I thought at this General Election, rather than decide which party to vote for on the basis of my past voting loyalties or my belief in which party would best manage the economy for me and mine or even which one looked to me to be the best bet for the nation as a whole. I had decided that this time, I would vote for the party that offers the best deal on road safety – the party that cares most about death and serious injury on our roads particularly amongst new young drivers. The last reported figures showed that in the year ending September 2014 (latest available figures) there were 1,760 reported road fatalities, the KSIs were 24,360 and the total number of casualties 192,910.
Surely all the political parties would have something to say about this tragedy, that costs the NHS a huge amount of money each year and unknown pain and suffering to so many individuals and families.
I am also aware that the National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP), composed of representatives of the four principal trade bodies representing driving instructors and schools in Great Britain had written to all political parties to support the development of a robust road safety policy to mitigate death and injury on our roads.
The letter urged politicians to include these proposals in their 2015 manifesto as a sign of their commitment to reducing casualties and improving driving standards on our roads particularly amongst new young drivers:
- Learner drivers to maintain a record of their achievement recording their progress and key driving competencies achieved. The record to be ratified by a Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency Approved Driving Instructor (ADI). This would provide a transparent statement of competencies achieved and act as a useful reflective journal.
- n order to facilitate acquiring the key competencies of driving on motorways, regulations should be relaxed to allow learners onto motorways, but only under the guidance of an ADI.
- In addition the learner driver’s record of achievement should include confirmation that the learner has received practical training after dark.
The letter was sent towards the end of last year – as far as I know, no replies have been received from any of the political parties.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) also wrote to every political party on behalf of a wide variety of organisations including the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS).
In their letter they stated that in 2013, 337 people were killed in crashes involving young drivers and said “We need a more radical approach – a comprehensive package of complementary measures is needed” they urged parties to include in their General Election Manifestos a commitment to publish a Government Green Paper on Young Drivers.
We heard at the recent MSA conference from Kevin Clinton, the Head of Road Safety at RoSPA that their letter was not prescriptive about the content of the Green Paper, but did recommend some of the options it could include:
- Introducing Graduated Driver Licensing.
- Developing and widening the use of telematics, if ongoing research shows they are effective at reducing crashes and casualties.
- Improving the learning to drive regime, including a minimum learning period, mandatory logbook and help for parents (and others) who act as supervising drivers.
- Introducing improvements to the Driving Test.
- Providing incentives for drivers to take evaluated and effective post-test driver education and training.
So knowing all this stuff and with all the manifestos published I thought I would see what each party has to say about Road Safety. The BBC have provided a very useful Policy guide: Where the parties stand . I started with the two major parties no mention of road safety as you can see.
Conservative – Main pledges
- Deliver the biggest programme of investment in roads since the 1970s
- Deliver the biggest investment in railways since the Victorians, including 850 miles of electrified railways
- Reform strike laws, including on the transport network
- Start work on High Speed 2 rail lines and continue development for a “HS3” Leeds-Manchester link
Labour – Main pledges
- Allow a public sector rail operator to bid for and take on new lines
- Freeze rail fares next year and cap rises after that
- Support HS2, but keep costs down
- Give cities and regions London-style powers to regulate bus services
They both seemed somewhat disappointing, so I looked at the manifesto commitments of some of the minor parties in Great Britain Lib Dems, Green, UKIP, Respect, SNP, Plaid Cymru. None of them had any “Road Safety” policies.
The BBC list about 50 “other parties” that range from Above and Beyond via parties such as Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol, English Democrats, Monster Raving Loony Party, National Health Action Party, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, Ubuntu Party to the Young People’s Party.
None of who, as far as I could see, have any policies on “road safety”. Although the Young Peoples Party do state;
“Unlike the other parties, we do not seek to persecute bus passengers or car and lorry drivers, and would adopt various measures to make their life easier, such as raising speed limits on motorways (while reducing them in residential areas); scrapping ‘Vehicle Excise Duty’; removing traffic lights or replacing them with roundabouts; charging foreign lorries for use of British roads; and scrapping toll charges as far as possible. “
So basing my choice of who to vote for, on the party that offers the best deal on road safety seems a bit of non-starter. If I were voting in an election in India, Greece or the U.S. state of Nevada amongst a number of other places, I could put a cross against None of the Above (NOTA), also known as “against all” or a “scratch” vote, which is designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates. I have read that the election commission in Great Britain won’t allow “None of the Above” to be listed on a ballot paper for fear that the NOTA box receives the most votes.
I guess I’ll just have to vote with my conscience, it seems none of the political parties care much about Road Safety
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