Driving down road deaths

Over the last forty years there has been a steady and continuous decline in fatalities on Britain's roads. Last year was the first year for over 80 years in which less than 3,000 people died. Nevertheless, 2,946 fatalities or just over 8 deaths per day is still a high toll, and that's without factoring in the additional 28,000 who were seriously injured last year.

The Government has just unveiled its 'Road Safety Compliance' consultation to target "the reckless minority who flout the laws of the road" – particularly targeting those who drive while under the influence of drink or drugs and those who speed.

Speeding was recorded as a contributory factor in 727 road deaths last year, and the Government is proposing tougher penalties for those who exceed speed limits "by a very large margin" who could receive six points on their licence for driving at over 20mph above the limit. This move has not been welcomed by the road safety charity Brake, which points out that "all speeding is unlawful and at 35mph you are twice as likely to kill a pedestrian you hit as at 30mph".

On drink driving, which costs 460 deaths per year, the Government appears resistant to lower the current blood alcohol level of 80mg/100ml as their research suggests that "almost all fatalities over the present limit had a blood alcohol concentration over 100mg/100ml". This is disputed by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) which advocates a 50mg/100ml limit. This lower limit, says PACTS, means "around 60 lives a year could be saved".

The Government admits that a lower limit "has been adopted in many other countries" – a fact that Brake highlights in its support for the lowering the UK limit – "one of the highest drink drive limits in Europe". However the Government is proposing to remove the right to a blood or urine test for those who test positive in breath tests – as this is "rendered unnecessary by the proven reliability of the breath test."

Driving under the influence of drugs presents some complex issues – as there is neither a simple roadside test nor any estimate of what levels of intoxication makes a driver unsafe. Therefore there should be caution about Government implications that any presence of any illegal drug should be a driving offence – after all there is little evidence that many illegal drugs would be any more damaging to drivers than excessive caffeine or other legal drugs. However that should not minimise the danger of driving under the influence of any drug – legal or illegal.

Road safety is also an issue about child safety - and particularly an issue for children from poor backgrounds: children from social class V are five times more likely to be killed on Britain's roads than those from social class I. As the Child Accident Prevention Trust points out, "children whose families have fewer resources tend to live near more dangerous road environments, have fewer provisions for safe places to play, and tend to go out as pedestrians more often than children from wealthier homes".

The consultation document can be downloaded from the Department for Transport website and the deadline for responses is 27th February 2009.