The launch of the UK’s new Road Safety Strategy represents a significant and long-awaited commitment to reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads. As specialist solicitors supporting individuals and families who have experienced life-changing injuries as a result of road traffic collisions, we welcome the strategy and its clear ambition to prevent avoidable harm.
For the first time in over a decade, there is a renewed national focus on road safety, underpinned by measurable targets including a commitment to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 65% by 2035, and by 70% for children. These are bold aims, and ones that reflect both the scale of the challenge and the devastating impact that road collisions continue to have across the UK.
Why this strategy matters
In our Serious Injury team, we work with people whose lives have been permanently altered in an instant whether through traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and other catastrophic harm caused on the road. Behind every statistic is a person, a family, and a future that looks very different from the one they expected.
The new strategy is important because it recognises that road deaths and serious injuries are not inevitable. By adopting a Safe System approach, it accepts that while human error cannot be eliminated, the road environment, vehicles and systems around us can and should be designed to prevent mistakes from resulting in fatal or life-changing consequences.
We see first-hand the lifelong consequences that serious road traffic collisions have for individuals and their families. A strategy that prioritises prevention, safer systems and accountability is hugely welcome. If these measures are properly implemented, fewer people will suffer catastrophic injuries that change the course of their lives forever and that must be the ultimate goal.
Key areas we welcome
The strategy focuses on evidence-based measures that address known risk factors, including stronger action on drink and drug driving, improved training and graduated approaches for new drivers, measures to ensure driver fitness, tackling uninsured and illegal vehicles, and improving vehicle safety standards through proven safety technology.
Deborah Sleightholme, Partner and our Head of Strategic Relationships and Chair of Trustees at Brake, said:
“For me, this strategy signals an important shift towards treating road deaths and serious injuries as preventable rather than inevitable. Through my work supporting individuals and families affected by catastrophic injury and bereavement, I see daily the impact that safe speeds, safer vehicles and better protection for the most vulnerable road users can have. The strategy has the potential to save thousands of lives but only if it is matched by sustained political will and meaningful action.”
From strategy to action
While the publication of the strategy is a positive step, its success will ultimately depend on effective implementation, adequate resourcing and consistent enforcement. Targets must translate into real-world change through education, infrastructure improvements, safer vehicle standards and robust policing.
If delivered in full, the Road Safety Strategy could mark a turning point for road safety in the UK, saving lives, reducing serious injuries and sparing families from the devastating consequences of preventable road harm.
