Six Former transport ministers have written to transport secretary Grant Shapps, urging the Government to adopt new vehicle safety measures to help ‘reduce deaths and injuries’ on UK roads.
A package of 15 measures, including better direct vision in HGVs, automated emergency braking that detects pedestrians and cyclists, and intelligent speed adaptation, comes into effect for vehicles made in the EU and in Northern Ireland from July.
In a letter to Mr Shapps, the cross-party group of former transport ministers said that the UK now needs to adopt its own regulations to ensure the safety of drivers and the competitiveness of the UK’s automotive industry.
‘We firmly believe that adopting this set of standards in their entirety is the single most important thing you can do now to reduce deaths and injuries on UK roads,’ the letter concludes.
‘We kindly urge you to act swiftly for the safety of all road users and to re-establish the UK as the global leader in road safety.’
In the decade 2010-2019, an average of 33,000 people were killed or seriously injured every year in road crashes on roads in Great Britain.
The Government consulted on new vehicle regulations in November 2021.
David Davies, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), said, ‘There has been little progress in reducing road deaths and injuries over the past decade (apart from during the 2020 lockdown). Here is a package of measures that would kick start a new chapter. It comes at almost no cost to the Government or the motorist.
'We support the call from former transport ministers for the Government to at least match the standards that will apply in Northern Ireland. It could demonstrate the UK’s new independence by going further and faster.’
This article first appeared on lapv.co.uk.
