Engineers fear over road safety targets

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is warning that the removal of road safety targets could lead to more road traffic accidents.

Targets set in 2000 by the government led directly to a fall in road deaths of almost 50% due to the impetus this forced on local authorities to create road safety partnerships.

The warning is sounded as the professional engineering body submits evidence to the Transport Select Committee, which is investigating the impact of the Government’s Strategic Framework for Road Safety.

The Framework, published by the Department for Transport earlier in the year, shifted from the former targets based programme, to an outcomes framework.

Professor Phil Blythe, Chairman of the IET Transport Policy Panel said: “Long term targets are proven to produce results leading to less deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

"The local accountability basis of the Framework is a good approach to take, however, smaller authorities will, because of cuts, be unable to maintain any road safety targets at all. This will result in a postcode lottery where people in some areas will be safer on our roads than others.”