RoadPeace welcomes the publication of a new report, The Future of Roads Policing, which makes a number of recommendations to support the police’s work in reducing road danger. Published by The Police Foundation, the only independent think tank focused exclusively on improving policing and developing knowledge and understanding of policing and crime reduction, it was funded by DriveTech, one of RoadPeace’s valued corporate supporters and who are also Gold Sponsors of the 2022 Andy Cox Challenge.

The report states:

“The United Kingdom has the reputation of having some of the safest roads in the world. Yet there is increasing evidence that they are becoming more dangerous. On average around 25,000 people are killed or seriously injured on our roads each year. This number had been constant for the last decade, following many years of reductions. Now the most recent data shows a five per cent rise in fatality rates, the first significant increase in 40 years…

Only once we take road death seriously, begin to see it as preventable rather than inevitable and start seriously to work towards a future where no one dies on our roads, can we truly say the UK’s roads are among the safest in the world. Our report sets out a number of recommendations to government, the police and the public which go some way towards making that vision a reality.”

This report makes five recommendations as summarised below:

Recommendation 1: The Home Office should include roads policing in the Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR) in order to ensure that roads policing is sustained as a core policing capability throughout the country

Recommendation 2: The national roads policing lead should be supported by a dedicated full-time secretariat, based within the NPCC.

Recommendation 3: The government should appoint a Road Safety Commissioner, comparable to the Victims Commissioner, responsible for promoting good practice and partnership working, and holding government departments and police accountable so that lessons are learned, and future road deaths are prevented.

Recommendation 4: The Vision Zero approach should be rolled out nationally.

Recommendation 5: The relevant agencies should create an entity which brings together experts from police, government, academia, industry and the third sector with the aim of anticipating future road dangers, such as caused by changes in technology, and ensuring police and other actors are equipped to deal with them.

Read the full “The Future of Roads Policing” report here.

Updated on: 7 March 2022