DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (051) issued by COI News Distribution Service
on 21 April 2009
Wide-ranging
proposals to dramatically cut the number of deaths on the roads
were set out by Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick today as he
also confirmed a major overhaul of the driver training and testing process.
New measures to ensure all roads have the right speed limit and
the formation of a new expert panel to investigate road safety are
part of ambitious plans to cut road deaths by a third by 2020 and
make Britain's roads the safest in the world.
The way people learn to drive and how they are tested is also set
for major reform. A new road safety qualification will offer young
people a partial credit towards their car theory test while the
learning process and the theory and practical tests will all be
improved. Van drivers also will be given the chance to enhance the
skills they need for their work through a new qualification.
Jim Fitzpatrick said:
"We've already made real improvements to the safety of
our roads - there are now almost 17,000 fewer deaths or serious
injuries in a year than there were in the mid-1990s. But it is
intolerable that eight people are still dying on our roads each day.
"We want to make Britain's roads the safest in the
world. That will mean improving vehicles and the road network as
well as helping drivers and other road users to be as safe as possible.
"The major changes to the driver training and testing
process will create better prepared drivers while our plans for
the next 10 years aim to make the roads and vehicles they use
safer and so prevent many of the terrible crashes which cut short
lives and tear families apart."
The DfT's draft road safety strategy for 2010-2020 - A Safer
Way: Consultation on Making Britain's Roads the Safest in the
World - is published today for consultation. Its proposals include:
* New guidance to ensure all roads have the right speed limit.
This will recommend that local authorities:
- Introduce, over time, 20 mph zones or limits into streets
around schools and which are primarily residential in nature to
protect pedestrians and cyclists.
- Review speed limits on single carriageway rural roads, reducing
the limit on the more dangerous roads where this will have a
significant impact on casualties.
* The formation of a new independent expert panel to identify
issues and trends from fatal accidents and provide an annual
report on road safety to Ministers and Parliament.
* New targets to cut road deaths by one-third by 2020, to halve
the number of child deaths and serious injuries on the roads and
to halve the rate of road death and serious injury to pedestrians
and cyclists per kilometre travelled.
Alongside the draft strategy, a programme of measures to reform
the driver training and testing process are also published today
in response to the Learning to Drive consultation conducted last
year. Almost 7,000 people responded to the radical plans and the
Driving Standards Agency will now:
* Roll out a new voluntary pre-driver qualification in safe road
use for 14-17-year-olds. Successful completion will provide a
partial credit for the theory test, allowing learner car drivers
to take an abridged test from October this year.
* Introduce case studies into the theory test to better assess
whether learners have understood driving or riding theory, also
from this October.
* Develop a new vocational qualification for van drivers, helping
them to enhance the skills they need to drive for work.
* Improve the practical test by introducing an assessment of a
candidate's ability to drive independently without detailed
instructions from the examiner, as well as requiring the
supervising driver to accompany the candidate during the test to
help unsuccessful candidates understand feedback from examiners
and help tailor further learning.
* Improve the content of the Pass Plus scheme to maximise both
take up and the incentives offered by insurers to drivers who
complete the scheme.
* Launch a trial of the new Learning to Drive syllabus, which
sets out all the aspects of driving that are needed to be a safe driver.
* Bring forward proposals to modernise driver training including
providing learners with more information to help them to choose an instructor.
Later this week, the DfT will launch the first phase of the new
THINK! road safety education programme, with resources, activities
and materials for early- years and upper- primary children,
teachers , parents and Road Safety professionals. The website
address will be http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/education.
Notes to Editors:
1. The consultation on A Safer Way: Consultation on Making
Britain's Roads the Safest in the World starts today and will
close on 14th July 2009. The consultation can be found here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/roadsafetyconsultation
2. The proposed long term vision is to have the safest roads in
the world, as measured by road deaths per 100,000 population. By
this measure Great Britain was second behind the Netherlands in
2007 (from nations with a population of more than 500,000).
3. The proposed targets for casualty and fatality reduction by
2020 (against 2004-08 average baseline) are:
* To reduce the number of people killed in road collisions by 33%;
* To reduce the number of people seriously injured in road
collisions by 33%;
* To reduce the number of children and young people (<18)
killed or seriously injured in road collisions by 50%;
* To reduce the combined rate of death or serious injury for
pedestrians and cyclists, per 100 million km walked or cycled by 50%
4. These are intended to replace the casualty reduction targets
for 2010. These have either been met or are on target to be met.
2010 target against 94-98 baseline Progress (2007 data)
40% reduction in KSIs (Killed or seriously 36% reduction injured)
50% reduction in child KSI 55% reduction
10% reduction in slight injuries 30% reduction
Reduce total road casualties in most Achieved in 2005
deprived English districts faster than for
England as a whole by 2005
5. The Driving Standards Agency's Learning to Drive
Consultation Paper, setting out proposals to reform the way that
people learn to drive and are tested, was published on 7 May 2008.
The consultation closed on 6 October 2008.
6. Full details are set out in the Learning to Drive: Report on
Consultation, which is available on the DSA website.
7. As part of the reforms, students awarded the new pre-driver
qualification in safe road use will be offered a partial credit
towards the theory test for learner car drivers. This will be made
available in the form of an abridged theory test. The DSA has
today published a consultation document, An abridged theory test
for learner car drivers, seeking views on the proposed reduced fee
of £24 for the abridged theory test. The consultation paper is
available on the DSA website. The consultation closes on 20 July 2009.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk