Organisation: The Road Safety Foundation
Date of Publication: December 2022
Uploaded to Knowledge Centre: 4 January 2023
This annual report tracks the safety performance of motorways and ‘A’ roads in Great Britain. It shows how risk varies across the road network, identifies roads that have improved significantly over time, and provides commentary on approaches for prioritisation for investment.
The 2022 report concludes that economic policies for appraising investment in travel are outdated, prioritise quick and convenient car travel and do not reflect modern safe and sustainable values.
The report says that compared with pre-Covid data, fatal and serious casualties are down but that a return to pre-pandemic figures is to be expected.
It adds that recent rises in the cost of living at the time of the report may impact future traffic levels, travel speeds and subsequent casualties – and that these factors may also be further affected by an increase in home working post-Covid.
The report says it is time to ‘refocus’ economic policies to offer safe, sustainable and inclusive mobility for all road users.
The authors say that road infrastructure measures that reduce the risk of fatal and serious injury are well understood and describe investment returns as compelling.
Measures such as protecting or clearing roadsides, separating vehicles travelling in opposing directions and designing junctions to be safer offer high opportunities to save lives, the report concludes.
It also says that supporting safer walking and cycling through provision of separate facilities or reducing vehicle speeds is key to encouraging modal shift and reducing deaths and injuries for these important user groups.
Click on the link to access the report: