With the "Red Tape Challenge" the Government is asking firms and the general public to suggest which transport regulations, including road safety regulation, should be scrapped. Road safety regulations cited on the website, www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk, include the wearing of seatbelts for adults and children, speed limits on motorways and rural roads, and mandatory helmets for young horse riders.

The website states that 'once the consultation closes Ministers will have three months to work out which regulations they want to keep and why. But here’s the most important bit – the default presumption will be that burdensome regulations will go. If Ministers want to keep them, they have to make a very good case for them to stay.'

Brake says that thousands of people owe their lives to these regulations, particularly those relating to seat belts and speed limits.

Julie Townsend, campaigns director, said: 'As a charity that supports people suffering unimaginable heartbreak that results from a road death or serious injury, we are appalled by the message that this sends out. The suggestion that life-preserving road safety regulation is merely "red-tape" belittles the importance of saving lives on our roads, and is an insult to the bereaved and injured victims whose lives are turned upside down by these preventable tragedies. It is akin to questioning child protection law, or any laws that prohibit violent, life-threatening behaviour.

'It is telling that many of the comments appearing on the Government’s site are calling for more regulation to protect vulnerable road users in particular. We should be focusing our energies on how we can best develop road safety regulation to stop the daily carnage, which very commonly affects the young, and which is a very significant social and economic burden.'