A New Vision for the Future of Road Safety

PACTS Report Plans to Open Up Debate

BRITAIN should aim to reduce deaths on the road by at least 50% over the next ten years says a new report by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) that was partially funded by the GEM Motoring Assist (GEM).

The report presents a holistic vision of the future for road safety after current targets for death and injury reduction expire in less than three years.

GEM, formerly known as the Guild of Experienced Motorists, helped finance research for the document through its charitable arm as a contribution to the debate on reducing road deaths and identify where further progress needs to be made.

Equivalent to the Population of Nottingham Killed or Injured Each Year

David Williams, Chief Executive of GEM, said: “As an organisation we are concerned with the safety of all road users and roads that present less risk will encourage walking and cycling reducing the carbon footprint of the nation and helping in the battle against global warming.

“It is a terrifying thought that the equivalent to the total population of major cities like Nottingham or Belfast are killed or injured on our roads every year. If you were to wipe a mighty midland conurbation or the capital of Northern Ireland off the map in one swoop the reaction of the rest of the nation to the catastrophe would by truly dramatic.

“We accept road deaths and injuries far too easily.”

The PACTS report contains a number of recommendations to the government and its agencies and is intended to encourage wider debate about casualty reduction.

It considers the need for targets; sustainability; the impact of an ageing population of drivers; offending and policing and the at-high-risk-group of young drivers.

Called Beyond 2010 – a holistic approach to road safety in Great Britain it has been written by Emily Crawford who is Policy and Campaign Officer for PACTS. It is available as a bound copy, on CD-Rom and as a downloadable file from www.pacts.org.uk.

GEM that has more than 65,000 members works for a safer travelling environment by producing free literature, funding research, campaigning, acknowledging those that work for road safety and providing a number of services such as roadside recovery for its members.

For more details go to www.motoringassist.com.

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November 2007 

Press information: David Williams MBE, Chief Executive of GEM Motoring Assist on 01342 825676 (office) or 07711 450560 (mobile). Visit the press centre on the website www.motoringassist.com for more information and downloadable images to support this story.