IAM RoadSmart has published its ‘Safer roads for all’ manifesto, calling on all political parties to prioritise road safety, including a review of driving for work standards.

The manifesto sets out a range of measures for safer drivers and roads

The road safety charity says more than 16,000 lives have been lost on Britain’s roads since 2013; far more than from the rail or aviation sectors during the same period.

In 2022 alone, there were 1,766 fatalities in the UK (1,711 in Great Britain and 55 in Northern Ireland), the equivalent of around three Airbus A380 super jumbo jet incidents resulting in total loss of life.

As detailed in the manifesto, around 35,000 hospital admissions in 2019 resulted from a collision on the road while the total economic cost of collisions in 2022 was estimated to be around £43bn – underscoring not only the moral obligation to improve safety on our roads but also the economic case to tackle dangers on the network.

Its manifesto calls for key policy changes that the charity believes will reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the road network and focuses on changing behaviour and improving infrastructure.

These include:

• Reviewing driving for work standards
• An expansion of driver rehabilitation courses for drink-driving and rolling out a programme for drug-drivers
• A commitment to introduce a form of graduated driver licensing (GDL) for new drivers
• Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) breaks for better skilled drivers
• A review of enforcement of illegal mobile phone use at the wheel
• Ringfencing some tax receipts to fix our pothole-riddled roads
• Decommissioning All Lane Running (ALR) smart motorways
• Improving major A-road infrastructure
• Reviewing speed limits on rural country roads
• Supporting 20mph speed-limited areas with high-quality infrastructure for motorists and cyclists
• Introducing regulation of private e-scooter use which includes training
• Reducing the cost and simplifying motorcycle licensing

The manifesto also calls on policymakers to support the take-up of zero-tailpipe emission vehicles and driving assistance aids by putting a greater emphasis on improving consumer knowledge of technological advances in the sector to support a ‘safe systems’ approach.

IAM RoadSmart director of policy and standards Nicholas Lyes said: “Road death is one of the leading causes of fatalities among the under-25s. We would never accept so many fatalities if these figures were replicated on our railways or in the aviation sector, which is why we’re calling on whoever gets the keys to Number 10 to prioritise road safety by focusing on changing behaviours and improving infrastructure.

“The sheer number of deaths on our roads in the last 10 years isn’t just scandalous: for each of those who have lost their lives there are families and friends who have been devastated by tragedy and want to see action taken.

“In addition to this, the impact that collisions have on our health service and our economy costs billions. Therefore, the message is that safer roads not only prevent death and serious injury but also reduce stress on our NHS and our economy.”

IAM Roadsmart’s ‘Safer roads for all’ manifesto can be found here.