The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) has unveiled its manifesto, calling for immediate and strategic action to address the persistent issue of road fatalities and serious injuries in the UK.

PACTS said the measures were simple, quick wins that could prevent thousands of injuries over the next few years

Backed by more than 30 prominent road safety organisations, it outlines four strategic priorities for the next government that it says could significantly reduce fatalities and serious injuries on UK roads – including the implementation of graduated driver licensing and a Road Safety Investigation Branch.

The four strategic priorities are:

1. Developing a National Road Safety Strategy – PACTS has called for a Safe System Strategy focused on prevention, protection, and post-collision response, coupled with evidence-based targets and robust safety performance indicators.
2. Establishing a Road Safety Investigation Branch – While the Government announced two years ago that it would introduce an independent branch to investigate themes in the causes of collisions, as well as specific incidents of concern, to learn valuable road safety lessons, this is yet to go ahead.
3. Introducing graduated driver licensing – Proposals were announced in Parliament this month for a progressive licensing system and PACTS is calling for this to be progressed by the next government, supporting young drivers by limiting high-risk driving situations, which could significantly reduce fatalities.
4. Adopting Advanced Vehicle Safety Regulations – Immediate implementation of the world-leading vehicle safety standards, mandating critical technologies such as Automatic Emergency Braking and Intelligent Speed Assistance.

PACTS said the measures were simple, quick wins that could prevent thousands of injuries over the next few years and put the UK on track to be a world leader in road safety again.

The UK has seen a stagnation in road safety improvements since 2010. Every day, five people die on UK roads, with more than 30,000 individuals killed or seriously injured annually, amounting to a societal and economic cost of approximately £43.5bn each year.

Jamie Hassall, executive director of PACTS, said: “These four simple measures will be the building blocks to enable the UK to reduce the number of people that are killed and seriously injured on our roads. When we have strong leadership and a strategic approach the UK has managed to half the numbers of road deaths in a decade but since 2010 the fucus was lost and daily road deaths have remained at five a day. Investing in road safety is not just a moral duty but it’s good for peoples’ health and wellbeing, the environment, business, and the country.”