Transport Insights

Back on the subject of the (allegedly) forthcoming Road Safety Strategy, I note that this BBC report ends with a comment from the Department for Transport (DfT) that:

…we will set out the next steps for our strategy for road safety in due course.

Not only is “in due course” deliberately vague but the DfT is only here referencing the next steps for its strategy in relation to that non-existent deadline.

For all the spin and expectation that the strategy will be published in the autumn, there have only been two on-the-record statements that the government hopes it will happen this year.

In April, transport secretary Heidi Alexander told MPs:

Later this year we hope to publish the first new road safety strategy in 10 years.

This hope was reiterated in June when roads minister Lilian Greenwood answered a parliamentary question:

At the Transport Select Committee in April 2025, the Secretary of State set out that we hope to publish the Strategy later this year.

It may be that the vague timeline given by the DfT is because it wants to make an announcement that will seem like new news rather than something we been expecting, but it could also be a reflection that the timeline is slipping.