A ‘two strikes and you’re out’ policy, in which excessive speedsters caught twice would lose their licence, is among proposals being considered by the government for strengthening road safety. A detailed analysis of traffic casualties shows that “extreme speeders†are more likely to be involved in an accident and the consequences will be more severe when they are. The evidence also shows that the same drivers speed excessively across all speed limits and the proposal is to introduce a graduated fixed penalty of 6 penalty points for drivers who exceed the speed limit by a very large margin – 20 mph in most speed limits. Get caught twice and you lose your licence.
There were 2946 road users killed in 2007, and nearly 28,000 more seriously injured. Publishing a consultation process designed to reduce this annual toll, Jim Fitzpatrick, the transport minister responsible for road safety, said that it “seeks views on proposals for measures aimed at improving compliance levels with key road safety laws. Transgressions of these laws are the cause of many hundreds of deaths.†The consultation sets out a package of measures aimed at “helping the responsible majority of road users and cracking down on the reckless few.†Apart from speeding, the very detailed package tackles drink driving, the wearing of seat belts, drug driving and careless driving.
In October the minister disappointed safety experts when he stated that the government had decided against reducing the legal limit for alcohol in a driver’s blood (see ‘Drink and driving’ blog posted on 27.10.08). Instead he proposes to tighten up the enforcement regime by developing targeted checkpoint enforcement. The introduction of digital breath-testing equipment, at a reported cost of £2m, will remove the necessity for a blood or urine test, reducing police time spent dealing with drunk driving. And a reduction in the legal limit in a driver’s blood is not ruled out at some time in the future.
Drug driving, which is estimated to cause 20% of all road deaths, presents different problems. There is no legislation in place to allow for easy prosecution. The current law requires proof that a driver is impaired by drugs. The procedure is complex and cases are few. The consultation promises to explore whether a new offence needs to be created.
The DoT claim to have achieved a very high overall level of seat belt wearing, but have nevertheless developed a new, hard-hitting THINK! campaign which you have probably seen on TV already. In addition, the Home Office is currently consulting on an increase in the penalty for failing to wear a seat belt from £30 to £60 in 2009. Also proposed is a fixed penalty offence for careless driving, which will enable the police to enforce with a minimum of bureaucracy against careless drivers who admit their fault. The fixed penalty would be £60 and 3 penalty points.
If you want to contribute to the consultation process you have until 27 February 2009.
See: http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/compliance/roadsafetyconsultation.pdf


