The Department for Transport (DfT) has promised a refresh of the national road safety strategic framework, published over a decade ago.
DfT officials did not give a deadline for the new strategy to be released but suggested that work is already beginning, and will follow in Scotland's footsteps by incorporating a 'safe systems approach'.
'The Government is starting work on a new integrated road safety strategic framework. It will draw on the Safe Systems approach, and will consider how to improve road safety, and the perception of road safety, for vulnerable road users,' DfT officials said.
The last strategy was published in 2011 and made no mention of 'safe systems'.
In Scotland, the devolved government published its Road Safety Framework to 2030 in February this year, refreshing the national strategy.
Transport Scotland aims to employ safe systems thinking to create a more 'forgiving' road environment that allows for human error without resulting in death or serious injury.
The document states: 'A Safe (road) System mitigates [human error] with its five pillars which effectively act as layers of protection: safe road use; safe roads and roadsides; safe vehicles; safe speeds; and better post-crash response; all working in harmony to prevent deaths and serious injuries.'
The DfT's announcement suggested the strategy refresh was in line with wider plans to boost active travel and introduce a new hierarchy of road user in England and Wales.
'Improving road safety will not only help reduce human suffering – over the last decade around 1,800 people have died every year when using our roads, and over 25,000 a year have experienced serious, and often life changing, injuries21 – it can also help us achieve a range of wider benefits, including helping increase the uptake of active travel,' the DfT said.
'We know from the National Travel Attitudes Study that safety concerns are a key barrier to engaging in cycling – over 60% of respondents to recent waves of the National Travel Attitudes Study think it is too dangerous to cycle on the roads. These safety concerns are not without foundation: cyclists and pedestrians face a greater risk of injury on our roads than vehicle occupants and between 2006 and 2020, there have been greater reductions in fatalities for car occupants and motorcyclists than for pedestrians and pedal cyclists.'
Trustee and director at The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), Tony Ciaburro said: 'This is a welcome development that many of us have been pushing for. We must not lose sight of the need to make progress in this vital area. We need a meaningful conversation around the latest road safety issues.'
