Road users across Luton South and South Bedfordshire are set to benefit from the Labour Government’s new Road Safety Strategy, the first plan in over a decade to make our roads safer for everyone.
Last year four people on average died every day on England’s roads, with thousands more seriously injured. These tragedies are preventable. The new strategy sets out bold measures to tackle the root causes of road collisions, harness new technology, and ensure enforcement keeps pace with modern risks.
The reforms will:
- Introduce tougher action on drink and drug driving, including consulting on lowering the drink-drive limit
- Mandate cutting-edge safety technologies in new vehicles
- Improve driver training and testing, including a proposed minimum learning period for learner drivers
- Update speed limit guidance and invest in safer road design
The strategy also commits to a 65% reduction in deaths and serious injuries on the UK’s roads by 2035, and a 70% reduction for children, using a 2022–2024 baseline.
Improving road safety is crucial to reassuring and protecting all road users. This is especially important for children from the most deprived neighbourhoods, who face a pedestrian casualty rate 4 times higher than those in the least deprived areas. By committing to radically modernise our road safety standards, training and infrastructure, the government is addressing a crucial inequality and committing to safeguard young people.
Constituents across Luton South and South Bedfordshire regularly contact me about road safety issues. Whether it is speeding, unsafe junctions or drink and drug driving, I know many people in our community have concerns and want to make sure we keep everyone safe.
I’m proud to welcome the Government’s new Road Safety Strategy. It is a landmark step that will save lives, protect vulnerable road users, and ensure the high standards of safety that local people rightly expect.