Government promises tighter road safety rules

Despite our roads being busier than ever casualty rates have continued to fall from a post-war high of nearly 8,000 deaths on British roads in 1966 to just over 1,600 in 2024, Great Britain ranking fourth in a study of 36 countries for casualties per million of the population and way ahead of many of our European neighbours. Which sounds like good news, until you figure out that still equates to four people killed on our roads every single day.
Which explains today’s government announcement of a new Road Safety Strategy hoping to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads by 65 per cent by 2035. The responsibility for this will be shared by drivers, regulators, manufacturers and local authorities alike, the aim being this collective effort can restore a downward trend in casualties that had somewhat flatlined in recent years. The proposals include stricter rules for younger and older drivers alike, tighter drink drive limits, increased compulsory safety tech in cars and improved road design to protect the more vulnerable users like pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists who still make up a disproportionate quantity of the overall figures. Let’s break down the proposals to see what the government has in mind…

Safer drivers

Whether you’re just starting out as a learner or have been on the road for years the government proposals seek to make drivers safer through increased training and checks on continued fitness to drive, reflecting our aging population and increasing numbers of older drivers on the road. For learners that could mean a compulsory minimum period on L-plates and provisional licence before going for a test to build experience of driving on different roads in a wider range of conditions. Meanwhile, older drivers (which is to say those over 70) may be required to prove their eyesight is up to scratch through regular mandatory testing, reports also suggesting cognitive ability could be assessed. Through what the proposals describe as “targeted action” bad habits like speeding, mobile phone use and distracted driving will also be clamped down on through more rigorous enforcement of existing laws.

While the above proposals are aimed at the majority of generally law-abiding drivers those who commit more serious offences like driving under the influence of drink or drugs can expect stiffer penalties. For context, the number of people killed through drink driving alone in 1979 was greater than the overall road deaths in 2024, underlining the cultural shift from a time when ‘one for the road’ was the norm. But while Scotland has already introduced a lower alcohol limit the level for drivers in England and Wales hasn’t changed since 1969, and as recently as 2023 the government says one in three road deaths were attributed to drink driving.
As well as a lower limit drivers charged with driving under the influence of drink or drugs could face on-the-spot suspension to prevent immediate reoffending, one police officer interviewed on the BBC citing the example of someone arrested in the morning for driving under the influence of drugs, released on bail after being charged … and then caught again later in the same day for exactly the same offence. Something the new rules would attempt to clamp down on. There’s also a proposal for those convicted of drink driving offences to have their cars fitted with alcohol interlock devices – essentially an onboard breathalyser preventing the car from starting if you still have booze in your system.

While they don’t always work as advertised Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (or ADAS for short) are another area of focus in the proposals, obliging all new cars to be fitted with technology like Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), lane keeping and drowsiness detection. Many of these are already required under European law and therefore standard on new cars sold in the UK as well, the government simply ensuring local regulations align in our post-Brexit era. We’ll just have to hope they’re more dependable and reliable than some of the systems we’ve encountered while testing the latest new cars for our Expert Reviews!

Those worried this all sounds a bit Big Brother with the promise of stricter law enforcement, electronic nannies and tougher driving standards can take some heart in the language used in the government proposals, and the promise it’s not all about tighter rules.
The regulations, it says, will use what it calls “the internationally recognised Safe System approach” which acknowledges mistakes at the wheel are inevitable but deaths and injuries don’t have to be. “Rather than placing responsibility solely on individual drivers, the system ensures that road design, vehicle safety, enforcement and education work together to protect all road users,” it says, promising a new Road Safety Investigation Branch to examine why accidents happen and how to prevent them in the future. A new Road Safety Investigation Branch will analyse collision patterns and inform prevention strategies, drawing on linked police and healthcare data to identify root causes and target interventions more effectively. This will be overseen by a new Road Safety Board chaired by the Minister for Local Transport with input from local authorities, emergency services and road safety organisations.