seven police forces, including the largest ones, Metropolitan and Greater Manchester, have not submitted casualty reports in time, forcing the DfT to estimate the figures for Quarter 1 of 2016.

Commenting on the figures, David Davies, executive director of PACTS said, “The Government is failing in its manifesto commitment to reduce the number of road users killed or seriously injured every year. There has been very little reduction in these figures since 2010. The number of deaths involving drink driving is stuck at 240 a year and the estimated total deaths in the past 12 months is only slightly lower than it was five years ago.

“We need to see stronger action on a range of fronts, particularly drink-driving which accounts for 13 per cent of all deaths.

“A separate issue that is becoming increasingly evident is the vulnerability of the entire casualty reporting system to lack of prioritisation by some police forces. The Home Office needs to make clear that accurate and timely reporting is essential.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • More than 3,000 GB road bridges are ‘substandard’
    March 10, 2017
    More than 3,000 council-maintained road bridges in Great Britain are substandard, according to a report by the RAC Research Foundation. Analysis of data received from 199 of the 207 local highway authorities in England, Scotland and Wales found that 3,203 structures over 1.5m in span are not fit to carry the heaviest vehicles now seen on our roads, including lorries of up to 44 tonnes. The 3,203 bridges represent about 1 in 23 of the roughly 72,000 bridges to be found on the local road network. Many o
  • London needs just one road user charge, says report
    July 8, 2019
    London’s patchwork of road charging schemes should be replaced by a single, distance-based user charge, according to new research. Apart from anything else, it would be much fairer… The UK capital’s multiple road charging schemes require a radical overhaul, according to a new report by the Centre for London thinktank. The suggested solution is to replace existing levies on drivers with a single, distance-based user charge which would more fairly reflect how much, and at what time, people are using London
  • UK Spending Review ‘increases capital investment in transport by 50%’
    November 26, 2015
    UK Chancellor George Osborne announced major investments in transport in the government’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement, despite a 37 per cent cut in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) operational budget. This was offset with a planned 50% per cent increase in capital expenditure for the DfT - rising to a total of US$92 billion. In addition to protecting overall police spending in line with inflation, an increase of US$1.3 billion by 2019-20, the review includes US$70 billion capital investment
  • Smart motorways make sense, says FTA
    September 4, 2015
    The implementation of smart motorways in Northern Ireland would make economic, environmental and safety sense, according to the Freight Transport Association (FTA) today. Responding to a study commissioned by the roads authority, TransportNI, which outlines the proposal of the M1 and M2 in and out of Belfast becoming smart motorways, FTA stated that freight operators would see benefits in the introduction, economically, environmentally and would improve safety on the routes.