The Government has now announced a new Road Safety Strategy, with the aim of reducing deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65% by 2035.

The strategy proposes several measures but are these what is needed and do they address the issues on the roads for vulnerable road users: that’s us as two-wheel riders.

Sitting down with our Head of our Biker Lawyer team, Fergus Dalgarno, we had a look at the headline proposals:

• Mandatory eye tests for drivers over 70 years of age

Fergus says “I have clients who have been hit by drivers of all ages. Is eyesight the issue or is it the fact that the driver simply does not look properly. I have lost count of how many times the fault driver has said, I didn’t see them or they came from nowhere. We are not seen because drivers do not look. Passing an eye test will not teach them to look. Make the test harder in the first place, have retests after say 15 years and make causing an accident mean you are off the road for say a month. It’s harder to get a bike licence than a car licence yet cars hurt people a lot more than motorbikes.”

• Reducing the drink drive limit from 35 to 22 micrograms per 100 milliliters of breath

Fergus says “I agree that anything to reduce drink driving is a good thing. My personal experience in Scotland, where the level allowed is where the Government is setting the new limit, is that people are more aware and drink and drive less. The last time I went to a pub in Scotland the landlady checked I wasn’t driving before she served me.”

• Minimum learning period of 6 months for new drivers

Fergus says “This makes sense in that it intends to improve training, but the devil is in the detail. Arguably, I can do the theory test then do nothing for six months and then do my practical test. Proper training, similar to motorcycle training, would be a better starting place.”

• Tougher penalties for uninsured drivers and vehicles without a valid MOT.
• Crackdown on illegal number plates

Fergus says “I am not sure how these make the road safer. It makes policing the roads easier but that is a different issue.”

Anything that makes the roads safer is good but perhaps better driver training and cars that are less like your front room and more like a way of getting from A to B might be a better option……..

Last year, 1,602 people were killed on roads in Great Britain. The statistics represent real people whose lives are cut short. The scale of loss makes it clear that serious and sustained change is needed.

While the strategy is a step in the right direction, it does not fully address the risks faced by the most vulnerable road users, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and children, who continue to remain disproportionately at risk of serious injuries and fatalities.

Motorcyclists make up around 1% of traffic in the UK, yet represent roughly 20% of those people killed or seriously injured on Great Britain’s roads. Any road safety strategy must directly confront this statistic through safer road design and better driver awareness and education of vulnerable road users.

There are valuable lessons that can be learnt from international practice. Norway continues to be the safest country in Europe for road users, largely due to its adoption of a “Vision Zero” approach. This model acknowledges human error and counters it by enforcing lower speed limits, stricter driver training, a lower blood alcohol limit, and infrastructure changes such as installing more speed bumps, improving road design, safer pedestrian crossings, segregated bike lanes, and car- free zones around schools.

If the Government is serious about achieving its 2035 target, it must adopt a bolder approach to speed management, road design, and education regarding awareness of vulnerable road users.

Summary

The Government has now announced a new Road Safety Strategy, with the aim of reducing deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65% by 2035.

The strategy proposes several measures such as reducing the drink drive limit, a minimum learning period for new drivers, and a mandatory eye test for drivers over 70 years of age.

While this strategy is welcomed and long overdue, does it adequately address the safety of vulnerable road users?